Christ is the preeminent teacher of prayer. At central position in His teaching is the familiar “Our Father.” He God is presented as Father and we are His children. Prayer is directly given the color and fragrance of love. The great Christian author, Dostoyevski, writes the following: “Similar and identical to the joy of a mother, when she happens from time to time to look upon her child and to notice its very first smile, similar and identical is the joy of god whenever He looks from above and sees a sinner fal ing on his knees to pray. .
This was said by a peasant woman.. and it was such a deep, such a subtle and religious thought. . It expressed al at once the whole essence of Christianity, that is, the whole idea of God as Father who gave us life, the whole understanding of the joy of god who sees man as His child – and this is the basic idea of Christ!.. The essence of religious emotion cannot be contained in any logic, and it is inaccessible to every atheism” ( The Brothers Karamazov).
But before I can cal God “Father,” it is necessary to have faith and love. Faith makes me glorify Him and love moves me to do His wil . Need makes me ask for my daily bread. The need for peace and concord makes me seek reconciliation with my brothers. My own repentance makes me readily offer forgiveness to those whose sins have wronged me. My humility makes me seek divine power and grace so that I may not fal into temptations. A presupposition of this prayer, and of every prayer, is the forgiveness of our brothers. This helps us realize that we do not pray alone, but in unity with the entire triumphant and militant Church. The acute awareness of our sinfulness is the very fertile ground in which our prayer can blossom.
Commenting on the Lord's Prayer, St. John Chrysostom tel s us that, by expecting man to cal and have God as his Father, which He is, we remember His many blessings – the forgiveness of sins, the abolition of punishment, the justification, the sanctification, the redemption, the sonship, the heavenly inheritance, the brotherly relationship with His only-begotten Son, and the grace of the Holy Spirit. By instructing us to say,
“our Father,” rather than “my Father,” the Lord is also teaching us to pray with others and for others. In this way enmities are dissolved, love reigns and inequalities are removed. We are al children of one and the same Father, and we share His blessings in common. This noble descent, our common heritage, does not permit differentiation or belittling among us, no matter who we are.
God, of course, is not restricted to heaven, but the person who prays must yearn to be in heaven, leaving behind earthly things. “Hal owed be Your name,” means the name of God is to be glorified. “Your kingdom come,” is an expression of gratitude by the Son, who desires that the kingdom of the Father prevail in the world, and that the faithful orient themselves toward heaven. “Your wil be done on earth as it is in heaven,” means that the divine wil is to be done in the whole world, so that errors are eliminated and truth and virtue prevail. “Give us this day our daily bread,” teaches us to be content with few things and a simple diet. We must seek sufficient food, not luxury – the necessary, not the superfluous – simplicity, not variety and abundance.
Moreover, this line of the Lord's Prayer inspires faith and trust in the providence of God, and joy when we receive our daily bread.
The next line speaks about forgiveness of sins and repentance. The basic precondition of our forgiveness is our ability to forgive the mistakes of our brothers. In this way we are al grounded and humbled, whether sinners or righteous.
The testing by temptation mentioned at the end of the prayer wil be overcome and defeated with the help of God. During bitter hours of temptation that come upon us, let us avoid extreme risks, but with prudence and courage, sensibility and decisiveness, let us fervently seek divine assistance. And it shal be given to us.
A great contemporary elder, living in a cave in an isolated part of Mt. Athos, used the Lord's Prayer as his only continuous prayer for many years, obviously because he experienced its profound and powerful meaning.We have noted that the best teacher of prayer is Christ Himself. Christ often left His disciples and the people to pray alone, even when they felt they needed Him and sought Him persistently. Christ did not simply keep company with His Father, but spoke to Him about His mission and the need to strengthen His disciples.
Jesus spent forty days in the desert preparing Himself for His public preaching. How much do we need to prepare?
The prayer of Christ was sorely tested on the Mount of Olives, but He eventual y yielded without reservation tot eh wil of the Father. We seem to be halting and hesitating in our prayer, and perhaps this is why we do not often receive. We are demanding when it comes to our own wil , but have reservations regarding the divine wil . This is why heaven is not open to us. And angel visited Christ during His prayers. Angels wil come to help us, if we prepare ourselves and yield to God's wil , as they came to help the saints.
Through the Mystical Supper of Holy Thursday Christ teaches us to pray more profoundly. He instructs us to make our petitions “in His name.” This means that we are to see a very close relationship with Him. It also means that we should want what He wants. And what does he want? “That they be one.” He wants us to be united. And He wants us to faithful y observe the commandments out of love for Him, out of a desire to honor His name. Love, therefore, is both the beginning and the end in prayer. God wil give us everything when we are reconciled, united with one another, peaceful, serene.