Meditation: How Jesus Prayed

Review on Prayer:Goal: Communion with God
Stage 2: Enlightenment, having the mind of Jesus Christ

There is an old saying that married couples begin to look alike over time (same is said of dogs and their owners). I am not sure if it is true. However, I am more than clear that one is influenced by one's company. The way we talk, the way we act, the things we think about, the things we care about; all of these are influenced mightily by the people with whom we spend our time.

Prayer is spending time with God. It slowly (slowly!) makes us more like God (eusebius, in Greek, means godly) It appears four times in the OT and twelve in the NT. The Pauline corpus uses it often and in a sobering way (2Ti 3:12 "...all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution"). The most godly man ever is Jesus. To take on His mind will take us into danger (and eternal life). A good prayer life will both change me/you and disrupt my pleasant life.

It is probably a good idea to look at the prayer life of Jesus at this point. [Some may ask why I did not start here. Answer, a six year old starts with tee-ball, not facing MLB hurlers tossing 96mph.] While Jesus talks about prayer and actually prays in the Gospels, I can think of no better place to start (or stay) than 'The Lord's Prayer.'

A few words of introduction, this prayer is found in three places Matthew 6:9-15, Luke 11:2-4 and in the Didache 8:2 (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, written between 50-100 AD). One note is that Matthew and the Didache are closer in content than Luke. Luke's version is shorter, leaving out some lines. Luke asks "forgive us our sins."  Matthew includes a variation on Mk 11:25 that God's forgiveness is dependent upon our own willingness to forgive the trespasses of others. [Note, in communal recitation of this prayer, the word trespasses has replaced debts in many churches.]

In 1961 Raymond Brown wrote an article that showed the Lord's Prayer is an eschatological prayer. In other words, it is about the end of the world. I am not going to quote extensively, that level of research is recommended, read the article. Brtown looks at the Greek verbs they are in the aorist imperative. Brown's point is that the aorist imperative is used for a single future action (as oppossed to an ongoing series of actions). The expression "once and for all" would capture his meaning. So for example, "give me the apple" rather than "keep bringing me apples."

So, how then is Jesus telling us to pray?
Father make your name holy (that is what hallowed means; All Hallowed's Eve is the day before All Saints, hallowed=saint=holy). In the OT, God made His name holy by acts of salvation. Another version is glorify your name. Frequently it is expressed as making Your/God's name known. To pray that God will hallow His name is to ask Him, once and for all, to establish His reign.

Your Kingdom come (Mt, Lk, Didache), Your will be done (Mt and Didache). Both mean the same. When God reigns as King His will is done. Remember, this is the ancient world, no democracy is being thought of. If democracy makes for a better society, it does not do much good for Truth and theology. In meditating on this I have come to see that it implies obedience on my part. I frequently pray that God will come and rule, if not the world, at least my heart today. To pray for the Kingdom&Will of God is to hunger for God to rule. And as Jesus reveals in the Garden, this is not a light and sweet prayer, "Father if this cup can pass me, please... but not my will, Your will be done." This prayer binds us to God in deep ways.

The prayer for bread (probably mistranslated 'daily' in Mt) is also in the aorist. What bread will we receive only once and for all? Bread is an ancient term for bread, but also food in general. "I earn my bread by the sweat of my brow" means that one works for everything one has, not just bread but life. So Jesus is telling us, pray for the Heavenly Feast, i.e., the end of the world. It is the "wedding feast" of the parables, the Final Consumation. Obviously, eucharist is a type of the heavenly feast, so this prayer can also become a longing for Jesus present among us in the breaking of bread. Obviously, this parallels manna, the daily food which we need. So there is probably some temporal and immediate implication. However, the main focus is this, "Lord start the Great Feast of the End Times now! Hurry!"

Forgive us our debts.... Debt is a bigger word than sin. Sin is bad stuff we do. Debt is what we owe God. If we were sinless we would still have a huge debt. We owe everything to God. We are dependent beings. (meditate on that) Even the act of saying "thank you" is a gift. we can do nothing on our own. Sins just adds to the debt geometrically. This issue was a huge one for Jesus. He taught on it in His parables. It is the tendency of humans to be unforgiving even as they seek mercy. This petition is scary: "forgive us... AS we forgive..." I wish Jesus told us to pray "forgive us much more easily and completely than we forgive others." The heart of this petition is the final judgment. We call for the mercy of God and His Divine forgiveness. In keeping with the communal nature of church, we recognize that God's forgiveness flows in and through Christ (and therefore, in and through the church=people). Reconciliation with God implies reconciliation with one another. Jesus tells us to love each other as He has loved us. In God's creation our acts of mercy and forgiveness extend His kingdom.

The Greek word for trial and temptation are the same. Hence, Jesus probably told us to pray that we would not be tested/tempted during the Great Tribulation. If we pray for the world's end today then we will pass through "those days" of trial. Asking God to save us from that is something Jesus refers to several times in the Gospels. Matthew and Didache include deliver us from evil/the Evil One. Generic evil and Satan could be implied here. Based on the total theme of the prayer, I think it is the latter. In the final establishment of God's Kingdom, Satan will be active. He will be defeated. We pray for God's hand to protect us as the Prince of this world (i.e. Satan) confronts and is defeated by the True King Who is establishing His reign.

What does it mean that Jesus told us to pray for the end of the world and the beginning of the New Era in His Kingdom? It means all of our prayer is funneled through a different value system. It means our main concerns are shifted from our typical "to do" list for God. It means we ask God (in the Didache Christians were told to pray this way three times a day) to come in our midst.

A final word, I think it most helpful to paraphrase the Lord's prayer (apparently the early church, following ancient Jewish liturgical practice did). You understand the concept, every petition is aimed at God Ruling. SO pray:

Precious, holy God. Make all the world know that you and you alone are God. or
Dear Father, come now, today, in my heart, in my home, in my community, in this world. Come dear Father and establish your Kingdom. or
Father God, throw down those in position of authority, or rule through them. Cast out the Prince of Darkness and rescue your children. Come. NOW. Hurry!
or etc....

You get the point: internalize the desire for the Kingdom. Meditate on the deeper meaning of this outline for prayer and seek the implications of praying this way (like the connection of this prayer to Gethsemane) Consume the Jesus perspective. Learn to hunger and thirst for righteous (God's kingdom) and His justice. Pray for it. Beg for it. Seek it constantly. Who knows, maybe your petition is the tipping point. Maybe we are one voice shy of God hearing, seeing, remembering and finally acting, once and for all, to save the world and reign among us in the New Jerusalem!