Do you remember the first prayers that you ever learned to pray? For me some that come to mind are: "Thank you God for this food. May it nourish us and help us grow. Amen" and "Now I lay me down the sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep..."
For the disciples, when they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, he taught them what we call the Lord's Prayer.
But what we sometimes don't realize is that there are two different versions of this prayer. One found in this week's text - Luke, chapter 11, and a longer version found in Matthew, chapter 6. The one that we often learn and recite is the Matthew text, but there is something compelling about the short nature of this prayer as well. Only 5 lines, but communicating everything that the disciples desired to learn about prayer.
Prayer is a mystery. Many of us hold on to the prayers we first learned long ago. In fact, we still pray the pray about thanking God for our food now that we are teaching my nieces how to pray. But prayer is also this open conversation with God. God doesn't care if we use "hallowed be thy name" language or talk as if we were communicating with a parent or loved one. God simply wants to spend time with us.
Which is ultimately what Jesus is teaching his disciples about - how to spend time with God as he spends time with God.
May we be a people who desire to spend time with God - whatever that may look like for you. May you pour your heart out before God and share the gift of prayer with others - all for the sake of God's holy name.
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