“It is one thing to say your prayers and another thing to pray.”
I’m not sure where that saying comes from, but I like the reminder. Am I going through the motions? Or am I talking to my loving Father?
Jesus gave us a model for prayer that we’ve looked at the last few weeks. Many of us have memorized it and recited it over the years.
- It can be prayed verbatim - with deep sincerity behind every word.
- It can be prayed as a template – each phrase bringing to mind a bigger conversation.
- It can be prayed as a general principle, incorporating its message of adoration, request, confession and praise.
- But it can also be spoken out of habit, mindlessly and without meaning. These words are not magic and do not hold some special key that enough recitation will unlock God’s ear to move on your behalf.
I have engaged in each of these, including the last at times. But while some would find praying the same words boring or just a mere exercise, I increasingly appreciate liturgy and the regular and familiar words that bring me closer to God. It is important to always assess if I am actually praying, or if I am just mindlessly reciting a prayer. Am I talking to God, with my very being and soul? Or am I repeating words to check a box in order to move on in the day.
The Lord’s Prayer is beautiful and holds great instruction. But as with any memorized prayer, it requires focus and intentionality to have it guide us in our conversation with God. Otherwise, it is just words.
Our Father, which art in Heaven,
hallowed be Your Name, …
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