- The Lord’s Prayer is the most common prayer in all of Christianity. Read it in Matthew 6:9-13 and in Luke 11:2-4. In this prayer, Jesus teaches us how to pray and for what to pray. Spend 15 minutes with the Lord’s Prayer today. What is God revealing to you as you pray this ancient prayer?
I love the Lord's Prayer, because no matter where you go, in whatever language it is prayed, it just feels right. In nursing homes, where many residents suffer memory loss or seem unresponsive, when we start to pray the Lord's Prayer, people perk up and start following along, even offering the prayer in their own way.
Tonight, our United Methodist Women hosted two Native American women who live in Delaware. For an hour, they instructed us on the ancient and modern ways of their culture, heritage and traditions. Two parts of their testimony resonated with me as I spent time with the Lord's Prayer. First, the phrase "give us this day our daily bread." The women, Bo and Reggee, shared that in Native American tradition, when hunting, the men ask for the life of the animals they see, only kill those necessary for the group to eat and use, and offer thanks for the gift. What a powerful testimony to the interconnectedness of life - we recognize the gift of daily bread, only take what is offered, and offer thanks for it.
The phrase, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" also brought me to a place of repentance. Native Americans has suffered so terribly for hundreds of years at the hands of those of us who call ourselves American citizens. Our government and our people have visited unspeakable acts of atrocity upon individuals and entire tribes and nations of native people. But as the women spoke, even though they were honest and forthright about the experiences, they were not bitter or condemning. Their attitude was one of forgiveness. Some of what they shared was painful to hear, but it was spoken and shared in love. It made this phrase of the Lord's Prayer very real to me.
The phrase, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" also brought me to a place of repentance. Native Americans has suffered so terribly for hundreds of years at the hands of those of us who call ourselves American citizens. Our government and our people have visited unspeakable acts of atrocity upon individuals and entire tribes and nations of native people. But as the women spoke, even though they were honest and forthright about the experiences, they were not bitter or condemning. Their attitude was one of forgiveness. Some of what they shared was painful to hear, but it was spoken and shared in love. It made this phrase of the Lord's Prayer very real to me.
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