What
is the Lord’s Prayer all about? At the
time of Jesus – it was certainly a new
approach to prayer. Lyndall Bywater looks
at the opening lines of our most valued prayer
to see what it has to teach us.
Jesus was a man who knew how to pray. In fact,
he was considered something of an expert.
His friends used to watch him go off to pray,
either very late at night or very early in
the morning, and he wouldn't come back for
ages. They struggled to concentrate for a
few minutes, but he seemed to keep going for
hours. One day, curiosity got the better of
them, and they decided to find out his secret,
by asking, ‘Teacher, will you teach
us to pray like you do?’
Jesus then uttered words that have since been
translated into hundreds of languages –
‘Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed
be thy name...’ They are familiar words,
but for Jesus' friends, this prayer was astonishing.
Up to that point, prayer was a fairly ritual
business – you prayed on certain occasions,
with certain words, for certain issues –
almost like a formula for reaching God. Most
people, if they were honest, probably weren't
sure whether God would notice them praying,
hear what they said, or do anything about
it. Jesus’ words on prayer blew the
whole thing wide open and broke all the rules.
Heavenly Dad!?
"The Lord's Prayer” (as it has
since become known) is plain and simple. It’s
flowery-language-free and all-purpose, covering
everything from world peace to the food on
our dinner table. The opening line, calls
us to think of God as our Heavenly Dad. In
those days, Hebrew prayers often started with
the big names for God: Almighty, Everlasting,
Holy King - the list goes on - but calling
him ‘Heavenly Dad’ and relating
to him as a generous and wise father? This
was revolutionary news!
What would probably have shocked Jesus friends
the most was that the prayer made God sound
approachable, rather than some distant, high-and-mighty
God in the sky! Although he is powerful enough
to rule the heavens, he is kind and loving
enough to want his children to come to him
at any time, anywhere, and to talk to him
about anything at all.
Status Doesn’t
Matter
As well teaching them the first step - to
come to God as their father, Jesus’
teaching also showed that status isn’t
important in prayer. It can be tempting to
think that we somehow need to wow God with
how ‘spiritual’ we are, what ‘good
things’ we have done, how much we have
served other people and how our lives are
of at a worthy status for God. Jesus contemporary
followers were no different – and often
felt they needed to show how holy they were
through their prayers.
However the line ‘Hallowed be thy name’
immediately focuses our prayers on God –
and not on ourselves. The word ‘hallowed’
means set apart or special. God’s name
really carries weight and is worthy of our
praise. If we start by recognising God’s
status first and praising him, it will safeguard
us from looking to ourselves and trying to
make ourselves worthy.
In short, the Lord’s Prayer reminds
us how simple and straightforward prayer should
be. The story of this teaching can be found
in Matthew 6. In the Message version, Jesus
says, ‘The world is full of so-called
prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re
full of formulas and programs and advice,
peddling techniques for getting what you want
from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense.
This is your Father you are dealing with and
he knows better than you what you need. With
a God like this loving you, you can pray very
simply.’
We need to remember that at all times –
we have an ever-available heavenly father,
who loves us completely, always hears our
prayers and never turns us away.
To Think Further…
Use the Lord’s Prayer to help you pray
or visit ALOVE’s Experience section
and use the flash movie of the Lord’s
Prayer…
