Article August 29, 1994 Issue

The prayer that cannot be prayed too often

Thomas Richard Mitchinson

Here they were—students whose lives were undergoing a great change. They were being taught how to pray—that praying is so much more than words. Their teacher cautioned against prayer that is more of a show than a change of heart. He instructed them that prayer is a quiet communion with God.

What he lived and taught about God's power was accompanied by something rather remarkable—multitudes were healed, the blind saw, the deaf heard, and lepers were cleansed. This teacher said, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever" (Matt. 6:9–13). The teacher, of course, was Christ Jesus. The prayer has become known as the Lord's Prayer. It was given to his disciples then, and through the Bible to all, as the highest way to pray.

The first two words of this prayer, "Our Father," include the fact of God's fatherhood and His care, not just for the one praying but for all. The humble heart questions its own motives as it comes to God in prayer and asks: "Is my prayer to bless others? Do I truly think of everyone I know as having the same Father-child relationship to God that I do? Do I see each as His spiritual offspring? Is my prayer opening my thought to God's constant love for all?"

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