I am not a Christian, but I can still do theology. When I was young I went to church and learned the Lord's Prayer - Jesus' answer to "how should I pray?" I still have it more or less memorised, and it will no doubt show you some combination of which denomination I went to and how good my memory is after all this time.
"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen."
If you have ever wondered what the point is of praying to an omniscient, omnipotent being, this will tell you.
Let us begin in the middle, at the only request that is intended to result in anything tangible: "Give us this day our daily bread". This is as minimalist as you could want; no sporting or military victories, no recovery from illness, no real financial gains (certainly not a roll of the dice), no political breakthroughs or academic success. Just enough to get us through this day. A reminder to focus on what's important - the next few requests.
The next is "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us". Not just a request for us, but an implicit bargain. A reminder that we have things to be forgiven for, and that we should in turn be forgiving others.
Then "lead us not into temptation". What does that mean? If it is granted, it means that anything else you might see is not supposed to be a temptation. A reminder, then, not to be too easily tempted. And following on "but deliver us from evil". In Christian theology as in many other religions, this does not mean that you win; it means that you try. If you resist evil and are killed in the process, you end up in heaven, or a better reincarnation, or whatever that religion promises. Two sides of a coin: resist evil rather than joining it.
The rest is all straight recitation of one simple idea: God's in charge. Something he, of all beings, needs no reminding of. Why is it in the prayer, then?
You are praying to an omniscient being. He already knows what you want and need, better than you do. He already knows what he's going to do about it. Your requests and entreaties are not going to change anything; not because he's hard-hearted (although he might be), but because the needs behind them have been accounted for already. What's the point?
It's a series of reminders. It's for you, it's not for God. It would work if no-one heard it, even if God himself didn't hear it. No wonder Jesus said (Matthew 5:6) not to pray in public - it's like talking to yourself out loud.
People who publicly pray - particularly for some result - are missing the whole point. It's not that they're hypocrites (although there's a solid bloc that are), it's that they're wasting everyone's time, including their own.
But there is some good news. If you're doing it wrong, but with the best of intentions, no doubt God understands that too.
"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen."
If you have ever wondered what the point is of praying to an omniscient, omnipotent being, this will tell you.
Let us begin in the middle, at the only request that is intended to result in anything tangible: "Give us this day our daily bread". This is as minimalist as you could want; no sporting or military victories, no recovery from illness, no real financial gains (certainly not a roll of the dice), no political breakthroughs or academic success. Just enough to get us through this day. A reminder to focus on what's important - the next few requests.
The next is "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us". Not just a request for us, but an implicit bargain. A reminder that we have things to be forgiven for, and that we should in turn be forgiving others.
Then "lead us not into temptation". What does that mean? If it is granted, it means that anything else you might see is not supposed to be a temptation. A reminder, then, not to be too easily tempted. And following on "but deliver us from evil". In Christian theology as in many other religions, this does not mean that you win; it means that you try. If you resist evil and are killed in the process, you end up in heaven, or a better reincarnation, or whatever that religion promises. Two sides of a coin: resist evil rather than joining it.
The rest is all straight recitation of one simple idea: God's in charge. Something he, of all beings, needs no reminding of. Why is it in the prayer, then?
You are praying to an omniscient being. He already knows what you want and need, better than you do. He already knows what he's going to do about it. Your requests and entreaties are not going to change anything; not because he's hard-hearted (although he might be), but because the needs behind them have been accounted for already. What's the point?
It's a series of reminders. It's for you, it's not for God. It would work if no-one heard it, even if God himself didn't hear it. No wonder Jesus said (Matthew 5:6) not to pray in public - it's like talking to yourself out loud.
People who publicly pray - particularly for some result - are missing the whole point. It's not that they're hypocrites (although there's a solid bloc that are), it's that they're wasting everyone's time, including their own.
But there is some good news. If you're doing it wrong, but with the best of intentions, no doubt God understands that too.
No comments:
Post a Comment