Today's daily lesson comes from Matthew chapter 6 verses 7 through 13:
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Prayers are not at all like college essays; there is no assignment of nor does one get credit for length and word count. In fact, when Jesus talked of long and wordy prayers he used a term "battologeo" which derived from the poet Battus, who was known for long and wordy poems. "Do not "battologeo" Jesus said. Or as some translations have it: "Do not pile up words."
And I know something else that can be piled up too.
Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray. The prayer is simple and sparse. There is only one adjective in the prayer and it refers to God's name: "hallowed". Everything else is minimalistic; the requests are modest. A prayer for daily provision, for the forgiveness of transgression (as we've ourselves forgiven) and a plea to be led out of temptation and the clutches of evil. And before all this a prayer of surrender: "thy will be done".
How does it work? Therein lies the mystery hidden in God. Nobody can really say; nobody has the knowledge or the words.
Nobody except Battus, that is. If he were around he could probably tell us.
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