Jesus said to his disciples:
"In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.
If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."
Source: https://dailygospel.org/M/AM/
Analysis
Today's passage introduces the famous Lord's prayer, also known as Our Father. Since this passage is mainly that prayer, I will mainly analyze the meaning of this prayer. Foremost, I shall summarize the passage first. The passage opens with Jesus instructing His disciples not to pray like pagans, that is with many beautiful words and long prayers, akin to babbling as Jesus said it Himself. As God knows what we need before we ask of it. Then Jesus gives the Lord's prayer, which is relatively simple and while seemingly long, is not as long as some other prayers. And that is the entire passage, it's all about that prayer, as such, I believe I should start analyzing the meaning of it.
The prayer begins with a simple but short praise towards God, that is for God's name be hallowed. This means for God's name to be glorified, it seems odd for this to appear, but do remember that this is the only part that describes praise. The next part is asking for God's kingdom to come and God's will be done. God's will being the universal order, freedom, and enlightenment, and the kingdom being the era of truth, love, and peace. Then the prayer asks for the daily bread, the meaning being our daily nourishment and supplies, not just food, but everything else we need for the day and just for the day. It teaches us to not worry so much about tomorrow.
The latter half of the prayer is concerned with sin and forgiveness. The prayer first asks for forgiveness as we have forgave others. Then the prayer asks so we are not subjected to the "final test" and that we are delivered or protected from evil. While this last part mostly seems cut clear, the term "final test" is quite interesting, what does it mean? Notice how it seems to be similar the evil ones, as the equivalent of not being subjected to the test is apparently to be protected from evil. Test here means testing our faith and our integrity, often interpreted as temptation. It is not only temptation that can turn one to sin, suffering can also turn one to sin. As such, this part essentially asks God that we are protected from evil, and not thrown into it, that is temptation and suffering.
This entire passage begs the question, are we not allowed to pray using other prayers? Must we always use this prayer to pray? Of course not, the Lord's Prayer is simply a guideline on what we should say when we pray. Praying in essence is to talk with God, and thus form a relationship with God. Furthermore, the Lord's Prayer is introduced to illustrate that we should not speak to God as if we are speaking to someone that needs to be constantly praised, glorified, and spoken with the most eloquent and beautiful of words. Additionally, if we look at the context of the passage, Jesus is of course addressing this to people who do not know God very personally. Which is why the prayer seems mostly just requests for God, most people pray to ask for something at that time. As such, this prayer is good for people who have faith, but do not devote their entire lives completely to God, a simple prayer that asks for everything a person should need from God.
What of someone who has the complete ability of communication with God? That is speaking one to one? Then one can say that their entire life is a prayer, as they would have leisurely conversations with God every second they wish. And Jesus does not address the Lord's Prayer to people like this, these people transcend the traditional definition of prayer. They don't even need to be told how to pray, as God Themselves has told it to them personally. And even if the person can't directly communicate with God, if they have a deep personal relationship with God, the prayers spoken would be very different and very personal. Jesus Himself prays with a very personal manner, especially in Gethsemane. As such, one can describe the Lord's Prayer as a general prayer, a guide on how to pray, but it is not the be all end all of prayers, such thing does not exist. As prayer is deeply personal, and it concerns one's relationship with their true self. I believe that is all I have to say, have a nice day and see you tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment