The Our Father

I mentioned in an earlier daily devotion that Jesus was asked by his disciples to teach them how to pray. So, he taught them a simple, memorable, manageable prayer. This prayer which is most often called the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father is reported only in Matthew and Luke. We typically pray it together during worship or perhaps at the beginning or ending of a meeting.

Yet, this prayer can also be prayed slowly and contemplatively. I invite you to the practice of praying the Lord’s Prayer slowly and with focused attention over the coming days. To make sure we don’t slip into rote recitation, I encourage you to try the practice by praying a modern version from the Anglican Church of New Zealand printed below.

Next week we’ll dig down deeper into the Lord’s Prayer. Until then, 

Let us pray:

Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples
of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and for ever. Amen.

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Center for Action and Contemplation, Great Themes of Scripture: New Testament: Weekly Summary
Saturday, July 10, 2021.  https://cac.org/daily-meditations/great-themes-of-scripture-new-testament-weekly-summary-2021-07-10/

Church of the Province of New Zealand, A New Zealand Prayer Book, He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa (Collins Liturgical Publications: 1989), 181.