Day 34 = Praying The Lord's Way

An idea that's been around for a while today - to pray as Jesus taught us, using his words (as translated into my NIV Bible and Anglican upbringing) interspersed with my own thoughts, contemplations and musings as appropriate to a particular line. It's one of the first hits that seems to crop up on several websites, and in several prayer study guides very near the front of the book, or the top hit.

Today I didn't have much time for a consolidated session of prayer (except when I was stuck in Reading's longest traffic jam this morning), so started praying a line at a time and picked up where I'd left off a few hours previously, throughout the course of the day. I felt as though Jesus was right there beside me in all my panics, rushes, boredoms and imaginings as whenever I had chance I would meditate on what his prayer means for me today.

I've done this activity before, several years ago, when I was doing the Youth Alpha course (incidentally, that was for fun and mission study as I was already a long way along the road when that particular course came to my part of the woods), and it has since altered the words I choose to use whenever I say the Lord's prayer - in public or private. But I felt it was time to re-engage with the prayer, and reflect anew on what it means for me today.

I found myself spending a lot of time thinking about God as a father, and a few phrases in particular grabbed my attention (and continued to do so throughout the day). I guess that has a lot more to do with me, where I am at the moment, and what secrets my heart is harbouring in this stage of my life, than with anything else. I found it a helpful exercise, and mused that it may be a useful head and heart activity to repeat this with different prayers and favourite scriptures of mine in the days and months ahead.

For those who want to try this yourself, I'd suggest taking time out to be yourself, talk aloud, use images and icons if they help you to explore your spirituality in a more mentally free way, and don't be afraid to keep stopping, and coming back to, different parts of the prayer. Reflect on what each line means for you, and consider difference in original language, translated language, setting and context.

What would you say if you were writing the prayer yourself? What are your needs, hopes, desires, dreams, thanks, apologies, requests connected to each part of the prayer? Don't be afraid to skip lines, or to return to earlier lines, to repeat a specific chunk, or to break it up into individual words, or longer sections. Consider the setting then, and the setting now. What similarities and differences are there? What's your heart telling you now, on this day, in this place?

You might just find yourself surprised.