The Lord’s Prayer

How many times have you said the Lord’s Prayer?

How many times have you actually prayed it?

I’m sure that I must have recited the Lord’s Prayer a thousand times — more — but it wasn’t until very recently that I started to love praying each and every word.

From Your Lips to God’s Ear

Alfred Bessette was a simple man of poor health and great faith. If you’d like to know how this man became St. Andre Bessette, the “Miracle Man of Montréal,” then I recommend an old movie found HERE. (Yes, it’s old and, yes, it’s dubbed, but it’s really very good.) After enjoying and being inspired by the film, I ran across this quote from the Saint: “When you say the Our Father, God’s ear is next to your lips.”

That image, that knowledge, changed not only my way of praying but also my very relationship with God, with Our Heavenly Father. The beauty of the prayer that Jesus gave to us became clear to me, its power and its gentleness. Knowing that God was intimately listening to me with perfectly exquisite attentiveness, each word came from my heart, each word felt like a round, smooth stone into the liquid reality of God’s presence within me and all around me.

There actually are no words to describe the intimate power of this prayer.

He Came to Give Us Life

This new discovery came at a time when I needed it the most. I was very worried this summer (I am very often worried), worried for the health of my father and the safety of my mother — the usual worries that, sadly, come down to worries about my own well-being. Self-centeredness is a sin of which I continually need to repent. Anyway, worried about their possible deaths, I actually started disliking my favorite pastime of genealogy because of the many death certificates that I kept uncovering. So many ways for the human body to die. My underlying anxiety was so bad that I didn’t even want to pray the “Hail Mary” anymore, because the prayer ends with the word “death.” Often, I, like many Catholics I suspect, pray the rosary when I have trouble falling asleep. The soothing repetition and, yes, the prayers themselves aid in soothing the mind and soul, and in welcoming rest. They seemed to do the opposite for me this summer.

So I began praying the Lord’s Prayer over and over whenever I needed calming and soothing. Truly, this prayer that Jesus gave directly to us, as recorded in the Bible, answers every need. Over the last few months, I have become surprised by how uplifting the “Our Father” is, how positive and reassuring is the prayer that Christ Himself recommends to us. The words “Heaven”… “Hallowed”… “Kingdom”… “Earth”… “Day”… “Bread”… “Forgive”… “Lead us”… “Deliver us”… are beautiful nourishment and sustenance, are like a lovely rain to wash away all fear and care, sunlight to warm and soothe, or loving hands to embrace and show the way.

Certainly, the Lord’s Prayer can be prayed with gravity, with a mind on the grave and every terrible thing about living life on Earth. But I don’t see it that way. I don’t pray it that way. This summer, with the knowledge of Our Heavenly Father intimately listening to me, I caught a glimpse of why Jesus gave us this prayer as I grew in joy, love, hope, and faith with every breath of it.

Why the Lord’s Prayer Is Christ’s Example of How to Pray

Many people who are more gifted and faithful than I am have laid out the beauty and meaning of each line of the prayer. I’m struggling to put into words what I sense in the heart of the prayer, beating in each line for me. But I’m a writer, which means that I’m a fool who puts things into words anyway and then shares them on a blog. 🙂

Why is the “Our Father” given to us?

First, so that we may acknowledge the omnipotence of God, the fearful holiness of God, while at the same time thanking and praising God for His intimate love of us, His children: “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” I am in the presence of Holiness.

Then, that we may acknowledge the merciful goodness of God’s creation of both Heaven and Earth, united in God’s will for us, His children. God’s will, His plan, is for us to be merciful as He is merciful, so that we may be open to receive all of His heavenly blessings: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Heaven and Earth are not separate in the eyes of God.

So that we will remember that God is the giver of all good things and when we pray we are called to trust in God’s goodness, and to trust that God will provide us with what we need every day: “Give us this day our daily bread.” God will provide all that I need. Trust.

So that we will know that God has pity on us in our sinfulness and allows us to be forgiven and made new through His mercy — when we ourselves share this mercy with our fellow sinners: “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” What God requires from me is mercy.

So that we never forget that God is always with us, ready, willing, and perfectly able to guide us through the difficulties of life and to guard us from all harm. And He will: “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” God is my rock. God’s got my back.

Amen. I believe it, and I will live my belief.

© 2023 Christina Chase

(A deeper look into parts of the Our Father and what they mean to me will continue in my next two posts.)

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Feature Photo by Volkan Olmez on Unsplash