“Prayer: God and You; Others and You”
Prayer is a foundation stone of our spiritual practices. Taking time intentionally to commune with the divine, or to reach a state of enlightenment, is part of every faith tradition. Humanity has an innate desire to remain constantly connected to a spiritual realm, a realm that transcends our physical perceptions. Desiring a relationship with God is as inherent to us as having a relationship with other people and with all of creation. We need both. We want both.
Yes, my dear atheist friends may object to this based on their position that God or any divine entity or force exists. I say to that, for me, the intensity of a good friendship and relationship with a partner can have the same physical effect as a relationship with the divine. I would even go so far as to say that relationships/connections with other people are a God moment, a God sighting. They are experiencing the very real presence of God.
Because my fundamental theological belief is that God is a relational being. God is ever-present throughout the universe. God is the very fabric of the universe, stitching us to all creation, co-present in every relationship, whether we realize it or not. And in every moment, God is creating something new because as scripture has revealed through the words of the prophet Isaiah 43:19, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
We may not perceive it, but God is at work. God is ever present.
One of my favorite theologians, Marjorie Suchoki, describes the ever-present and creative God, like water:
Water rushes to fill all the nooks and crannies available to it; water swirls around every stone, sweeps into every crevice, touches all things in its path, and changes all things in its path. The changes are subtle, often slow, and happen through a continuous interaction with the water that affects both the water and that which the water touches.
Particles of sand and sediment change the color of the water, and the water’s action changes the stone, and the land, and the life that can be supported. The water doesn’t exert its power by being “single-minded” over and above these things, but simply by being pervasively present to and with all things. It does not evoke the “command” of power over its creation; it is more like a “persuasive” power with and around its creation. Its power is the power of presence.
Dr. Marjorie Suchocki. In God’s Presence: Theological Reflections on Prayer (Kindle Locations 58-61). Kindle Edition.
I deeply believe this. God is like ever-flowing water, finding God’s way into every part of our lives, not as a controlling force, not like Big Brother from 1984, but as persuasive. Luring us towards greater fulfillment in our lives, urging us to choose the door that leads to harmony, groundedness, and peace.
God cannot control us. We have agency. We can say yes or we can say no. As I like to say, God opens a door for us, but we may not choose to walk through it. And when we do not choose the door of groundedness and peace and fulfillment, God is ready to open a new door because God does not give up.
Like in the parable of the lost sheep, when a shepherd loses one of his hundred sheep, he then searches for that one until he finds it. God never gives up reaching out to us. But we need to respond. It is our responsibility to reach out.
We reach out to God through prayer. Prayer is our time to consciously commune with God. To touch our souls to the very power and energy of God. Praying is when we open ourselves to God’s direction. Direction for our personal well-being and others. Guidance for which path God is guiding us and desires us to move towards.
When we follow the path God desires for us, God sustains us because sometimes the door that leads to groundedness, peace, and fulfillment is rocky, with unexpected twists and turns. It is filled with hard things. Challenges that will ultimately lead to fulfillment. Challenges that will lead to harmony. If all of humanity worked together to benefit each it would be so.
Our prayers for ourselves are not where we end but where we begin. Prayer is not just for enriching our own lives but for the empowerment and well-being of others.
Likewise, the Lord’s prayer we pray it as individuals in our private prayers and in our public prayers, we share the prayer together. The Lord’s Prayer is a collective call for God’s kingdom and encouraging words to sustain our individual lives: Give us this daily bread.
We call it the Lord’s prayer for a reason. It is the prayer Jesus prayed. From time to time, he went away to pray.
I have often wondered why Jesus needed to pray. Why did he if he is God incarnate, need to find time to rest and commune with God? In part, the answer I have, though not the only answer, which I do not need to dive deeper into now, is that Jesus’ ministry was exhausting and challenging. We remember the woman who needed healing; she touched the hem of his cloak. In that moment, Jesus felt power leave him. And so knowing we as followers of Jesus would also be challenged, taught us the prayer he prayed.
The words of the Lord’s Prayer typically prayed are from the King James version, with its “thou,” “thine,” and “thy.” Contrasting contemporary English, the King’s English helps the prayer sound poetic, but do we get lost in the poetry?
Sometimes the Lord’s prayer feels rote, routine, average, ordinary, and even ineffective. Billions of Christians in the past and present have prayed this prayer, and yet, where is the kingdom? Where is the daily bread that feeds starving children and adults? Where is the abundance of accountability and forgiveness? Where is the change of hearts that this prayer should change?
Is it because we have not fully opened our hearts to its message–and I say fully rather than truly because I believe we, many, have opened ourselves to it but only partially.
Have we fully allowed ourselves to be transformed by it? Have we fully opened ourselves to God to guide and direct our lives through this prayer?
I will have more to say on this in the next few weeks as we have begun a mini series on the Lord’s Prayer.
So I want to leave you with this. I find it helpful to hear and read other translations/interpretations. Here’s the
The New Zealand translation:
Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.