The Lord's Prayer

Jesus said, “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “Pray then in this way: 

 Our Father in heaven,

 hallowed be your name. 

Your kingdom come. 

Your will be done, 

on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our debts, 

as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

And do not bring us 

to the time of trial, 

but rescue us from the evil one. 

 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:7-15

As a child growing up in the Presbyterian Church, we learned the Lord's Prayer with debts and debtors rather than trespass and trespasses. One child in Sunday School heard the debt as dent and so prayed, "dents and dentures." The beloved sung setting of the lord's Prayer uses debts and debtors. And yet, whatever language we use, or however we have learned to pray, our Creator simply asks for our humility and our simplicity.  We are debtors and dented, trespassers and foolish, and we are loved by our Creator despite it all.

Creator God, who hears your children

help us to bring our broken selves

the shambles and dents of our lives 

before you today and always.

To others we can dress ourselves up

and stand on our accomplishments

yet to you we are simply children

messy and confused and beloved.

Take our simply prayers today

we pray for an end to violence

in the world and in ourselves.

We pray for the grieving, the lonely

the frustrated and the hurting

that your love might be the balm

that the whole world needs now. Amen