The Lord’s Prayer – or the “Our Father” as many Catholics refer to it – is the perfect prayer. All Christians should agree to this. Taught to us by Jesus Christ Himself, it fits the needs of you on any particular day of your life. But how often do you pray it? The perfect prayer should certainly be said often, right?
Catholics say the Lord’s Prayer very often in comparison to protestant groups. Simply by praying it, we can contemplate the truth behind every line and begin to apply this truth to our lives. Repetitive prayer is not condemned by the Bible, no matter what you may think:
Matthew 6:7. “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words.
The King James Version translates it “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” [Emphasis mine]. The point is, the Gentiles were praying, but it was empty repetition – they had no intent on actually being obedient or growing through prayer. Vain is defined as “having no real value; worthless” by Websters. So we cannot pray without meaning what we pray. In fact, vain or empty prayers can happen by habit when we pray any nightly prayer without meaning what we say.
Right after this lesson on prayer Jesus teaches us the Our Father. I like how Thomas Howard puts it in On Being Catholic:
[In the Our Father] the whole mystery of God and man is opened to us. Father. Our Father. Who art in heaven. Hallowed. Every word open onto the whole vista. And the seven petitions place upon our very tongues all that a mortal should be saying on the long itinerary from his conception, stained by original sin, to the fruition of his journey in the Beatific Vision. It is a prayer to be said constantly, for insofar as I say it, investing myself in it with all earnestness, it will configure me to Christ.
It is also a prayer that may be brought into play when I am at a loss altogether about what to say. “Our Father, who are in heaven”: Catholics resort to this utterance in time of great perplexity, or of fear, or of grief, or of a hundred other taxing situations. One scarcely knows what words to frame: the Our Father Supplies one’s need.
How often do you pray the Lord’s Prayer? Not nearly enough no matter. As you pray it, remember to concentrate on what you are saying, the obedience the prayer demands, and the perfect requests for assistance from God. A perfect prayer deserves to be prayed.
God bless,
Jay
I pray the Lord's Prayer everyday. It seems to be the perfect prayer and of course it was recited by Jesus. It is a prayer that Catholics should recite more often.
Might I add…
…that the Lord’s Prayer is thoroughgoingly JEWISH as well, and firmly grounds Jesus in his Religion which was 1st Century Palestinian Judaism.
Joe, you’re right to say that Jesus prayed this prayer himself. In fact, the Lord’s Prayer – as it appears in Matthew’s Gospel – is a much shorter version of the Tefillah (“prayer” in Hebrew, and referring to the “benedictions,” also known today as the “amidah”) which was recited at least twice a day by faithful Jews, along with the Shema. Thus, Jesus likely prayed the Shema and the benedictions at least twice a day – when the morning and (final) evening sacrifices were being offered at the Temple, and he did this while facing toward Jerusalem. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus offers a version of the Tefillah that is longer, and somewhat less abbreviated than the one in Luke’s Gospel, suggesting that Jesus had no problem whatsoever with offering several “versions” of these benedictions.
Our Lord teaches us to pray!!
Jewish? Do they refer to Yahweh as Father?
I was told that when Jesus made this prayer it was bordering on blasphemy to call Yahweh, Father. Then again, I was told this a long long time ago and my source may have been highly unreliable.
To begin with, faithful Jews would not have referred to God as “Yahweh,” as it is the holy name and not to be uttered. So, instead, “Lord” is/was most often used by Jews even when reading aloud from Torah.
Now, without being thorough, I’ve only listed a couple of verses from the Hebrew Scriptures where God is specifically referred to as Father:
Deut 32:6
Give ear, O heavens, while I speak; let the earth hearken to the words of my mouth! May my instruction soak in like the rain, and my discourse permeate like the dew, Like a downpour upon the grass, like a shower upon the crops. For I will sing the LORD'S renown. Oh, proclaim the greatness of our God! The Rock--how faultless are his deeds, how right all his ways! A faithful God, without deceit, how just and upright he is! Yet basely has he been treated by his degenerate children, a perverse and crooked race! Is the LORD to be thus repaid by you, O stupid and foolish people? Is he not YOUR FATHER who created you? Has he not made you and established you? (Deut 32:1-6).
Isaiah 63:16
Look down from heaven and regard us from your holy and glorious palace! Where is your zealous care and your might, your surge of pity and your mercy? O Lord, hold not back, for you are OUR FATHER (Isa 63:15-16a).
Isaiah 64:7
Yet, O LORD, you are OUR FATHER; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.
You see, it is indeed NOT a blasphemy for a faithful Jew to call God “father.” There are many other texts in the Hebrew Scriptures (Christianity’s “Old Testament”) that demonstrate this to be the case. And since Jesus was NOT the first "Christian,” but rather, a FAITH-FULL Jew of 1st Century Palestine, his manner of prayer would certainly have been thoroughgoingly Jewish!
Shalom Aleichem!
Yes, repetitive prayer is not condemned. In fact we are told to meditate day and night on the Law of the Lord and to delight in His precepts. Repetition should come from our heart's desire for the truth of the prayer and for our spirit's need for that truth, instead of out of obligation or an effort to earn God's approval.