Part 12 of “Learning to Pray to Our Father”

The Lord’s Prayer is the perfect prayer: by praying this prayer what we request is already fulfilled. To pray the words that Jesus gave us, we must become the kind of people we pray to be. We ask to become God’s children in Christ, who wait for his kingdom and give allegiance to his will, who seek his nourishment always, who follow his ways, who ward off temptation, and who are not removed from God.

We ask, and it is given. This prayer is not magic, and it does not force God’s hand. Rather God has given all things in Christ, and by this prayer, we practice receiving what he has given us.

Commenting on the routine of prayer that may otherwise be taken for granted, St. John Henry Newman seeks to rekindle awe in disciples who are given the words of Jesus to pray. We find in these words “the force of association in undoing the evil of past years, and recalling us to the innocence of children.” The saint appeals to a renewed sense of wonder in Christians:

Surely there are few of us, if we dwelt on the thought, but would feel it a privilege to use, as we do (for instance, in the Lord’s Prayer), the very petitions which Christ spoke. He gave the prayer and used it. His Apostles used it; all the Saints ever since have used it. When we use it, we join company with them. . . . Thus does the Lord’s Prayer bring us near to Christ, and to His disciples in every age. (“Forms of Private Prayer” in Plain and Parochial Sermons)

Christ gives us his prayer, so that all who pray these words may say, “Our Father,” together in him, with one another. Praying in Christ makes us one, as he gives his Father to us. His prayer makes us the Father’s children.

The way to the Father is open wide in Christ: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6), and again, “I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (10:9). Christ is the one who emptied himself of everything in order to share in our humanity. His humility is our opening.

To enter into his prayer, we follow his way of humility: letting go of riches and titles and status; becoming beggars or rather children in need. Our Father wants us to rest in him; we must simply let ourselves do so, with all that we have and all that we are. Only those who bend down to become like little children enter into the Lord’s Prayer, as if passing through the eye of a needle (see Matthew 19:23-26; Mark 10:23-27; Luke 18:24-27).

Practice praying: I invite and challenge you to pray the Lord’s Prayer each day this week. In fact, pray it twice each day. Pray it once, then spend some time calling on the names of saints who have prayed this prayer before you. Ask them to draw you into their company as, together, we join Jesus in this prayer to his Father. Then pray the Lord’s prayer again.

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Find more: This series draws on sections of my book Into the Heart of the Father: Learning from and Giving Yourself through Christ in Prayer. I am grateful to my publisher, Word Among Us Press, for allowing me to share these sections with you here. If you are interested, I hope you will check out the book – I think you’ll like it.

Study and pray with others: I have also designed a reading, prayer, and discussion guide for groups that would like to read the book and learn how to pray better together. This is ideal for parishes, schools, and families.