The Lord’s Prayer

Today's Reflections

                               

 

     

The Lord’s Prayer 

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Mt 6:7-15

[Jesus said to his disciples,] ⁷“In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹“This is how you are to pray:/ Our Father in heaven,/ hallowed be your name,/ ¹⁰your kingdom come,/ your will be done,/ on earth as in heaven./ ¹¹Give us today our daily bread;/ ¹²and forgive us our debts,/ as we forgive our debtors;/ ¹³and do not subject us to the final test,/ but deliver us from the evil one./ ¹⁴If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Reflection:

This is how you are to pray. Jesus teaches us how to pray and what to pray for. He teaches us to make prayer a conversation with our Father in the secrecy of our heart, and he teaches us the “Our Father.”

In prayer, God should be our priority concern. It is before God we pray, and we pray, first of all, for the glorification of God’s name, the coming of God’s kingdom, and the fulfillment of God’s will. Only afterwards do we ask for ourselves.

That is the way it should be: God first, and we second. And we shall be surprised how when we put God first, things go well with us.

Is God first in our prayer?

Do we praise the Lord and glorify him

more than we ask for favors?