The First Tuesday of Lent -- March 15, 2011
Matthew 6:7 - 15
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
It is strange irony that when we read and pray this text on prayer, in which Jesus says, “Don’t babble on like the pagans,” we babble the prayer like pagans.
We “recite” the Lord’s Prayer mindlessly, without considering the weight of our words, without pondering the substantial prayer that rests beneath the words. It becomes, as the word suggests, a recitation.
I’ve heard people defend this practice. They claim that Jesus taught us to pray this way, with these very words; therefore, the prayer’s importance lies in simply getting the words out.
I don’t believe that.
Praying the Lord’s Prayer mindlessly, unconsciously, is the very thing Jesus resists. Just because the words happen to be those he taught us does not mean we can mumble through them without some degree of attentiveness and mindfulness. It is possible to babble like the pagans, even when praying the Lord’s Prayer. In fact, it happens quite frequently!
You might try praying the prayer today one line at a time. Try this: Pray a line. Then stop, and pray that same line another way. Put the words of that line into your own words. Paraphrase it in three or four different ways. Allow God’s Spirit to help you tease out the meaning in the line. Be creative, bold, adventurous. After you’ve exhausted that line, move to the next. Work through the entire prayer that way line by line.
Many years ago I did this with the Lord’s Prayer. Over time I developed my own “Lord’s Prayer,” praying the spirit of the Lord’s Prayer in my own words. I’ve carried it now for 14 years or so. I whisper it often. It really takes no longer than the actual prayer in Matthew 6. But it represents the unique way I pray these words of Jesus.
Try it today.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
It is strange irony that when we read and pray this text on prayer, in which Jesus says, “Don’t babble on like the pagans,” we babble the prayer like pagans.
We “recite” the Lord’s Prayer mindlessly, without considering the weight of our words, without pondering the substantial prayer that rests beneath the words. It becomes, as the word suggests, a recitation.
I’ve heard people defend this practice. They claim that Jesus taught us to pray this way, with these very words; therefore, the prayer’s importance lies in simply getting the words out.
I don’t believe that.
Praying the Lord’s Prayer mindlessly, unconsciously, is the very thing Jesus resists. Just because the words happen to be those he taught us does not mean we can mumble through them without some degree of attentiveness and mindfulness. It is possible to babble like the pagans, even when praying the Lord’s Prayer. In fact, it happens quite frequently!
You might try praying the prayer today one line at a time. Try this: Pray a line. Then stop, and pray that same line another way. Put the words of that line into your own words. Paraphrase it in three or four different ways. Allow God’s Spirit to help you tease out the meaning in the line. Be creative, bold, adventurous. After you’ve exhausted that line, move to the next. Work through the entire prayer that way line by line.
Many years ago I did this with the Lord’s Prayer. Over time I developed my own “Lord’s Prayer,” praying the spirit of the Lord’s Prayer in my own words. I’ve carried it now for 14 years or so. I whisper it often. It really takes no longer than the actual prayer in Matthew 6. But it represents the unique way I pray these words of Jesus.
Try it today.
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