Reading 7
Teach us to pray
The reading
Matthew 6:5-15
When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. In praying, don’t use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.
Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
The companions
Psalm 103:1-14 (selected)
Praise the LORD, my soul! All that is within me, praise his holy name! Praise the LORD, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits; who forgives all your sins; who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Like a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.
Isaiah 63:16
For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, LORD, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
The note
Two failures, and both are about audience. The first man prays to be seen and gets precisely what he came for, which was to be seen. The second thinks volume works, that more words improve the odds. Jesus closes both by saying your Father already knows what you need before you ask him.
Which raises the obvious question. If he already knows, what is asking for? The prayer he gives answers it by what is in it. It is short.
It is plural all the way through, our and us and we, so you cannot pray it alone even when you are alone in a room with the door shut. And most of its lines are about other people: their needs met, their debts cleared, everyone kept out of harm.
Asking does not inform God. It puts you somewhere, next to a set of concerns that were never mostly yours.
This week
Say it once a day, out loud, slowly, in a room with the door shut and nothing in it listening for a wake word. Seven days, same time each day. Notice which line you skid past. For most people it is the one about forgiving debtors, which is the line Jesus goes back to and attaches a warning to.
You are not required to feel anything while you say it. Say it on purpose and see where you are by Sunday.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (public domain). The divine name is rendered “the LORD” in the companions.
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