THE LORD’S PRAYER: The Eternal Invitation to Prayer

From the Gospel according to St. Luke (11:1) we read: “Lord, teach us (the disciples) to pray…”; and what ensues is our Lord Jesus Christ teaching the disciples The Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer has become an ever-present component of virtually every liturgy, including those used at St. Mary’s. Some even suggest that since the Lord’s Prayer is the quintessential prayer of our faith, coming as it does directly from Jesus Christ, it essentially precludes the need for any additional expressions of communication or dialogue with God. Instead, however, “how to pray” has been a preoccupation, a quest, of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church from its inception to the present time. For example:

From St. Benedict, 6th century monk, founder of monasticism, from his Rule for the Benedictine Order: “We must know that God regards our purity of heart…not our many words. Prayer should therefore be short and pure…”

From St. Anselm, 11th century Benedictine monk and founder of Scholasticism, who saw prayer as a colloquy with God; in other words, an intimate conversation between you and God wherein we speak and listen as the Spirit moves us: “Nor do I seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe that I may understand. For this too I believe, that unless I first believe, I shall not understand.”

From Fr. Henri Nouwen, 20th century Roman Catholic priest and author of numerous books: “To pray, that is, to listen to the voice of the One who calls us the ‘beloved’, is to learn that that voice excludes no one. Where I dwell, God dwells with me and where God dwells with me I find all my sisters and brothers.”

From Fr. Michael Rowe, Episcopal priest and Rector, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Bonita Springs, FL from his doctoral thesis: “…prayer is not primarily something which we choose to make happen or not. Rather, it is a reality into which we are invited. It is not a work we do but a grace we receive.” And further: ”…all true prayer and praise is ‘in the Spirit’, that is, from God and part of the life of God.”

Why is this important and meaningful? One of the most amazing ironies of the Word of God, Holy Scripture, about the disciple’s question, “Lord, teach us to pray”, is that the very person and motivation for the disciple’s quest: dialoguing with God, hearing the voice of God, being in touch with God, is that the very person, the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ, whose voice they were yearning to hear, was actually there in their midst, and it was God himself who then taught them how to pray. The reality is that our spiritual quest for prayer that is pure, enlightening, inclusive, and “in the Spirit” continues for us as well; the desire, like that of the disciples, to be in touch with the divine is eternal. And perhaps most important, for us to hear that voice above all others in this cacophonous world. Be thankful that the eternal invitation to prayer, the grace through prayer that is open to us, is there for us to pursue with him who is always with us, for us, and always waiting and to respond.