Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV)
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread,
12and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
I came across this idea the other morning; notice how God is the focus of each stanza, except where we are called to forgive others. Even verse 13 could read, “You lead us not into tempation, but You deliver us from evil” for amplification’s sake.
I must say my daily prayers are not of this quality. In the verses preceding this prayer Jesus encourages His disciples not to be like the hypocrites and draw attention to themselves in the ways and means of their prayers. Perhpas the consumer mindset of the world has infiltrated my prayer life? Maybe I get overly concerned with the length of my prayers being worthy of Him. Only God knows. I am thankful for Romans 8:26
26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Too true about the quality and quantity issue.
‘ seems to me that the Lord’s prayer is an underused text in helping us not only to understand prayer but in carrying it out. I reckon it’s a pretty good resource in thinking about how we make life into prayer. I’ve written a bit more at
http://abbeynous.schtuff.com/lifestyle_prayer
which is an edited extract of the book, “Praying the Pattern”