URC Daily Devotion Thursday 30 January 2025

St Luke 11: 1 – 4

Jesus 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.’

Reflection

What can one say about the most familiar prayer of all that hasn’t been said before? A prayer that most of us can easily say without hesitation, almost by rote – even non-church-goers!

And yet its familiarity somehow doesn’t make it lose its effectiveness and power.  Unlike the Creeds, which in the church of my youth we said every week and they appeared (to me at least) a virtually meaningless mash-up of words. Say them periodically, taking the time to consider what we are saying and their deep expression of faith resounds. Likewise the Methodist Covenant Prayer said once a year is powerful and moving, something that I suspect would be lost if said frequently.

Somehow, though, this simple prayer, taught by Jesus to his disciples, never seems to lose its potency, no matter how often it is said. Indeed I cannot conceive of a Sunday Service without it being in there somewhere! 

Yet it is not without its problems – a past church member had a sexually-abusing father and had serious challenges praying to a heavenly Father-figure.

On a smaller scale, some insist on sticking to ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ and ‘trespasses’ (whatever they are). In school, in Scotland we said ‘forgive us our debts’ which I found obtuse and yet later found that of course it is how Luke recorded the line. 

When the Church of England tried to replace the line about not leading us into temptation (as if God would ever do that!) with not bringing us to the time of trial, there was uproar and it was quietly sidelined, even though, to me, it makes much more sense.

Is it a magisterial source that gives it its power – after all there were very few things that Jesus specifically told us to do. Or is it its deeply personal nature, combined with spiritual simplicity? I don’t know but I plan to continue to pray frequently just as Jesus suggested, confidently expecting it to be as meaningful as ever.

Prayer

Say slowly, pausing between each line:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours

now and forever. 

Amen