Our Father (The Lord's Prayer)
Tony R. Nester
Matthew 6:9-13
I once had a job as an orderly in a nursing home. My job was to take care of the men. I dressed them, fed them, cleaned them, and helped them in and out of bed.
There was one elderly man who had a condition which in those days we called "senile." He had lost a great deal of his memory. He often spoke in ways that didn't make sense to me, especially since I didn't know anything about his past life. But something strange would happen when he became agitated. If he was in pain or frightened, he would begin to recite from memory The Lord's Prayer. He said the words in rapid fire as if all the words were connected by hyphens: "Our-Father-who-art-in-heaven-hallowed-be-thy-name-Thy-Kingdom-come-thy-will-be-done-on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven."
Some where back in his earlier life, probably in childhood, he learned The Lord's Prayer and it found a lodging in his memory that survived his mental deterioration.
The Prayer Seems Ordinary
The Lord's Prayer is perhaps the most familiar part of Christianity to people. All it takes is for some leader to start the prayer with the words "Our Father who art in heaven .." and many people automatically start to say the rest of the words by rote memory. We pray this prayer in church, at weddings, at funerals, in hospital rooms, and on the battlefield.
There's something comforting about the words to this prayer simply because it's become so much a part of our lives. For many of us The Lord's Prayer is lodged in our memory for good.
Problem -- Becomes Ordinary
There is a problem, however, with our familiarity with these words of Jesus. The problem is that this prayer becomes ordinary and dull. All it takes is some leader to start the words -- "Our Father who art in heaven ..." -- and people automatically start saying the prayer without really praying the prayer.
Not an Ordinary Prayer
But this is not an ordinary prayer, and Jesus' disciples re ...
Tony R. Nester
Matthew 6:9-13
I once had a job as an orderly in a nursing home. My job was to take care of the men. I dressed them, fed them, cleaned them, and helped them in and out of bed.
There was one elderly man who had a condition which in those days we called "senile." He had lost a great deal of his memory. He often spoke in ways that didn't make sense to me, especially since I didn't know anything about his past life. But something strange would happen when he became agitated. If he was in pain or frightened, he would begin to recite from memory The Lord's Prayer. He said the words in rapid fire as if all the words were connected by hyphens: "Our-Father-who-art-in-heaven-hallowed-be-thy-name-Thy-Kingdom-come-thy-will-be-done-on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven."
Some where back in his earlier life, probably in childhood, he learned The Lord's Prayer and it found a lodging in his memory that survived his mental deterioration.
The Prayer Seems Ordinary
The Lord's Prayer is perhaps the most familiar part of Christianity to people. All it takes is for some leader to start the prayer with the words "Our Father who art in heaven .." and many people automatically start to say the rest of the words by rote memory. We pray this prayer in church, at weddings, at funerals, in hospital rooms, and on the battlefield.
There's something comforting about the words to this prayer simply because it's become so much a part of our lives. For many of us The Lord's Prayer is lodged in our memory for good.
Problem -- Becomes Ordinary
There is a problem, however, with our familiarity with these words of Jesus. The problem is that this prayer becomes ordinary and dull. All it takes is some leader to start the words -- "Our Father who art in heaven ..." -- and people automatically start saying the prayer without really praying the prayer.
Not an Ordinary Prayer
But this is not an ordinary prayer, and Jesus' disciples re ...
There are 11383 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
