As a teacher at the Hutterite Colony, I had the rare privilege of praying the Lord's Prayer with my students. We sang 'O Canada' and then remained standing while we recited the prayer found in Matthew 6.
Rote learning of Scripture in High German is part of their daily routine. I didn't want the repetition of this prayer to sound like some of those recitations in German. So I reminded them that we needed to pray this prayer slowly so the youngest students could begin to learn the English words to this expression of prayer.
The word 'our' caught my attention when we did this. This is a prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray together. When we pray it by ourselves, the word 'our' reminds us that we are not alone. We are part of a larger body of believers. It says 'we belong to God's family'.
Jesus reminded his disciples that he is with them as they pray this prayer. Jesus' Father is not only his but ours as well. What would happen if we reminded ourselves of this opportunity to declare our sense of belonging and community and co-union with Christ as we prayed?
The word 'Father' speaks to our origin and the intimate relationship that is available to us. The disciples witnessed the time Jesus spent with His Father and heard his declaration that He only does and says what his Father shows or tells him(John 5:19-20). They desired that same intimacy when they asked him to teach them how to pray.
How will this change the way you pray the Lord's prayer?
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