part 2 of ...How much faith....

In Rick's sermon Sunday he talked about being timid vs. being sure when we pray. It reminded me of a passage in The Healing Path of Prayer by Ron Roth. Roth, a Franciscan priest, shares an alternative reading/translation of The Lord's Prayer, one that really captured my heart. He believes that in the original wording, Jesus was praying an affirmation of all that God already provides rather than only praying a request for these things to be given or done. I think too often I pray forgetting that God has already provided. When I request I do so, in part, because I need to acknowledge my dependence and God's sovereignty. God's kingdom is already come, if I could just see rightside-up I would see it.

The Lord's Prayer

(transl by Ron Roth)

Our Father, who is everywhere in the universe,

your name is sacred.

Your kingdom is come among us;

your will is throughout the earth as it is

throughout the universe.

You give us our needful bread from day to day,

and you forgive us our offenses even as we

forgive our offender.

You do not let us enter into materialism,

but you separate us from error.

For yours is the kingdom,

and the power,

and the song,

from ages to ages,

sealed in faithfulness.