Catechetical Conversations - Part 2
Welcome to Part 2 of my Catechetical Conversation series. This week we will review our definition of prayer and discuss in detail the Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer as well as the first and second petitions. So, let’s first review our working definition.
Last week, we said that prayer is the gift of God given to the people of God as a means through which we communicate to the God of all creation – an activity of the soul that involves both listening and speaking. We started with the premise that prayer is a gift from God. In fact, prayer is one of the greatest gifts that God has given to his church. Prayer is the engine behind which ministry and mission happens in the local church. Without prayer, it is impossible to do and to respond in faith to what Jesus has called us to do, namely, “to make disciples of all nations” (c.f. Mt. 28:6-20). Without prayer, the church will lose her anointing and its zeal to serve the Lord in spirit and in truth. Without prayer, it is impossible to advance the church on earth with the bold proclamation of Jesus’ righteous truth.
In the Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer, we pray: “Our Father who art in heaven.” In the words of the small catechism, we confess that with these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are his true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.
When we pray to our heavenly Father, we are not praying to an earthly power, nor are we praying to an earthly being.
On the contrary, when we pray, God invites us to know the God to whom we pray - that this God is the creator of all things; that this God resides not in an earthly tabernacle but rather in a heavenly one; and that God is all powerful, all knowing, and the One who knows the beginning from the end. When we pray in the introduction, God is inviting us into the most intimate of relationships whereby we connect with heaven and our Father whose loving mercies led his One and only Son to this broken earth to become our sin. This is the God to whom we pray – a love that invites us to connect with heaven.
In the First Petition, we pray: “Hallowed be Thy name.” To hallow God’s name is to properly call upon the Holy One whose holiness is unchanging. That is to say, praying this way does not somehow make God’s name holy; rather, it is a recognition that God’s name is holy with or without our proper use of it. In this petition however we are asking God to make his name holy to and among us sinners who, because of our sinful flesh, always goes astray. In the catechism, we confess God’s name is certainly holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also. This most certainly is true.
How is this done and what does this look like? First, God’s name is holy kept holy when we faithfully teach and preach God’s Word in purity and in truth. When we faithfully teach and preach the sanctifying truth that Jesus is God in the flesh who came to seek and to save lost humanity, we hallow God’s name as holy. And second, God’s name is kept holy when we live holy lives. Our lives are designed by the Lord to reflect his goodness and grace. Because we are created in the image of God, we have been divinely blessed from our mother’s womb with the imprint of God. Thus, by that same Spirit that resides in his people through the sacrament of holy baptism, we live a life that is holy unto the Lord.
In the Second Petition, we pray: “Thy kingdom come.” Surely, the kingdom of God comes with or without our awareness. But in this petition, we pray that God’s kingdom might become known among us. We pray that God’s kingdom not only come to us, but that his everlasting and powerful kingdom might flow through us to others. And when this happens, God’s Spirit of mercy and grace will lead many to repentance and into the knowledge of his eternal love. The kingdom of God comes when the Holy Spirit flows through us. This, too, is most assuredly true.
May the Lord of hosts continue to bless you on your Lenten journey and deepen your life of prayer. Amen