MINISTER’S NOTE 24 JULY 2022
The Lord’s Prayer is so familiar that it is easy to rush
through without always grasping what we mean.
However, the goal is to internalize each and every
aspect of this prayer so that it becomes an entrustment
of our entire life to God. Today we are invited
to stop and think about what we are actually saying
and what Jesus is teaching us in his response to
the request to be taught to pray.
The Lord’s Prayer calls us to live differently, honouring
God as the one true God and allowing God’s
will to be done in a world of competing idols. We
are reminded that God is not distant but is present
with us as a compassionate parent who calls us into
community and invites us to share our needs and
prayers with others. God is interested in sustaining
our bodies as well as our hearts. The basics that we
need to survive are gifted to us all together to
share. We are also reminded of the reconciling love
of God, thus urging us to work on our relationships
with God and with each other so that we can live
in peace.
Jesus reassures us as he speaks of God’s willingness
to answer our prayers: “For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks,
the door will be opened.” (Luke 11: 10). This does
not mean an indiscriminate granting of all our desires,
but a knowledge that God is with us. God’s
love always surrounds us, and through this love,
anything is possible.
Blessings,
Vuyelwa.