The Lord’s Prayer

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

IN the Gospel of St. Matthew (6,7-15), the Lord’s Prayer or what is commonly known as The Our Father is given after Christ warned the people to avoid babbling when praying. He offered the Lord’s Prayer as the proper way to pray.

This is a good reminder for all of us to pause from time to time to see if indeed when we pray the vocal prayers, like this one or the other very popular one of the “Hail Mary,” we really would do them from the heart, meaning what we say, and attaining a real connection with Our Lord or with the Blessed Mother.

We cannot deny that we have the strong tendency to fall into routine and into simply repeating the words while our mind and heart are somewhere else or are simply blank. We need to be strongly guarded against this tendency of ours.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, the Lord’s Prayer is “the summary of the whole Gospel.” It is considered as the fundamental Christian prayer, entrusted by Christ to his disciples, and now to us.

As the summary of the whole Gospel, the Lord’s Prayer covers everything that we Christians believe, making it a complete expression of our faith. And thus, it is also considered as the prayer of the entire Church, especially during the Holy Mass, where all the petitions and intercessions mentioned in the liturgy are connected.

That it starts with “Our Father” emphasizes the shared fatherhood of God for all Christians, whatever may be our differences. It calls for unity despite our unavoidable differences and conflicts in our earthly affairs.

One very significant part of that prayer is its emphasis on forgiveness both from God and from one another. It highlights the importance of having the will of God being followed and lived by us here on earth.

For us to pray properly, it would be good to find a comfortable place where we can focus and feel comfortable. This can be a corner in a church or some quiet place or where there is some calm and beautiful connection with nature.

It’s also important that we prepare our mind and heart so that they can have the proper focus on God. This can be done by paying attention to the words of the prayer and their meaning. It would also be good be if we can connect the words of the prayer with our thoughts and feeling. Thus, some moments of meditative consideration of the words would be most appropriate.

If done in a group, the Lord’s Prayer and other vocal prayers can truly become a very powerful tool where our praises and supplications can assume a tremendous effect on everyone. We can also add that we should feel free to add our very own personal expressions of prayer, showing how involved we are in our prayers.

If we carry out these indications regularly, we can really say that we are praying properly which should lead us to an increased faith, a deeper relationship with God, a sense of peace and even physical and psychological well-being. It can also help us in our decision-making, emotional healing, and a stronger sense of purpose. Indeed, it can help in alleviating stress and anxiety since prayer gives us a sense of support and hope.

Our spiritual and Christian life would be more consistently lived, and our gradual transformation into “another Christ” takes place, aligning our desires and thinking with God’s will.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com