Our Father in heaven

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard by their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

"Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

- Matthew 6:7-15

In yesterday's lectionary reading, we read that Jesus taught (in the Sermon on the Mount):  "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.   Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." . . . "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard by their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. "  My study bible says that vain repetitions cannot establish a communion with God, as God does not need our "babble."   It adds that in order to partake of this communion, both silence and words are needful.  Therefore, we pray always (Luke 18:1), and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Note that this is not a condemnation per se of many words but rather "vain repetitions" (emphasis mine).  What the Church has always understood -- and in all useful prayer practices -- is that words must express the desire for communion with God.  In today's reading, Jesus gives us specific words to repeat (which is known as the Lord's Prayer).   So it's not repetition which is condemned or forbidden, but rather vain repetitions.  My study bible adds that many psalms, prayers, and hymns of the Church have been repeated for countless generations in the worship of God "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23).

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  My study bible tells us that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity is a revelation of our potential relationship with God.  Christ, as Son of God, grants us the privilege of calling God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).   As a  "son of God" (regardless of gender), each Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God as does Christ serve, trust, and love God the Father.  Note that God is not our Father simply because God has created us.  God is Father for those in a saving and personal relationship -- a communion that comes by the grace of adoption (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).  We are therefore to understand "sonship" as a status of being an heir.  In the context of Your name this is very important, as it indicates that status of an heir in a particular royal house; and that this house is honored as holy (hallowed).   This house is the kingdom of heaven, and we pray for our Father's royal will to be fully manifest on earth as it is in heaven.
  
"Give us this day our daily bread."  My study bible informs us that daily is a misleading translation of the Greek word epiousios/ἐπιούσιος.  This word literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  So when we read or say the phrase daily bread, we should understand it to mean not simply bread for today, and for earthly nourishment.  Rather this refers to the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, as my study bible beautifully puts it, which is for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  Of course, this living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  My study bible says that therefore in the Lord's Prayer, we are not asking merely for material bread for physical health, but rather for the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).   This bread is to sustain our life in the Kingdom.  Notable also is that this word appears nowhere in literature, contemporary or otherwise, and seems to have been coined specifically for the prayer given to us by Jesus.  This simply adds to our understanding of the uniqueness of what Christ offers, and asks us to pray for.  Of course, the echoes in the Eucharist are also clear here. 

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  This request to be forgiven is notably plural.  My study bible says that it directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  The term debts is literally what is stated in the words of Christ reported in the Gospel, and it refers to spiritual debts.  To forgive a debt is to wipe it off the books, literally here the word means to "let go" or "release."

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  My study bible says that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13).  Temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  It adds that temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  No one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations -- or tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) -- should not come to us.  Let us note that we pray to be delivered from the evil one, and this would include all forms of evil.  This specific word for evil (or "the evil one") also literally means pain, or laborious trouble, that which gives misery.

"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."  This statement once again emphasizes the kingdom of our Father, and that it is God's power and glory which we seek, worship, commit to serve, and in which we desire to dwell.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."   My study bible comments here that Jesus insists on mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  Those who do not forgive are not forgiven.  This is a teaching which is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:21-35), which ends with the same teaching.  My study bible adds that to not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves.  Let us note that here the word "trespass" is used where "debt" was used in the prayer.   Each is important to understand.  While debt is a kind of spiritual wound, trespass indicates a misstep, a lapse, falling away -- even something done unintentionally.

Jesus' prayer really gives us everything we need for our lives.  It is an essential prayer to say every day, and a good prayer for every day use.  Each phrase is meaningful, and sets us in a right place, a right orientation to our lives and to our faith.  In particular, it orients us to God our Father in the right way.  It is entirely in keeping with Jesus' teaching that rather than have us pray to Him in His specifically instructed prayer, we pray to the Father.  For not once during His entire time of ministry does He deviate from the important assertion that He is in the world to serve and to represent the Father, that even Christ's will and aim are not simply His own, but the will of His Father in heaven.  Therefore, His life was one of teaching us to do and serve the same, as "sons" of the Father by adoption, and therefore heirs in the kingdom of heaven.  This prayer emphasizes our sonship (again, regardless of our gender, and using language meant to teach us that we are heirs).  The use of the words "debt" and "trespass" I think warrants further attention, as they seem to describe with varied hidden implications different things.  A debt really indicates a kind of wounding or loss, something that has been taken from us that belongs to us.  We can think of this kind of debt as that which one might normally seek to avenge.  But we are asked to "let go."  To my mind, this does not imply that we are going to best friends with those who do us serious harm; a reconciliation process may be a long one.  But to let go of our debts and give them up to God our Father is essential for life in the Kingdom, because we really seek God's will in how we will live.  Therefore this aspect of the prayer is one that emphasizes letting go of purely worldly notions of vengeance or getting one's own back, and seeking to be directed through God's will for how we will live.  Furthermore, it is a liberation, for we are freed from concern for that debt in particular, and enabled to live more wholly and fully and from a better perspective.  It reinstates our personal integrity by letting go of what is essentially a loss or harm, just like businesses will often write off old debts to be unburdened of the toll.  So we are asked to "let go" -- especially indicative of letting go of collecting or exacting vengeance, returning the same to the one responsible for the debt.  Trespass indicates something less serious:  an error or misstep, something that causes a kind of offense but may even be unintentional, a mistake.  And these we are called to forgive as well, to let go.  Once again, Jesus emphasizes that this is a "deal" between our heavenly Father and ourselves.  It is a part of the communion of the Kingdom that we are forgiven as we forgive.   It is not a pact with the trespasser so much as it is one with our Father.  It seems to me that this emphasis is highly important, because it is a true way to freedom.  If we continue to nurse the debts or wounds we feel, or even the trespasses of others, we are always going to be miserable.  In the ancient systems of justice, one had to depend frequently on family or clan for the implementation of justice, and one can see how that could include traditions of vengeance and retribution to equal the insult or the harm.  But through Jesus' prayer, we are reminded that "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord (Romans 12:19, Deuteronomy 32:35).  Therefore what we seek to do is place all things in the hands of God, and to seek God's will for the best way to handle our difficulties, and to live our lives.  Effectively, this kind of forgiveness or letting go to God is a way to open up all possibilities, to become unlimited in seeking the best way to respond to any hurtful or difficult circumstance.  It opens us up to what is best, whether that be a step by step process to reconciliation, or a need for distancing, depending upon the problems (or even evil) we incur and suffer.  Let us consider also the importance of asking God to deliver us from evil (or the evil one).  This is a prayer not simply for deliverance but also for protection, and it is equally important to recognize that we don't live in a perfect world -- and our discipleship is not necessarily simple nor easy.  Let us keep in mind that Christ in this way prepares us for what we need.  In the wisdom of the Church, we are given what we need in this prayer, a gift from our Lord.  Let us pray it as often as needed, for it is not "vain repetition" to trust in Christ's prayer for us.  Rather, let it help us increase our understanding, and apply what it teaches to all that comes to mind and is in hearts, whatever that might be.