The following is a version of the Lord’s Prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book. There are so many reasons why I love this form. It’s description of God moves me to tears. “Loving God, in whom is heaven:” makes me sit and ponder on its vision. “In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.” We are hurt and we hurt others. It is so easy to see it in this version. I encourage you to read and think about the prayer. You may love it or you may hate it but it will help you think.
Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and for ever. Amen.
I have been a worrier my whole life. My grandmother always told me to “sit down in that chair and worry as hard as you can and then get up and see if it did any good.” Needless to say it never did. God tells us not to worry but to count on him to care for us. If only we could shut off the worry. Each time worry pops to the surface turn your mind to God and his promises and keep doing it!
Prayer is important. Prayer is not something we do lightly. We need to pray. We need to thank God for everything that he has given us. We need to praise him and tell him so. We should never think of prayer as just an opportunity to ask for things that we want. This is too often what we do. As Nouwen tells us prayer is the breath of life. Remember that.
We need to learn about our traditions. The stories of those who have gone before us and struggled with the same questions are important. But that is not all we need. We have to take the next step and spend time with God to let Him infuse the soul. Time with God is critical to our growth and faith.
I don’t know if you have read about the life of Julian of Norwich. I have included the info from Wikipedia.
Hear God in Other Voices 