There’s likely no more famous prayer than the one spoken by Jesus when his disciples asked if he’d teach them how to pray.  You likely know the one.

How often do you use it yourself?

N.T. Wright’s words got my attention this week.  In speaking of this prayer, he said…

The prayer is therefore a way of saying to the Father: Jesus has (in the image he himself used) caught me in the net of his good news.  The prayer says: I want to be part of his kingdom-movement.  I find myself drawn into his heaven-on-earth way of living.  I want to be part of his bread-for-the-world agenda, for myself and for others.  I need forgiveness fro myself–from sin, from debt, from every weight around my neck–and I intend to live with forgiveness in my heart in my own dealings with others.  (Notice how remarkable it is that, at the heart of the prayer, we commit ourselves to live in a particular way, a way we find difficult.)  And because I live in the real world, where evil is still powerful, I need protecting and rescuing.  And, in and through it all, I acknowledge and celebrate the Father’s kingdom, power, and glory.

Yeah, I should use that prayer more often.