FIRST PART - Our Father who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It is interesting that so far we haven’t even mentioned our own needs. We haven’t even mentioned ourselves. Jesus wants us to stand before God in truth. And this means that we are to recognize who God is and give Him our first attention.
Our Father – signifies how much God has done for us. He has made us His children and He wants us to be in a very intimate relationship with Him. The word “Abba” really means ‘daddy’.
Hollowed be thy name – desire for justice. It is God who alone deserves praise and worship. And it should be our desire for that to happen.
Your will be done on earth and heaven – in our prayers Jesus wants us to unite our wills with those of God. Because God’s will is what is best for us.
SECOND PART - Give us, Forgive us, Lead us not, Deliver us. This is when we turn to our own needs. Sure, God knows what we need, but by asking him for good things we are allowing Him to enter into our lives. God will not force Himself into our lives.
Give us – we are asking for basic necessities of life (symbolism of bread).
Forgive us – we recognize our sinfulness and at the same time realize God’s mercy
Lead us not – we want to avoid those situations which are harmful for us
Deliver us – when bad things happen to us we desire God’s intervention.
Notice that we often forget the first part of Jesus prayer, and only turn to God when something bad happens. And we start from the end.
RENEW YOUR PRAYER LIFE - We’ve all had difficulties with our prayer life. Maybe even now. Maybe we’re putting it off, thinking that we’ll straighten things out with God when we’ll have more time, when we’re older, once we have our fun in life. Do we think that the world can offer us something better than God? God’s goodness cannot be compared with that of the world. Do not allow God to be put off on the back burner, because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We need God’s goodness in our lives. We can’t make it without God’s grace. Invite God into your life today by asking Him to teach you once more how to pray.
Fr. Wojtek Kuzma