Our Lord and His PrayerНамуна

Leading up to today’s passage, the disciples had seen Jesus do incredible things, and they realized that His fuel for doing these things was the time He spent praying. So, in a moment of stunning clarity, they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray like He prays. Jesus honors their request and gives them what we call The Lord’s Prayer.

Let’s start with a few general observations.

This prayer is brief. About as short as a dinner table prayer. In English, it’s tweetable – 187 characters. In its original Greek, it’s 38 words. Why so short? Maybe because the longer our prayer gets, the easier it is for the focus to shift off of God (Matthew 6:7).

This prayer is real. It deals with stuff with which we all struggle; it touches on the things we need, forgiveness, temptation, and other real-world issues. In the most real way possible, it points us back to God as we deal with all of these real-life issues.

Have you ever counted the personal pronouns in the prayer? Our, your, we, everyone …. there are quite a few in this short prayer. This prayer is relational. Sometimes we pray alone, but we always pray in light of the rest of life, which includes and involves other people.

The first two words of the prayer are, “Our Father.” Prayer is not subjects groveling before their sovereign, homeless people begging a rich man for a few bucks, or our opportunity to bring our grocery list of needs and wants as we sit on Santa’s lap. This prayer is an intimate conversation between two people who love each other – you and your Heavenly Father.

When you pray, you are praying to a God who wants to have a loving relationship with you. God loves you. He knows where you are and understands where you’re coming from. He’s not looking to condemn or smite you; He wants nothing more than for you to experience His love for you. He’s not judging your prayers for being too short or too lame-sounding or too anything. He hasn’t been keeping track of how many days it’s been since you last prayed. Your Heavenly Father is most interested in you having a relationship with Him and with His people.

May The Lord's Prayer prayer help you lean into that relationship.