THE CHURCH
OF ENGLAND

     As was the custom when a group gathered around a teacher in ancient times one of the questions that his disciples asked of Jesus was, “Lord teach us to pray”. Jesus demonstrates what prayer is by offering a prayer, a prayer which prays for transformation of the world by the active agency of God’s power and grace. The prayer, which we know as “The Lord’s Prayer” gives us all the elements that our prayer should hold.

Praise of God which sandwiches the prayer,
beginning and ending it and grounding all we
say within it in a sense of a relationship with God
the giver, the lover, the one who renews and inspires us.    Our Father, who art in heaven,
                                                                                    hallowed be thy name;
                                                                                    For thine is the kingdom,
                                                                                    the power and the glory,
                                                                                    for ever and ever.
                                                                                    Amen.

Desire for God’s transforming action in the
world, but it is a prayer not only for God to act
 but for change to happen through us. As we live
Kingdom lives and share Kingdom values so we
offer the world a glimpse of what could be, a
dream of a possibility of a world that works differently.
                                                                                  thy kingdom come;
                                                                                   thy will be done;
                                                                                   on earth as it is in heaven.

Intercession for the things that we need
practically in our lives, “daily bread”
encompassing so much more than food,
but pared down to the basic needs of our lives
                                                                                 Give us this day our daily bread.

Confession, the expression of a desire for those
things that we need at the deepest levels of our
being, forgiveness, wholeness, integration.                                                 
A prayer to be ready to offer forgiveness to
others even when it is most difficult.
                                                                     And forgive us our trespasses,
                                                                      as we forgive those who trespass against us.                         .

A prayer for strength to face the day and its
challenges without falling away from the path
God sets before us. It includes a sense of
preparedness to be agents of change ourselves
in our society.                                                    And lead us not into temptation;
                                                                         but deliver us from evil.

The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that calls Jesus’ followers to be people who place God at the centre of their lives, being ready to be transformed by God for the purpose of God’s Kingdom.
 As we pray the prayer week by week day by day let us never let it become just words that we say, but let it be words that we live and that live in us.

Priscilla