This Prayer Is the Greatest Martyr on Earth
The Lord's Prayer Part 1: Our Father and halowed be Thy name.
Martin Luther once lamented that the Lord's Prayer is "the greatest martyr on earth!" So many people "prattle and chatter" it, he said, instead of tasting its true joy and comfort (A Simple Way to Pray, 1535).
Here at Signpost Inn, we want to change that. Over the next few weeks, we're going to take a deep dive into the Lord's Prayer.
You'll learn how to savor the Lord's Prayer, how to relax into it, and how to let it become a place of real connection with God. Or, in Luther's slightly crass words, I want to teach you to "suckle at the Lord's Prayer like a child... and never get your fill!" (A Simple Way to Pray)
By the end of this series, I promise that you'll never pray the Lord's Prayer mindlessly again. And on the dry days, when your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling, you'll have God's promises to rest on.
Let's dive in!
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name."
Quick note: I use the older language because that's how I learned it.
Feel free to use whatever translation you prefer!
At the outset, Jesus invites us — even commands us — to address God as our Father.
Stop and think about that for a moment. Jesus is saying that his Father is also my Father! He tells me to approach God boldly, the way a little child runs to a "papa" (what my kids call me) who he knows loves him tenderly.
What does this mean? About you? About God?
Of course, for some people this is terrifying. "Father" might be the hardest word in the whole prayer for you to say. The word alone can kick off an automatic cycle of fear, shame, anger, and emotional retreat.
If that's you, take your time, and please reach out. There is a path toward healing, and this prayer can be part of it!
Practice: come as a child
Try this: Close your eyes and pray just these first two words: "Our Father," and imagine yourself a little child, maybe 1 or 2 years old. Just able to toddle around. You come to your loving daddy to ask for something... How does he respond? What does he feel in his body toward you?
If he's a good dad, he's delighted to see you! It doesn't matter why you came or what you need. His heart swells in his chest. He might kneel down to be at your height, or wrap you up in his big, safe arms! That is how your Father in heaven receives you.
And even if "father" isn't a painful word for us, we can rightly feel a bit unsettled by the thought of approaching the Almighty creator of heaven and earth as "dear children" would their "dear father" (Luther, Small Catechism).
Which is why it can be so paradoxically comforting that Jesus commands us to pray this way.
Commands usually come with guilt
And this one does too. I certainly "should" pray more! But this command is also strangely comforting!
If Jesus commands me to come to his Father the way Jesus does, then he is also promising that the Father will receive me the way he receives Jesus! And when Jesus came to God he heard, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well-pleased!” (Matt 3:17; Luke 3:21-22). And so will you!
I never pray alone
I never march into the King's heavenly chambers brazenly demanding an audience. Jesus, God's beloved Son, to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given, always escorts me. He walks me up to the throne and says, "Father, this is my brother. This is your child! He needs you! I love him so much I died for him, just as you asked me to do. Now, please, listen to him."
And God the Father looks at me with the love of a truly good and kind Father. A faithful and present Father. An available, caring Father. And he... listens!
The rest of the prayer is me asking for what I want and need, trusting that God "delights to give me the kingdom" (Luke 12:32) and that he will not give me a stone if I ask for bread (Matt 7:9).
Now that God is listening, what do I say?
Isn't it so sweet that Jesus has a plan for this too? Standing in the throne room, being loved, I am like a toddler who barely knows how to talk. I don't even know what I really want, let alone what I need!
So Jesus also gives us the words to say. When his disciples asked, "Lord, teach us to pray," he gave them this prayer (Luke 11:1-4).
Like the bedtime prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep," the Lord's Prayer teaches us to pray long before we understand what we're saying. We'll learn to pray in our own words too, but we never outgrow Jesus's words.
So if you don't know what to say, just start with his words:
"Hallowed be Thy name!"
"Oh Lord... Father... may all the world know you! May everyone know how holy, and powerful, and kind you are! And... please... may I truly experience it too!"
The very first thing we ask for when we approach God as our Father is that we, and everyone, would really know him, really experience him, as he is: truly available and truly kind.
And the more we experience God like that, the more we will naturally live like it.
The more we rest in the unconditional love of God our Father, the more we are freed from our selfish grasping and angry addiction to control.
In other words, the more we listen to God saying, "I love you!" the more we will spontaneously respond with "I love you too!" And the more we experience God's loving action toward us, the more we will act lovingly back.
And all of this is in just the first few words of the Lord's Prayer.
Stay tuned for more... much more!
Try this: pray it slowly
Find a quiet place, sit comfortably, and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. Then, on an exhale, pray: "Our Father, who art in heaven." Pause for a breath or two, and pray each line that follows on its own exhale.
In the pauses, notice what the words stir in you: thoughts, feelings, even sensations in your body. This week, linger especially on "Our Father," returning to the picture of your Father's delight in you, and on "hallowed be thy name." If one phrase catches you, stop there and stay as long as you like. As Luther put it, "The Holy Spirit himself preaches here, and one word of his sermon is far better than a thousand of our prayers." (A Simple Way to Pray)
And if nothing seems to happen? That's okay. A dry prayer is still a real prayer, and he's still listening. You came because he invited you, and his love doesn't depend on how you feel.
Provisions for the Road
Church hurt can cast a long shadow...
If religious spaces or leaders have hurt you, or you work with those who have been hurt, this webinar is for you!
- Saturday, October 24
- Time: 9 AM Pacific | 10 AM Mountain | 11 AM Central | 12 PM Eastern
- Cost: $25 (or Pay What You Want)
Trauma-Informed & Faith-Grounded: Taught by a licensed mental health therapist who is also a Christian, and theologically grounded. Heidi will give you clinical tools that are rooted in theological soil and respectful of your agency, doubt, and story.
--- This webinar is popular! ---
Lot's of people have signed up for this webinar, but we've still got room for you! It's coming up quick though, so register soon!
Food for Thought
Things the team found interesting this week, no endorsement implied.
What Young Adults Are Looking for Spiritually at Church
By Barna Group at Barna.com
“Prayer tops the list of reasons young adults give for showing up, ahead of every other spiritual reason surveyed.” In Barna and Gloo's survey of 3,049 adults ages 18 to 35, 45% named prayer as a reason they go to church. If you're hungry to learn to pray, you're far from alone.
Forde Friday: The Christian Life Doesn't Progress
By Todd Brewer at Mockingbird
“Good works do not make a person good, but a good person does good works.” Todd Brewer walks through Gerhard Forde's reading of Luther: the Christian life isn't a ladder we climb to get closer to God. It's learning to live in a gift that's already finished.
The Church is a Beautiful and Troubling Thing
By Winn Collier on Substack
“I remain in the church because Jesus is there.” Winn Collier is honest about the church's failures, and about why betrayals by its leaders cut so deep: we loved it. But Scripture never pretended God's people were anything but failing and in need of mercy. A gentle word for anyone who has been hurt by the church and is wondering about coming back.
