40 Days of Lent: Day 9

 Luke 11:   2-4

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father,

hallowed be your name

your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.

Jesus responds to the disciple’s bold request by giving us a model prayer that is even more daring. We repeat this prayer so often that we miss its audacity. The English doesn’t help here either and we tend to soften it by saying it in a sing-song fashion.

But Jesus is instructing us to pray by telling God what to do: holy your name; bring your kingdom; give us bread; forgive our sins; don’t lead us into temptation.

Does this frighten you? It does me.

Yet this speaks to insistence and determination to have God act. Do we fail to see God respond when we pray this prayer because we are too timid and polite to be direct? Next time, try to pray it the way Jesus taught it and perhaps we’ll see things happen in ways we never imagined.