Teach Us to Pray

"One of his disciples said to him, 

'Lord, teach us to pray, 

as John taught his disciples.'"

 (Luke 11:1 NRSV)

Jesus said to them,

 "Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 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 evil.'" (Mt.6:9-13)

I memorized the Lords Prayer in Sunday School not really understanding what it meant. I learned bits and pieces such as there is "debts" and "trespasses" and figured "trespasses" worked best for me. 

But that all changed on January 6th. If this is a Christian's greatest prayer, there must be more to it. 

First, the Lord knows your needs before you ask, then why teach a prayer about needs? 

It seems to me this is a prayer about a vision. Jesus is teaching the disciples to envision a Kingdom of God and reminding them what the kingdom is like. When Jesus says, "Thy will be done on earth as in heaven", he was saying this is God's invitation to join him in making things down here run the way they do up there by equal distribution. 

Second, what was the context in which Jesus taught the prayer? The world Jesus lived in was in turmoil. There had been two violent rebellions against imperial oppression. There had been nonviolent action against Pilate's policy of promoting the imperial cult, and Caligula trying to put his divine statue in the Temple. 

It seems to me that the phrase, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," is tied to that context.  Specifically, not to fall into violent demonstrations in God's name. Instead, deliver us from that temptation to nonviolence in God's name. That is what God's kingdom is like. That is doing God's will on earth as in heaven.

For me, what makes this the greatest Christian prayer is that it has the same power of hope today. As we go through our time of turmoil, the prayer reminds us God is in charge.