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Lent - Week One 2010
By Pat Lee | February 26, 2010
Friday: February 26, 2010
Readings: Isaiah 55: 10-11 Matthew 6:7-15
Scripture Verse: “This is how you are to pray…” Matthew 6: 9
Reflection: We know the prayer by heart and pray it often. It is precious to us because it comes to us from Jesus himself. This reflection is basically a meditation on the Lord’s Prayer by St. Cyprian (about 250 AD)
Our Father who art in heaven: One of the greatest truths of our faith is that we are adopted sons and daughters of God. And so we can call Him Father. “To his own he came. And yet his own did not accept him. Any who did accept him he empowered to become children of God” John 1:11-12. We are not instructed by Jesus to pray “My” Father because we do not pray for ourselves alone. We pray as members of Jesus’ church, the sons and daughters of God, and we pray for the good of all.
Hallowed be thy name: We ask that God’s name be made holy in us—in our hearts and our lives. We ask that we who live in relationship with Jesus through our baptism continue to become more like him, that his agenda become more our agenda, that through that God’s name be hallowed.
Thy Kingdom come: We pray that the God’s Kingdom proclaimed and begun by the Jesus who lived, died and was raised from death for it will continue towards fulfillment. That its values will shape our lives and, one day, reign in God’s world.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven: We pray that our lives may be shaped by God’s saving will for our lives and God’s world. All that Jesus taught and did was “the will of God.” We ask that in the face of obstacles and temptations to draw us from God’s will, we may have help and strength to do his will.
Give us this day our daily bread: This request has a literal and a spiritual component. Spiritually Jesus is “our daily bread”—our relationship with him nourishes us for our Christian journey. In addition, we believe that God knows our needs and we trust that, if we “strive first for the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33), what we need will be provided.
And forgive us our trespasses: We acknowledge that we are sinners who fall short of being completely faithful but we recognise God’s great love, mercy and forgiveness and believe that God truly forgives us.
As we forgive those who trespass against us: There is a condition for our being forgiven. Jesus tells us that our sins are forgiven if we are prepared to forgive. Much of Jesus’ teaching emphasises this reality. If we want God to forgive us, we must be ready to forgive others.
And lead us not into temptation: Here we pray not out of fear that God himself will lead us astray, but rather to ask that God show us the way away from temptation. And that “he will not let you be tested beyond your strength” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Whether or not we use that strength to not walk down the way of temptation is, of course, up to us.
But deliver us from evil: We pray to be kept safe from the power of Satan, the Evil One, and all that he stands for. We pray that God will overcome evil in our lives.
Note: For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever . This doxology is not part of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. It was added by the church later on as it is fitting to praise God at the end of our prayers and worship.
We pray with the psalmist “Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me out of all my terror. Psalm 34:4
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