Sun 7 Feb

When I was taken to church in the 1960s, one of the things that was drummed into me was the Lord's Prayer. At a particular part of the service, the minister would recite the Lord's Prayer and the people in church would follow his recitation by saying the Lord's Prayer themselves. I was on of those who obligingly recited the Lord's Prayer. Yet I have to say that I had no implications of saying that prayer/ Most likely because I wasn't a Christian and so I was dead to the things of God. As a young kid, I would look around at the congregational members and see them saying Jesus' words on forgiveness, "Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors." I couldn't help but think 'Were they serious about forgiving people?' for when it came to Monday they were just as unforgiving as the people who didn't go to church. Then there are Jesus' words on His coming kingdom. "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." As I droned on with those words, I had no idea what they meant. I didn't understand what I was asking for. If I sis I might not have prayed that part of the prayer. For God's kingdom to come, we are asking for God to be in total control (which He is anyway). But when His kingdom comes in all its glory, it will be a time of judgement. Was I ready for that? I wasn't a Christian so I was not ready at all for God to usher in His kingdom. As you consider Jesus' teaching on prayer what are your reflections on this prayer? When did you first realize the implications of the words of the Lord's Prayer?