In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Christian prayer is not a means of manipulating God. It isn't a technique or a strategy designed to persuade him to do something he doesn't want to do. We often see prayer as though we are working to achieve a bit of sympathy from an otherwise disinterested deity. We tend to secretly believe that God doesn't have our best interests at heart, that he is holding out on us, keeping much that he might give us for himself, or else saving it for others to whom favors more than us. The antidote to this idea is to begin our prayers by first remembers how we are related to the one whom we address.
Our Father who art in heaven
The prodigal son thought he had to plead his case, to return home only on the his ability to contribute, that he had to persuade his father in the same way that anyone who sought his favor might. But his father quickly reminded him that their relationship took precedence. He wasn't interested in what he could do in the fields or how he might or might not measure up to the hired help. He simply wanted to be with him and to share all that he had with him. The older son in the parable also had to relearn his relationship to his father. Though he had remained at home he had still imagined that his father was holding out on him. He had to realize that he was with his father always and shared all things in common with him. Both of these brothers relationship to their father are common ways in which we mistakenly relate to God. We need to learn their respective lessons, to see the father running out to meet us, throwing his cloak over us, and putting his ring on our finger. We need to hear him pleading with us to come in and join his feast. We need to realize that much of the reason why we haven't experienced the full joy of his household isn't because he was holding back, but rather because, for whatever reason, we were.
hallowed be thy name
Once we have experienced God as our Father we will want to ensure that his name is known as holy, both with us, and in the world around us. We will desire that all of the misconceptions and accusations toward his name be unmasked as falsehoods. Only when his name and the identity it conveys are regarded as holy, impeccable, and unassailable, can we relate to them with the importance, piety, and devotion, that they, in reality, deserve. His name is in fact holy. We humans have the ability to disregard this fact, but only to our harm. Only when God is at the top of the hierarchy of things we consider to be good can we hope to function with sanity and coherence in the world he created.
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done
We need to pray for his kingdom remembering two things. The first is how good it is when it gets here. But the second, important to set our expectations, is that it is difficult while it is still on the way. We're praying here for the whole world to be revitalized with the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But we know that only the death of Jesus leads to his resurrection, and that, for the world to get there, it must in some way pass through his passion. We need to desire the Kingdom enough that we can be like Jesus and still pray for it even during the agony of Gethsemane, and not turn aside from it, even when it involves taking up our own cross to follow him.
Give us this day our daily bread
We need our daily bread from God if we hope not to collapse on the way. It can be for us like the bread that gave Elijah the strength to walk for forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God (see First Kings 19:7-9). Whenever we realize God is the one who meets our needs we derive more benefit from the blessings he gives than if we receive them unknowingly. Honestly just having a thankful attitude is transformative, even life-changing. But God reminds us, sometimes through circumstances, that we cannot live by bread alone. It is his word that must have priority. For us, as for Jesus, doing his will can be the hidden food that sustains us through the highs and lows of life (see John 4:31-34). Above all, it is his gift of himself to us in the Eucharist that becomes our own thanksgiving to him, and that gives us strength for any challenges we may face in this life. It is then no longer merely us trying to imitate his words, it is his gift of himself, the Word to us, satisfying the deepest longings of our hearts.
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
Unforgiveness can block the blessings God desires to give us. We are have the capacity as creatures with free will to tell God that we care more about the ways we have been wronged than about the love he has for us and others. But we ought not to expect him to be convinced. His priority is always mercy. But in order for his mercy to be effective in us we must be willing to allow it to flow through us to others. However much we have been hurt by others is still infinitesimally fractional compared to the rift between himself and us that God has already definitively forgiven in Christ.
and lead us not into temptation,
When we pray for protection in temptation we must remember again to whom we are speaking. We are not speaking to a disinterested judge or a corrupt politician. We are speaking to a father who sometimes permits us to experience trials in order that we might grow through them. We know that if God wasn't carefully accommodating our circumstances to our weakness we would quickly be overtaken and succumb. So we pray that we never be so bold as to think we can face life without him. We pray that we not walk any paths of trial beyond those he deems necessary for our sanctification.
but deliver us from evil.
Jesus would have us remember that reality of hostile spiritual forces that oppose us so that we remember to rely on him for protection. We remember that our warfare is never against flesh and blood, and thus don't make any of our fellow creatures out to be our true enemies in an absolute sense. He doesn't bring up the Evil One to make us afraid so much as to remind us where our victory can be found. And we know that it can be found in him alone.
Matt Maher - The Lord's Prayer (It's Yours)
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