Prayer and Our Faithful God
Elaine Poproski Download: Audio
Sunday Scripture Reading: Luke 11:1-13 (NRSV)
1 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.” Read more…
Looking to Sunday: Preparing to Hear from God
by Elaine Poproski
Our Father, who art in heaven…
Is it stretching the truth to suggest that this might be the best-known prayer in the world?
It started simply enough: Jesus’ disciples, likely because they wanted His kind of connection to God, asked Him to teach them how to pray. Jesus complied. Two of the four Gospel writers included the teaching moment in their writing. And Christians around the world have been praying the way Jesus taught ever since.
While the Lord’s Prayer is not as familiar to Canadians under 30 as it is to those over 40, it’s still usually recognizable for anyone with even a nominal Christian heritage. It’s been so much a part of institutionalized Christianity over the centuries that it’s been re-written and creatively presented countless times in countless ways, to emphasize different parts or to get us to notice something overly familiar in fresh new ways. As you prepare for Sunday, I invite you to pull out your favourite versions or presentations of the Lord’s Prayer or do an internet search for versions you’ve never seen before. Compare them to the original versions from Matthew 6 and Luke 11. How do they differ? Do the differences change the meaning? Do these new versions bring something out that you’ve never thought of before? If you find something particularly meaningful, I invite you to bring it with you on Sunday to share with the rest of us.