Water Daily: Lord's Prayer

Showing posts with label Lord's Prayer. Show all posts

7-22-25 - Prayer 101

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial."

Watching his pattern of going apart to spend time in prayer inspired Jesus’ disciples to ask him to teach them how to pray. (They also had a little “keeping up with the John-ses” rivalry going on with John the Baptist's disciples…) Jesus’ answer has become the manual on prayer for Christians ever since, coming down to us as the Lord’s Prayer, which we often recite in the words of the Elizabethan translation rather than the more accurate original wording provided by later bible translations.

Many people must feel they need to be taught to pray – there are thousands of books and seminars on prayer. This is partly because we’re wired for action, and once we become addicted to a certain pace, and even addicted to stress (yes, our brain chemicals can become adapted to that too…), it is very uncomfortable to become still and put ourselves into a receptive mode. It is also hard to be in conversation with someone you cannot see. But this pattern Jesus provides is simple, and some of it corresponds to those prayers we utter without thinking: “Thanks! Help me! Give me! Forgive me! Save me!”

What we don’t always include in our spontaneous prayers is the first two parts of Jesus’ prayer – the naming of God as our Father/Mother/Source of being. To state this is to remind ourselves of the personal, familial relationship between us and God – God is not a corporate boss, a Santa with gifts, an accountant checking a balance sheet, or a judge weighing our merits. God is loving parent. That’s where we start.

And God is holy, which is what “hallowed” means. As loving and intimate as God may be, God is not the same as us. God is wholly other, completely good, Pure Love in which there is no fault or dilution. That affects the relationship and how we pray too.

Perhaps the most neglected clause is “Your kingdom come.” This means not only “Let the end of the world come soon,” though it has meant that to some. It means, “Let God-Life break into this world, into my life, into my heart right now, today, and every day.” It is the most radical prayer we can utter – and we’re invited to pray it every day.

If we were conscious of the power we are invoking when we pray those words, this world would be changed. Let’s see what happens when we start really meaning it.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

7-21-22 - Ask, Seek, Knock

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

I like it when things come flowing to me without my having to do anything – especially when I don't expect it. And sometimes that happens in life. In the spiritual life, though, it happens more often when we’re also being active, asking, searching, knocking on those doors we wish would open. In fact, Jesus promises that these actions will yield success:

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

This passage is such an important reminder about the generous nature of God. So often we assume things will come with difficulty, especially spiritual graces; that we need to spend hours in prayer, decades studying difficult texts, climbing the ladder of holiness. No! Jesus says we need only genuinely ask, diligently search, knock with the knowledge that God can’t wait to open the door and invite us in. If we, in our limited way, are programmed to want good things for our children, how much more does our heavenly father, who has no restrictions whatsoever on his largesse?

Yet let’s note the outcome Jesus promises. He does not say, “How much more will your heavenly father give you what you ask for in prayer.” Sometimes we receive that, sometime we don’t. Jesus says, “How much more will God give his Holy Spirit to those who ask.” Does that feel like getting a sweater at Christmas when we really wanted a pony? Maybe. But only if we are ignorant about the gifts that come along with the gift of Spirit.

With the Spirit we get the faith to trust in our daily bread. With the Spirit we get the grace to forgive those who have wronged us, and the humility to ask for forgiveness from those whom we have wronged. With the Spirit we get the strength and hope that helps us weather spiritual trials. The Spirit is the answer to the whole Lord’s Prayer!

I hope we haven’t stopped asking to see God’s hand at work in the world about us. I hope we never stop searching for God in all the places and people God can show up in. I hope we never stop knocking at the doors to truth and beauty and goodness and love and peace and joy and generosity. God’s door barely needs to be knocked at – the knock itself pushes it open so we can walk right in.

To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Next Sunday’s readings are here. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

7-20-22 - Bothering God

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Is it okay to ask God for stuff? Too often I hear people say things like, “Oh, I wouldn’t want to bother God with that…” or “God has more important prayers to answer,” as though God were limited in time or resources. If God is who we say God is – creator of all that is, seen and unseen; all-powerful, all-knowing; without limits or constraint; then we should feel free to make our needs known to God. Jesus said as much:

“Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.”

It’s an oddly negative example, this head of household all tucked in for the night with his children, this friend who will yield to annoying persistence before the claims of friendship, but Jesus often uses negative examples to contrast how good and generous God is by comparison. Jesus invites us not only to ask for our daily bread – the day’s supply, not a year’s – and beyond that to bring our petitions to God in prayer. Remember, Jesus tells this story in response to his disciples’ request, “Lord, teach us how to pray.” This is part of praying – trusting enough in God’s love to be persistent.

Why should we have to be persistent? Doesn’t God hear us the first time? I believe God hears us before we’ve even formed a prayer into words – God hears the intentions of our hearts. And if we’re praying in the Spirit, then God has inspired the very prayer God proposes to answer. That’s when prayer is really cooking. But in this life we’ll have some desires of our own, and anxieties, and we can offer those in prayer as often as we want. It’s the most productive way of dealing with our worries and wants. It is communication that deepens our relationship with God. And when we talk to God, we’re promised peace, a peace which allows us to better let go of our wants and worries.

Persistence doesn’t always yield the “result” we want. Sometimes God’s answer is silence, or no, or we see an outcome very different than what we want or regard as life-giving. Mystery and timing are factors in prayer we can never control. Yet even when we don’t see the answer we desire, we’re invited to pray.

It could be that the only outcome is a deeper relationship with God – and what better outcome could there be than to be closer to the Maker of all worlds, the Lover of our souls, the one relationship that will endure when all else has fallen away?

7-19-22 - Prayer 101

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

“Hello. You’re in charge. Supply me, forgive me, protect me.” These are the essential elements of prayer, as Jesus taught his disciples to pray.

He said to them, "When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial."

Watching his pattern of going apart to spend time in prayer inspired Jesus’ disciples to ask him to teach them how to pray. (They also had a little “keeping up with the John-ses” rivalry going on with disciples of John the Baptist …) Jesus’ answer has become the manual on prayer for Christians ever since, coming down to us as the Lord’s Prayer, which we often recite in the words of the Elizabethan translation rather than the more accurate original version provided by modern bible translators.

People often feel they need to be taught to pray – there are thousands of books and seminars on prayer. This is partly because we’re wired for action, and once we become addicted to a certain pace, and even addicted to stress (yes, our brain chemicals can become adapted to that too…), it is very uncomfortable to become still and put ourselves into a receptive mode. It is also hard to be in conversation with someone you cannot see. But this pattern Jesus provides is simple, and some of it corresponds to those prayers we utter without thinking: “Thanks! Help me! Give me! Forgive me! Save me!”

What we don’t always include in our spontaneous prayers is the first two parts of Jesus’ prayer – the naming of God as our Father/Mother/Source of being. To say this is to remind ourselves of the personal, familial relationship between us and God – God is not a corporate boss, a Santa with gifts, an accountant checking a balance sheet, or a judge weighing our merits. God is loving parent. That’s where we start.

And God is holy, which is what “hallowed” means. As loving and intimate as God may be, God is not the same as us. God is wholly other, completely good, Pure Love in which there is no fault or dilution. That affects the relationship and how we pray too.

Perhaps the most neglected clause is “Your kingdom come.” This means not only “Let the end of the world come soon,” though it has meant that to some. It means, “Let God-Life break into this world, into my life, into my heart right now, today, and every day.” It is the most radical prayer we can utter – and we’re invited to pray it every day. If we were conscious of the power we are invoking when we pray those words, this world would be changed. Let’s see what happens when we start really meaning it.