Today’s Scripture Readings

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
³ Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.’

At first glance, the disciple’s request ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ might seem surprising – shouldn’t prayer be an instinctive, natural outpouring of the heart? Well, yes, it is that, but the disciple’s request shows that prayer is something that we can deepen and cultivate.

The Lord’s Prayer reflects a humble dependence on God. Each phrase reflects this: ‘Father, hallowed be your name’ acknowledges God’s divinity and our humanity. ‘Your kingdom come’ acknowledges God’s authorship of His Kingdom and reign over our own agendas. Then ‘give us each day our daily bread’ recognises that God nurtures us as we submit our agendas and self-sufficiency to daily dependence on God. ‘forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive’ shows that out of this dependency on God, including the forgiveness of our sins, we extend God’s grace and mercy to others, not out of our strength, but out of God’s. And finally, ‘do not bring us to the time of trial’ acknowledges that we cannot resist temptation alone and that we must continually call on God to renew our hearts.

So, Jesus amplifies the disciple’s humble act to become the way of prayer itself: teaching us that prayer reflects dependence, forgiveness, and trust. As we allow this prayer to take root in us, we become living signs of God’s kingdom.