Welcome to the last week in our series on prayer. Today we lean into the doxology that concludes the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. Many in the Christian tradition have closed the Prayer of Jesus with the phrase “for thine (or yours) is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” The power Jesus spoke of, and that the early Christians invoked, made the so-called powerful of the worl...

Today in our series on prayer, we dwell with practices of prayer that help us grapple with evil and seek deliverance. In his prayer template, Jesus draws on ancient Judeo-liturgical tradition from the Psalms of lament… “deliver us.” Just as his Hebrew ancestors did before him, he calls on God to come, to stand with, to offer strength in time of trouble. The crowds take on this same chant, “save us...

Today in our ongoing series on prayer, we continue by considering the role that forgiveness plays in our spiritual life and practices. Jesus included a line about forgiveness in the prayer he taught his disciples because getting right with each other is essential for our personal and communal well-being. Right relationship involves real honesty with God and with each other. “Pardon” is our focus ...

Welcome back to our series on prayer. Today we continue our intentional encounter with the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples discovering how we are formed by asking for what we need, like our daily bread. Jesus offers us assurance that asking God to act in our lives and in the world is a practice of trust and belief that we are not alone in our need. Our prayer for sustenance is both physical...

Welcome back to our series on prayer. Today we continue our exploration of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples by dwelling with the phrase, “Hallowed be thy name.” Devotion is time set apart (the meaning of “sacred”) to honor something or someone we love. When Jesus called God’s name “hallowed,” he was drawing us to the sacred nature of the holy. When we pray, we set apart our time and atte...