July 29, 2007

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Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

Read Luke 11:1-13

Read also Hosea 11:1-11; Colossians 3:1-11 and Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22

 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of is 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…."

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.                                                   Luke 11:1-4;9-10

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We can be thankful to Luke who gives us an alternate version of the Lord’s Prayer in this passage. When we pray in public worship, it is Matthew’s version that we use. By turning here to Luke’s account, we are almost startled by the slight changes.  That’s good; it makes us sit up and take notice.  Sometimes familiarity breeds indifference and becomes a barrier to meaning, Take time now to read this passage as though you had never heard the words before.  Meditate on it, reflect, and make the prayer your own. 

.   Lord, Teach Us to Pray   .

Turning the Lord’s Prayer into My Prayer

When I feel isolated, alone and lonely,

with impersonal dehumanizing forces at work around me,  

Lord, remind me that personhood is at the center of creation,

                    Lord teach me to pray

“Father”

When I feel too closely bound to earth

and everything about me seems crass

and I’ve lost all sense of wholeness or holiness,

                    Lord  teach me to pray

“Hallowed be your name”

When the forces of evil all about me,

and sometimes within me

seem on the rise and triumphant,

                    Lord, teach me to pray

“Thy Kingdom come.”

When I become greedy and acquisitive

and seek to store possessions without end,

without a proper sense of gratitude

for all that you provide, 

                    Lord teach me to pray,

“Give us each day our daily bread”

When I feel the pressure of my own sin,

goading me to vengeance,

beguiling me to lust,

subtly sliding me into conduct that I know is wrong,

(even those “harmless” peccadilloes

and those little white lies)

                     Lord teach me to pray,

“Forgive us our sins”

When, in selfrighteous indignation ,

I would breathe down fire on those who offend me,  

or quietly, smugly pass judgement on them,

         Lord teach me to pray

“Forgive…as we ourselves forgive …”

When things get tough,

and I am tempted to take short cuts

in what I know to be your will;

when trouble assaults me and I seem to be yielding
to the pressures of the moment,  

Lord, teach me to pray
  “Do not bring us to the time of trial."

When in the midst

of each day’s joys and pains and worries,

I would forget your claim upon my life,

help me to declare from deep within  my heart

“Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory

  Forever!”

Lord, teach me to pray.  Amen.

                                                                                         --- rvc

*** D I S C L A I M E R ***

The Weekly Lessons are based on the lectionary texts for the week – usually the Gospel lesson. They are not designed as a formal commentary.  Rather, they are the personal reflections and original compositions of The Relay Online editor, Rev. Robin Van Cleef, and offer a jumping off point, using the scriptures as triggers to thought, imagination, and (we hope) empowerment.  As you read them, let your own imagination play, and let the Spirit speak to you, leading you where it will.  The Gospel Lessons reflected on this site may not be copied, reproduced or otherwise manipulated elsewhere on the internet without the expressed consent of the author.

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