Paul Dumbrille
Without doubt, the prayer that Christians know the best is what we call the Lord’s Prayer. It appears twice in Scripture, with slight differences, in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. This article uses the NRSV translation of the Matthew version. The Prayer is contained within the Sermon on the Mount, and in the lead-in to it, Jesus says, “Pray then this way”. What follows outlines Jesus’ approach to prayer – that is how to pray, not necessarily what we should pray for. The central themes Jesus articulates here are threefold: Praise, Petitions, and Thanksgiving. It focuses succinctly on two agendas – God’s and ours – and it places priority on the Kingdom message and doing God’s will. Perhaps during Lent, we can use the Lord’s Prayer to broaden how we pray, not just what we pray for.
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