How to pray (part 2)

After Matthew 6:9-15 

First, the focus:

to whom, for whom,

about whom. Then:

the needs to be 

expressed, including

basic stuff (like

bread). Then:

acknowledgement

of the debts we owe

to others, thinking

debts in the broadest

sense. Then: avoidance

of temptation and

deliverance from evil.

Simply, short, direct.

But to punch home

the point, he emphasizes

forgiveness, that if you

want to be forgiven,

the lead the way,

be the example, just 

do it, yourself.

 

Photograph by Ben White via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Rules for life

After Matthew 6:9-15 

It is the best-known,

best-remembered,

most-often-spoken-aloud

instruction in the lengthy

rules for life explained

on that hillside

on that day.

It is embedded

within a series

of rules: blessings

and salt and light

and anger and lust

and divorce and oaths

and revenge and

enemies (live them!)

and giving and fasting

and anxiety and

judging and needs

and serving. Almost

right in the middle,

there it is: the rule

for how to pray.

 

Photograph by Jack Sharp via Unsplash. Used with permission.