My word is like the snow and the rainthat come down from the sky to water the earth.They make the crops grow and provide seed for sowing and food to eat.So also will be the word that I speak -it will not fail to do what I plan for it;it will do everything I send it to do.
I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me;He freed me from all my fears.The oppressed look to Him and are glad;They will never be disappointed.The helpless will call to him, and he answers;He saves them from all their troubles.His angel guards those who honour the Lord and rescues them from danger.But He opposes those who do evil,so that when they die, they are soon forgotten.The righteous call to the Lord, and He listens;He rescues them from all their troubles.The Lord is near to those who are discouraged;He saves those who have lost all hope.Good people suffers many troubles,but the Lord saves them from them all.
When you pray, do not be use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask Him. This, then, is how you should pray :"Our Father in heaven:May Your holy name be honoured;may Your Kingdom come;may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us today the food we need.Forgive us the wrongs we have done,as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.Do not bring us to hard testing,but keep us safe from the Evil One"If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is showing us how intimately our Father loves us. In today’s first reading, we see our Father reminding us that whatever he has promised to do for us (promised in his Word), he will indeed do for us. Why do we doubt this?
Doubt comes from incomplete information: We received our first images of what God the Father is like from our human fathers and other authority figures (including mothers). Since even the best of parents imitated God imperfectly and loved us insufficiently, our knowledge of God the Father's love is insufficient.
When we pray the "Our Father" prayer – if we really pay attention to the words, praying from our hearts instead of rattling off the words like babbling pagans – we open ourselves to his complete love. Each part of this prayer, which Jesus learned from his own experiences with the Father, is a prescription for an intimate relationship with our heavenly Daddy.
As a spiritual exercise for Lent, pray the "Our Father" slowly, line by line, reflecting on how each part connects you to the love of the Papa who loves you perfectly and completely and unconditionally.
At the end of this Gospel reading, Jesus offers us the key that unlocks the power of our Father's love. It's no accident that he gives additional instruction for only one part of the prayer: "If you forgive the faults of others, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours." Unforgiveness closes our hearts to love. When the door is shut, we're not open to receive love, not even our perfect Father's love.
This is why Jesus told us to pray to our Father instead of to my Father or to the Father. We're all in this together. Our Father is Jesus' Father. It's a community prayer. When we pray it by ourselves, Jesus is our prayer partner.
When we pray it in church, we're united to all of God's children. How can we love God while refusing to love someone for whom he cares deeply? The more willing we are to love others – including those who are most difficult to love – the more we open ourselves to the love of our Father.
I know, easier said than done.
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