“Christian prayer is our speaking to God with the very word of God” (¶2769)
“The Prayer of Saint Ephraim”
(translated into poetry by Scott Cairns)
O Lord and Master of my life,
remove from me this languid spirit,
this grim demeanor, this petty
lust for power, and all this empty talk.
Endow Thy servant, instead,
with a chaste spirit, a humble
heart, longsuffering gentleness,
and genuine, unselfish love.
Yes, O Lord and King, grant
that I may confront my own offenses,
and remember not to judge my brother.
For You are—always and forever—blessed.
Theological Reflections on the Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer
“Our Father who art in heaven”: We pray as adopted children to our heavenly Father, who is revealed to us as Father by the Son, Jesus Christ. God is “ours” in that we belong to him as his covenant people¬—as the Body of his Son. Our Father in heaven transcends all ideas of human “fatherhood” or “motherhood; he cannot be defined by creaturely categories. This is what we mean by the phrase “in heaven.” Heaven is not a physical space but a mode of existence, one that is glorified and majestic.
“Hallowed be thy name”: “To hallow” means “to sanctify,” “to consecrate,” “to make holy.” We do not make holy, because only God can; rather, we recognize and affirm the holiness of God through our prayer. And by acknowledging God’s holiness, we also acknowledge that we are to be holy just as God is holy.
“Thy kingdom come”: The “kingdom” or “reign” of God was revealed and realized in the person of Jesus Christ, and will come in fullness when Christ returns at the end of the age. Just as God transcends creaturely categories, so too the kingdom of God transcends culture and society. At the same time, the Spirit who conforms us into the people of God’s kingdom empowers us to seek transformation in the world through the spread of justice and peace.
“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”: In this petition we acknowledge that our wills need to be conformed to the will of God, following the example of Jesus who prayed in Gethsemane: “not my will, but yours be done.” By the power of the Holy Spirit, we seek to unite our wills with the will of the Son so that our lives might be pleasing to the Father.
“Give us this day our daily bread”: As children adopted by grace, we acknowledge the goodness of God and humbly trust him to provide for all our needs. This petition urges us to live in solidarity with those who have physical needs around us, but it also and more fully pertains to our spiritual need for the Bread of Life which we receive in the Eucharist. God provides us with our true “daily bread” in the body and blood of Jesus.
“And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”: Because we recognize our sinfulness, we humbly seek the forgiveness of God, whose boundless mercy extends to all people. But this petition remarkably makes our forgiveness from God dependent upon our forgiveness of others, just as in Jesus’ twofold command, love of God is made mutually dependent upon love of neighbor. As faithful disciples, our lives must imitate the mercy and love of God. Just as Christ died for the ungodly, so too we must forgive our enemies. Just as God reconciled us to himself instead of avenging himself, so too we must be reconciled to others rather than take out our anger against another.
“And lead us not into temptation”: In recognizing our weakness in the face of temptation, we ask God for discernment between trials and temptations, protection from evil, and strength in the face of temptation. The Holy Spirit keeps us strong and vigilant as we await the final victory over sin and death.
“But deliver us from evil”: Evil is not an abstraction but a personal power, Satan, the Evil One. Evil was definitively defeated by Jesus on the cross, and the world was delivered from sin and death. As we await Christ’s coming, we bring before God all the distresses and sufferings of the world, looking to him for hope and strength in the midst of difficulty. We petition God for continual deliverance as we look forward to the final consummation of Christ’s victory in his resurrection from the dead.
