This Sunday’s first reading was from Genesis 18 verse 20-32. Abrahams is in a deep discussion with God asking if he would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there were 50, 45, 40, 30, 20 or even just 10 innocent people found to be in Sodom. Abraham and his Lord were walking along deep in conversation. Abraham dared to ask God question after question. He even asked God not to tire of his asking questions.

When was the last time we had such a talk with God like Abraham, the way friends do, open, honest, heartfelt discussion and listening to one another?

The Responsorial Psalm was: Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Today’s Gospel reading can be found in Luke 11 V 1-13. Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray. He teaches them the Our Father. Below are my thoughts and why I daily prayer the Our Father.

The Lord’s Prayer, What Are We Really Saying?

We know the Our Father by memory but do we say it by heart?  The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer many of us, no matter what faith we held in our hearts, as a child learned at our parents’ knee. Words like hallowed and trespassed may have sounded foreign or even strange but we learned these were Jesus’ words. The only prayer Jesus, himself, taught his disciples to pray

“Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be Thy name.”

Jesus told us to call upon God as father. In the garden of Olives, Jesus called out, “Abba.” Abba is an Aramaic word meaning: O Father, Daddy or Dearest. Jesus used this most intimate and child like expression of love to ask his father to remove the cup from him. Jesus says, “Our Father” meaning he is calling us, brothers and sisters, we tall have the same father. We begin by calling upon God as Father, our loving father, head of the family. Blessed be the very name, father.

The president of a large construction company was known for the open door policy he had with his children, they are able to call him any time during his workday and know they would be put through to him. He may have been in a board meeting or on another line doing business but he had time to listen to a child’s problem or concern.

Such is the case with our heavenly father. We need no appointment or meeting time. We only need to ask. God already knows what is on our minds and in our hearts.

“They kingdom come Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Haven.”

We proclaim God as our king and we pray that his kingdom comes into fulfillment here on Earth. Our duty here on Earth as Christians is to bring God’s kingdom into its fullness. To go be disciples of Jesus Christ, proclaiming the love of our father. We each can contribute a tiny piece to the puzzle or the big picture by touching those around us. We can reach out to the hurried irate drive, the unemployed man who is beating the payment looking for a new job or the irritated checkout clerk at the supermarket. These are people, God our father loves as much as he loves us.

“Give us our daily bread.”

We ask for not only our daily bread for our physical bodily needs of food and water but also for our spiritual bread that our soul relies on. Our daily bread is the blood and body of Christ received at Mass. Through God’s spiritual bread, we no longer need the material goods of this Earth. We learn to look beyond the material goods of this world and look to the everlasting goods of the next world.

“And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

We ask for forgiveness for all our sins and acknowledge we are to forgive others who have wronged us. We need to be willing to show mercy to others who have hurt us and in turn, God will measure us by the same measuring stick we forgave others. In forgiving others God will show us His immeasurable mercy and love. Forgiving others is not an easy task but this is what God requests of us. Forgiving a co-worker who spread an untruth about you, a child who has said an unkind thing about you or the spouse who has hurt you, these are all people God can help us to forgive. To forgive them without so much as receiving an apology is truly, what we pray to have the ability to do.

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

Asking to protect us from evil is our final request. We ask God to protect and keep us from sin so we may sin no more. Not only do we ask that we will not be temped but for help to stay clear of all evils of this world. By asking for God’s help we work to stay clear of putting other god’s of this world before the one and only God, our Father.

The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that calls upon our Father in heaven to feed us spiritually and physically spare us from all evil and temptation and in return we will praise His holy name, forgive others who have harmed us and avoid all sin.

Morning, noon and night we need to ask for God’s mercy by invoking him by saying Our Father. . . .