Thoughts for the Day

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ 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.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version

Thoughts

I wrote down some thoughts, "Kind. Loving. Gentle. Very good at Maths. Could do hard crosswords in under ten minutes. Loved small children. Mad on Welsh Rugby. Generous." At this point I became stuck. What else could I say to sum up my lovely husband Adrian? Oh yes, before the dementia descended he could recognise people he had met forty years before.

If you have ever had to sum up a person's character you will know how hard it is. But this is what Jesus does in Luke's short version of the Lord's Prayer, by using the word "Father"! In the Hebrew language a name means much more than the word we use to call someone, it means their whole character as we see, hear and know it to be revealed. When we say "Father" we mean that we believe God to be the perfect Father with all the attributes of a human parent magnified. Looking at human parents we can only see this dimly, but when we approach God He is there ready to offer us all that we need.

When we pray we start with God and His coming kingdom of love; before we move on to our essential need for food, and our longing for forgiveness for ourselves and of others; and finally we close with a large plea not to be tested too hard in this life. This day may we "hallow", that is "honour as holy" the Father!

Father,
may we use Your name
because we know of Your love for us.
May we use Your name
because You are always ready to help.
May we use Your name
because we trust You.
May we use Your name
when we are alone and desperate.
May we use Your name
constantly as we draw closer to You.
Amen.