The Lord's Prayer:

A Spirituality of Discipleship
Robin Ryan, CP.

T he prayer Jesus taught his disciples is more than simply a prayer. It

embodies an entire spirituality for those who wish to follow the Lord.
By giving his disciples a specific way of praying, Jesus was drawing
them into the very heart of his life and mission. The Lord's Prayer is a
framework for articulating Christian spirituality. In his recent book on
Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI says: "The meaning of the Our Father goes much
further than the mere provision of a prayer text. It aims to form our being,
to train us in the inner attitude of Jesus" {Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism
in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, trans. Adrian Walker INew York: Double-
day, 2007], 132). When we pray the Our Father we enter into the world of
Jesus and into the depths of his relationship with God. We begin to see
reality through his eyes.
In the New Testament we find this prayer in two distinct but related
versions in the gospels of Matthew and Luke (Matt 6:7-13; Luke 11:1-4).
John Meier observes that Luke's simpler form of the prayer probably
reflects more accurately the words of Jesus, though Matthew's version may
be more original at certain points {Matthew, New Testament Message 3
[Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1980], 60). Christians are more familiar
with the Matthean version because of its use in the liturgy, and I will
follow this form in my reflections on the prayer and its implications for
Christian discipleship.

"Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name"

We begin this prayer with the word "our." In his commentary on Matthew,
John Meier observes, "We experience God's fatherhood not as isolated
individuals but as members of the church, the family of Jesus the Son"
{Matthew, 60). Benedict XVI suggests that this word "our" requires us to

79
"step out of the closed circle of our 'L' It requires that we surrender our-
selves to corrununion with the other children of God" {Jesus of Nazareth,
141). When we come to prayer, we bring with us all of our relationships. We
come to the Lord as people whose faith has been inspired and nourished
by other believers. So, while the Lord's Prayer is a deeply personal prayer,
it is also the prayer of those who are called to strengthen their communion
with the people God has put into their hves.
Calling out to God as "Father" directs us to Jesus' unique relationship
with the God he addressed as "Abba." Our relationship with God is
entirely dependent on the relationship
Jesus had with the Father. Nevertheless,
Jesus has offered us a participation in *^God SCflt the SVÎTît
that unique relationship. Paul reminded ^ i • r- •
the Christians in Galatia about their Of hi S SOH ttltO OUT
share in Jesus' bond with God: "As heuHs, Crying OUt,
proof that you are children, God sent / -, , j-, , ., „
the spirit of his Son into our hearts, cry- A.Ooa, tattter.
ing out, 'Abba, Father!' So you are no
longer a slave but a child, and if a child
then also an heir, through God" {Gal 4:6-7).
Jesus' "Abba" address blends reverence and familiarity. It signifies a God
who is faithfully present in our midst. The Brazilian theologian Leonardo
Boff, writing from the vantage point of the poor of Latin America, puts it
beautifully and succinctly: "The idea is that God is here a father who cares
for his children, that God has a heart that is sensitive to our problems, that
his eye is always upon our sufferings, and that his ear is open to our cries"
{The Lord's Prayer: The Prayer of Integral Liberation, trans. Theodore Morrow
[MaryknoU, NY: Orbis Books, 1983], 30). In reality, the God whom Jesus
reveals is also marked by many of the characteristics we sometimes associ-
ate with the feminine. God encompasses and infinitely exceeds all of the
qualities that we hope for in fathers and mothers.
One afternoon in 1982 I traveled into the Old City of Jerusalem through
the Damascus Gate. You find a cross section of the human race at that spot.
On that afternoon, as I made my way into the crowded street, I found
myself behind a youiig Israeli couple with their two little boys. For just a
few seconds the youngest child fell behind his parents in the crowd. I could
see that he suddenly became very frightened. Just then he cried out, "Abba!"
His father immediately turned around, took his hand, and he calmed down.
For that little boy, falling behind his parents in that crowd must have felt
like a moment of grave danger; it was a "life-and-death" situation. He im-
mediately called out to his parents in no uncertain terms, with trust that

Head of Christ, attributed to Rembrandt (1606-69). '

Robin Ryan, c.p. 81

they would respond. And when his father offered his hand, this child took
it with confidence.
There is one place in the four gospels in which the Aramaic word "Abba"
is preserved in the Greek text. It is in Mark's account of Jesus' prayer in
Gethsemane: "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup
away from me, but not what I will but what you will" (Mark 14:36). At this
poignant moment, Jesus' self-understanding and his fidelity to his mission
are on the line. In his prayer we can sense his profound reverence for God
and his respect for the will of God. He is striving with all his might to be
obedient to the mysterious will of God in this hour of intense darkness. At
the same time, we also recognize Jesus' deep sense of closeness to God and
his profound confidence. It is from this stance of reverence-laced-with-
confidence that Jesus can say, "But not what I will but what you will."
The Lord's Prayer invites us to live as disciples in a spirit of dependence,
reverence, and confidence. As disciples of Jesus we stake our lives on the claim
that we are utterly dependent on God and that deepening this relationship
is the path to freedom, to genuine autonomy, and to personal maturity.
Living in a spirit of reverence entails a contemplative stance before life. We
step back and gaze with wonder and gratitude on the reality of our lives.
Confidence leads us to respond to the invitation from our Abba-God to enter
into a relationship characterized by intimacy. We stand before God with the
trust of that child in the crowded Jerusalem street. It is in this spirit of
confidence that we can hear God's voice and strive to fulfill God's will in
our lives.

"Your Kingdom Come, Your Will be Done,

on Earth as in Heaven"
When we ask that God's kingdom come, God's will be done, we enter into
the deepest hope and the driving force of Jesus' earthly life. Most scholars
agree that the proclamation of the reign of God was the major focus of his
public ministry. Mark begins his account of Jesus' ministry with these words:
"After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, and there he pro-
claimed the good news from God. 'The time has come/ he said, 'And the
kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent and believe the good news'"
(Mark 1:14-15). It was about this rule of God that Jesus told his parables.
Jesus made the reign of God present when he reached out to touch the
leper and strengthen the limbs of the paralyzed, when he expelled demons
and opened the eyes of the blind. When the reign of God became present in
and through Jesus, people found life.
The kingdom of God is not so much a place as it is an activity; it has a
dynamic meaning. It signifies what happens when the rule of a gracious,
loving God permeates creation and human relafionships. Benedict XVI
says: "To pray for the Kingdom of God is to say to Jesus: Let us be yours,

82 THE BIBLE TODAY

Lord! Pervade us, live in us; gather scattered humanity into your body
. . ." {Jesus of Nazareth, 147). Walter Kasper refers to the kingdom as the
sovereignty of God's love {Jesus the Christ [Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1976],
80-81).
When disciples pray for the coming of God's kingdom, we are called to
recognize and to foster the presence of that reign in our lives. We need to be
on the lookout for the moments when God's rule makes its presence known.
We catch glimpses of the sovereignty of God's love: when we leam to
recognize the gifts and the goodness within ourselves; when we acknowl-
edge the places in our lives in need of healing and bring them to Christ; in
moments of reconciliation with people from whom we have been estranged;
when we reach out to people who are on the margins of the world; when a
friendship or family relationship deepens and matures. Do we have eyes to
glimpse the presence of the reign of God in our midst? Are we committed
to promoting the sovereignty of God's love in our relationships and in our
wider society?

"Give Us Today Our Daily Bread"

In the structure of the Lord's Prayer there is a transition from a beginning
that attunes our minds and hearts to God's concerns to a series of petitions
that express our needs. The beginning of this great prayer is "other-centered."
But then we proceed to ask for those things that we need in order to fulfill
the will of God and work for the coming of the kingdom. And so we ask
God to give us our daily bread, begirming with "today" but knowing that
we will also need to ask again tomorrow and each day after tomorrow.
There is something quite down-to-earth about this petition for bread.
As Boff comments: "No matter how high the spirit soars, no matter how
deep our mystical probing, or how metaphysical our abstract thinking, the
human being will always be dependent on a piece of bread, a cup of wa-
ter—in short, on a handful of matter" {The Lord's Prayer, y^). Benedict XVI
observes: "Anyone who asks for bread for today is poor. This prayer pre-
supposes the poverty of the disciples" {Jesus of Nazareth, 152). Asking for
our daily bread, we acknowledge our complete dependence on the provi-
dence of God, even for the smallest things in life.
We ask not for "my" bread but for "our" bread. In so doing we implicitly
acknowledge that we are interdependent beings whose personal welfare is
intertwined with that of our sisters and brothers. Boff comments, "God
does not hear the prayer that asks orüy for my bread. A genuine relation-
ship with God calls for maintaining a relationship with others" {The Lord's
Prayer, jy). When we pray for "our" daily bread we are challenged to
become ever more conscious of the scourge of hunger in our world. This
petition Implies a commitment to do what we can to see that all people
receive their daily bread.

' Robin Ryan, c.p. 83

 By this petition Jesus assured us that it is essential to ask God for all that
we need in life. We need to avoid two extremes in our dialogue with God.
The first is limiting prayer to petition. We know that prayer is about much
more than just asking God for "stuff." But the other extreme is also detri-
mental to our relationship with God: that is, neglecting to ask God for what
we need. Karl Rahner points out that some people do give up on praying for
specific needs because they feel that their prayers are not being answered.
Others think that any petitions we place before God should include only
"the lofty needs of the soul." Rahner underlines the importance of the
prayer of petition, saying that "we feel a deep need to turn to God and lift
pleading hands of prayer to him" (On Prayer ICollegeville, MN: Liturgical
Press, 1993L 70)- He observes, "A truly Christian prayer of petition is a
prayer which is essentially human."

"Forgive Us Our Debts, As We Forgive Our Debtors"

In our culture it has become rather easy to rationalize behaviors that are
problemañc. We are disturbed by news that our government may have
captured and flown terrorist suspects to countries where they were tortured.
It is very easy to cite extenuating circumstances and desirable goals in
order to justify immoral actions. The cultural air we breathe does not
encourage us to face ourselves with honesty.
The Lord's Prayer summons us to a very different approach to Ufe. Jesus
calls his disciples to the freedom that comes from taking an honest look at
our lives. Thus, each time
we say this prayer we in-
clude a petition for mercy,
"A truly Christian prayer of as we also pledge to extend
petition is a prayer which is forgivenessto those who
' • It Ï ft have offended us. While
essentially human, honesty is not easy, and all
—Karl Rahner "^ "^ struggle with self-
deception, our confidence
in the mercy of God gives
us the freedom to come
before God as we are. We can be transparent before God because we trust
that God has reconciled us to himself through Christ.
In this prayer we also pledge to be forgiving people. The Lord's Prayer
can seem frightening at times because we say "forgive us as we forgive
others." The word "as" can make us tremble because we know how might-
ily we struggle to forgive others. This is a real challenge for every disciple,
one that stands as an enduring check against any approach that would
cheapen our relationship with God.

84 THE BIBLE TODAY

 The promise we utter to be forgiving people does not mean that, when
people hurt us, we pretend that nothing has happened. Neither is forgive-
ness a kind of "state" we "fall into" if we are genuine disciples. Forgiving
others does not entail denying the feelings associated with the hurt we
have experienced—feelings like anger, resentment, a desire for revenge, or
just sadness. We need to acknowledge and accept such feelings in order to
work through the experience of hurt. Finally, forgiving others is not some-
thing accomplished through our own power or virtue; we need God's
grace.
Forgiveness is a process, a sometimes lengthy process. The deeper the
wound, the more involved this process will be. It often begins by asking
God for the desire to forgive those who have hurt us. And it includes prayer
for those who have offended us. A simple prayer asking God to give that
person the grace he or she needs today can help us to see him or her in a
different light, as someone who is loved by God and who, like me, is in
need of God's mercy. Forgiveness is often a jagged journey of negotiating
difficult emotions, engaging in repeated gestures of mercy and kindness,
and asking for the grace of God.
In the third century the North African bishop and martyr Cyprian of
Carthage said: "My dear friends, the Lord's Prayer contains many great
mysteries of our faith. In these few words there is great spiritual strength,
for this summary of divine teaching contains all of our prayers and peti-
tions." Cyprian was right. This prayer that Jesus taught his followers
includes many mysteries of our faith. Reflection on it offers us invaluable
insights into what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

Robin Ryan, c.p., is associate professor of systematic theology at Catholic

Theological Union in Chicago. He also serves as the director of Catholics
On Call, a national program on vocations funded by the Lilly Endow-
ment, Inc.

Robin Ryan, C.P. 85