Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Our father ... um, what comes next?

In prison on Sunday, it being Father's Day, the chaplain was talking about the Lord's prayer. He mentioned one group where all the members set their alarm for midday to remind them to say it.

Lying in bed, after my usual short prayers, I thought I'd say it and think about what I was saying rather than just parrot it but, doing it like that, the trouble was I kept forgetting what the next line was and had to go back to the beginning and start again.

So I got in lots of 'thy will be done's but not many 'deliver us from evil's. 

When I pray I reassure myself that a short to-the-point prayer is all the Jesus recommends. I can forget all the flowery words and repetitions - unlike Husband, God won't forget if I don't say it five times - I can just go straight to the nitty gritty. In the Lord's prayer all our needs are covered in very few words; and for specifics I don't have to explain to God what the situation is and how I think he should deal with it. He is, after all, slightly smarter than I am.

3 comments:

Leslie: said...

I agree...I usually start with "Father, you know my situation..."

Furtheron said...

I don't pray in the conventional sense, given I don't follow a conventional religion that is I suppose hardly surprising, the only set pray I regularly use is the serenity one.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

There is so much in just that - serenity - not knowledge, or power or riches, courage !?!, wisdom!!! - there is a big ask.

Most of my prayers - if you'd call them that are simply me trying to hand over my will - to stop the madness engulfing me and me thinking I rule the world and can tell everyone and everything what to do!

Liz Hinds said...

WEll, it's true, leslie, and we only need to acknowledge our need to him.

You have a spiritual side that is as important to you, furtheron, and as necessary as mine is to me.