Day 5 : My "Father" and "Our" Father

In the "Our Father" which we study, Jesus continues with: "... do not multiply vain words ...".

The mere fact of praying does not necessarily mean that one will be heard. Praying is not specific to Christians. We pray in all religions, and often in a much more disciplined manner than among Christians !

There is thus a way of praying, of structuring his prayer, which generates results. It is better to pray five minutes on the basis of the blood of Jesus in His name and with His Word than to complain about his fate for three quarters of an hour asking God why He permitted this and that and saying that 'It would have been better to do otherwise !

Here is what Jesus tells us : "Here is how you must pray," and he gives us the 'Our Father'. But when you read it very slowly you can draw less than a minute of prayer. Did Jesus want us to pray one minute a day, and always the same thing in repetition almost like a mantra ?

It seems obvious that Jesus did not want us to repeat this prayer to the letter every day, and that's all. I believe he wanted to give us a framework, with certain key truths, on which we can build, and adapt it according to our personal situation.

Prayer begins with "Our Father who art in heaven ! ".

Prayer begins with "Our Father who art in heaven! This means that the focus is on the Father. It all began and will always begin with the Father. Then he is our Father. In our individualistic era, we all tend to think only of 'me', of 'I', and consequently our prayers are centered around ourselves and our little world.

But, although God also sees us as an individual, he first sees us together in a Body, the Church. And let us be clear about this: it does not mean only the brothers and sisters that one meets once or twice a week in a certain building !

In fact, this 'building', which is often incorrectly called a 'church', is often more an obstacle to really being 'together' than anything else ... It is very difficult to be 'together', in communion with When there is no real possibility of saying anything (except at the appointed time and time, when we are given permission to 'raise our voices to God') for two Hours, while looking at the person's back before us !

The 'our' is first of all an attitude of heart and mind, and an accomplishment that we all make part of a Body, that we are a family, brothers and sisters, with the same Father. We do not live our Christian life for ourselves, we live it together with others, for God.

In the days to come, we will look at other aspects of the 'Our Father'.

"Thank you Lord that I am part of a great family, and that we all have the same Father, who are in heaven ! Help me to pray on good foundations, and to take your Word as a foundation ! In the name of Jesus, amen."

René de Groot