At a 1932 conference in Switzerland, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer delivered a lecture titled “The Church is Dead.” He noted,
“…has it not turn into terrifyingly clear many times, in all the pieces that now we have said here to 1 one other, that we are not any longer obedient to the Bible? We are more keen on our own thoughts than of the thoughts of the Bible. We not read the Bible seriously, we not read it against ourselves, but for ourselves. If the entire of our conference here is to have any great significance, it might be perhaps that of showing us that we must read the Bible in quite a special way until we discover ourselves again.”
The church was, in Bonhoeffer’s mind, ignoring God’s word or, perhaps worse, pressing the Bible into the service of the church’s own agendas. God’s word was not transforming God’s people. It was getting used to authorize the church’s bad behavior. While Bonhoeffer focuses his critique on God’s word and the church’s (mis)use of Scripture, Bonhoeffer is highlighting a deeper problem: the church had begun to set its own agenda.
Reading scripture “for ourselves” versus “against ourselves” is crucial, yet (and I believe Bonhoeffer would agree) the entire practices of the religion are to be done “against ourselves” somewhat than “for ourselves.” We need these practices to be “against” us because our desires are deeply misdirected. To some large degree, our innate intuition is to pursue something aside from God. As Sarah Coakley notes regarding the need of a transformational theological process, “What is being progressively purged, on this undertaking, is the fallen and flawed capability for idolatry, the tragic misdirecting of desire. One is learning, over a lifetime—and never without painful difficulty—to think, act, desire, and see aright.”
Praying the Lord’s Prayer “Against Ourselves” Instead of “For Ourselves”
Like reading scripture, prayer can work “for us” or “against us.” In The Dangers of Christian Practice, Lauren Winner suggests that our misdirected desires have “long been a worry for Christians’ theorizing about petitionary prayer: the sure knowledge that if we get within the habit of asking, we’re certain to ask for the improper things.” Prayer is an important a part of the Christian life, but prayer isn’t proof against the perversions of our own interests and agendas.
A fast have a look at the New Testament reflects each the ability and fragility of prayer. Consider, as an example, that the Holy Spirit stands behind our prayers because “we have no idea what to wish for as we ought, however the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom 8:26). Even once we are confused and ignorant, the Holy Spirit “intercedes” for us. Yet, as we see in 1 Peter, our prayers could also be hindered (3:7).
The power and fragility of prayer is on display in Matthew 6:5-14. Before the disciples ask Jesus to show them the right way to pray, Jesus instructs them on how not to wish. First, he encourages them to not treat prayer as a commodity intended to reinforce one’s social standing (6:5). The “hypocrites” can have been offering real prayers, but in doing so, additionally they seized the chance to make use of prayer for their very own purposes. As such, Jesus encourages his disciples not to mimic them but to wish “in secret” to receive the Father’s reward (6:6). Jesus isn’t encouraging the disciples to cover after they pray. Jesus himself prayed in public (Lk 23:34; Jn 6:11; 17:1-26). Instead, Jesus is encouraging his disciples not to make use of prayer for their very own advantage.
After critiquing the “hypocrites,” Jesus turns to the Gentiles “who heap up empty phrases” (6:7) after they pray. Jesus tells his disciples not to mimic the Gentiles because “your Father knows what you wish before you ask him” (6:8). Here, Jesus encourages the disciples to not take their cues from the Gentiles since the Gentiles don’t have any understanding of who God is. As such, they struggle to “connect” with their “god” by piling up phrases within the hopes that something will “stick.” Jesus’s disciples needn’t pray just like the Gentiles because they know who their God is, and God knows what the disciples need.
Both of those ways of praying are counterfeit. In their very own ways, the hypocrites and the Gentiles were distorting prayer. The hypocrites were using prayer to enhance their social status. The Gentiles were praying without direction and knowledge and, in doing so, suggesting that God is capricious and arbitrary. Jesus’s disciples are to wish into God’s reality. The way they pray is to reflect the fact of the Triune God. The Lord’s prayer instructs them to just do that.
The Lord’s Prayer
While many churchgoers (myself included) can have grown up reciting the Lord’s prayer on Sundays, we should always not assume that Jesus was outlining the one prayer we might ever need to wish or that he’s giving us a quasi-magical incantation that may obligate God to bless us. The Lord’s prayer is a theological outline that provides on a regular basis believers a pattern and trajectory for their very own prayers. It is a prayer that teaches us to approach God “against ourselves.”
“…hallowed be your name”
The first phrase within the Lord’s prayer is (appropriately) focused on the Lord. This portion of the prayer is an expression of rightly directed desire. As disciples of Christ, we would like God and his name to be given due honor. We want God to be recognized as holy. God is already holy. His name will all the time be above all names. Still, God’s people desire God’s name to be recognized and honored as holy.
As individuals who bear God’s name, this portion of the Lord’s prayer isn’t simply a call for others to acknowledge the holiness of God’s name. Instead, it’s a reminder that now we have a task to play in establishing God’s status. If we would like God’s name to be honored, we must not bear it in vain (Exod 20:7; Deut 5:11). We usually are not charged with protecting God’s status (God doesn’t need our protection) but with being and making disciples whose lives reflect a deep understanding of what it means to bear the name of God.
“…your kingdom come…”
The next portion of the prayer has to do with restoring a world that isn’t the way in which it’s presupposed to be. In v. 10, Jesus instructs his disciples to wish that God’s reign (or kingdom) might be established in all realms of existence (earth and heaven). It is a prayer that the politics and false orders of the world will give strategy to God’s will. We pray for a time when there might be no more resistance to God’s will.
While it could appear easy for us to look out on the world and see the ways others resist the need of God, we must also recognize that we pray this prayer “against ourselves.” When we pray that God’s might be done, we implicitly acknowledge that our will…our desires and interests…will have to be conformed to God’s will. It isn’t a lot that we pray only that others would conform to God’s will but that God’s will and His reign can be the unqualified norm on earth and in heaven.
“Give us today our every day bread”
This portion of the Lord’s prayer directs us toward dependence. There is a few debate amongst scholars as to the meaning of “every day bread.” The Greek word translated “every day” is comparatively rare in Greek literature and the New Testament (Matt 6:11; Lk 11:3). It seems best to grasp the phrase “every day bread” as referring to a day’s provision. While some argue that Jesus is looking forward to the bread of the approaching age, it seems best to consider this portion of the prayer as setting a pattern: in the supply of every day bread, God is reminding his followers of his consistent kindness and dependability that may ultimately lead those that are loyal to him into the approaching age.
Requesting a day’s provision serves, partially, as a every day reminder of our dependence on God. We don’t place our hope in our savings and retirement accounts. Instead, we ask God to offer us with what we want on a day-to-day basis. It expresses our ongoing desire to trust in God even for our every day provisions somewhat than in search of out some false sense of security elsewhere.
“Forgive us our debts…”
It is value noting a difference between the Lord’s prayer in Matthew and that recorded in Luke. “Debts” is utilized in Matthew 6:12 somewhat than “sins” in Luke 11:4. It could also be that Luke is highlighting ethical and moral “debts,” whereas Matthew is specializing in more tangible, material debts. It seems more likely, nevertheless, that Matthew is using a fabric situation to spotlight the deficits accrued between believers and God via sin. In this case, Luke is making explicit what Matthew points toward with more figurative language.
Forgiving and being forgiven go hand in hand. Understanding the nice debt God has forgiven leaves no room for those in search of to mimic him to withhold forgiveness. It is significant to notice that praying for forgiveness is “against ourselves.” Rather than being self-justifying and thankful that we’re “not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—and even like this tax collector” (Lk 18:11), we acknowledge our need for forgiveness. As Stanley Hauerwas notes, “To learn to have our sins forgiven, indeed to learn that we’re sinners needing forgiveness, is to turn into a part of the dominion of God. If we don’t learn to forgive then we won’t be forgiven, we won’t be a part of the brand new reality, the brand new people, brought into existence by Jesus.”
“And lead us not into temptation…”
Asking that God wouldn’t lead us into temptation shouldn’t lead us to think that God is one way or the other in search of to make us fall. Instead, as Craig Keener suggests, “In this context, the person is praying precisely that the testing [or temptation] won’t result in falling.” Similar to the request for every day bread, we’re placing ourselves in God’s hands for defense as we face the varied challenges of life and discipleship.
While we might almost actually affirm that we want God’s assist in testing, we should always not miss the implications of this petition: we’re acknowledging our own insufficiency to face firm in testing. Clearly, we usually are not asking God to “do all of the work,” but we’re asking him to be with us, to strengthen us, and to present us the wisdom and faith to navigate trials faithfully.
The Lord’s prayer calls us to set ourselves aside. It doesn’t deny that now we have certain capacities and gifts. We all have God-given talents. Instead, the prayer reminds us of our desire to see God honored and our must depend upon him for our ongoing provision and protection. It reminds us that to point to and glorify God, we cannot follow our own misdirected desires. Instead, we must adopt the desires of Christ as we conform ever closer to his image.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Jacob Wackerhausen
