Thoughts for the Day

Jesus said, 'Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way:

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 do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.

For if you forgive others their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.'

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Can you say the Lord's Prayer from memory? Well most of us think we can, but try it. Centuries ago the test for a witch, could be to get them to say the Lord's Prayer. The inability to do so, indicated they were a witch! It's not as easy as it seems and someone under stress might have faltered. Indeed I once stood at a graveside with two others, and started the Lord's Prayer only to forget the next line. I had to suggest we said it together, which worked.

The reading from Matthew's Gospel is slightly different from the Lord's Prayer we know, because we tend to use the version from the Book of Common Prayer or its more modern versions. Both St Matthew and St Luke give us the Lord's Prayer, but they are slightly different from one another (click "Lord's Prayer 1" above to see Luke's version).

Matthew asks that God does not 'bring us to the time of trial', and says that our Father knows what we need before we ask Him. However, we should still ask God's help. Perhaps it's like knowing that water is plumbed to a tap, but it doesn't produce water unless you turn it on! God may have a solution, but we should still ask for His help.

Heavenly Father,
Your Son taught us how to pray,
and to ask for Your help
when we are in need.
Help us to remember, though,
that when we ask for Your help
the answer may not be what we expect.
Amen.