I mean, it's hardly a complicated thing. It's one of the most familiar rituals of the Christian faith, and it's pretty danged simple. This isn't a deep dive into the discursive techniques of Thomistic theology, or a treatise on the distinctives between Tillich and Berdyaev.
It's not particularly trendy, or buzzy, or pushing the leading edge. It's just the Lord's Prayer. We all know that already, right?
It's. Just. So. Basic.
I mean, of course it is.
But how are we at the basics? How important are the basics?
If you're entirely new to the faith, how much do you know about the point and purpose of prayer? What do you know about this core Christian practice, and the whys and wherefores of this thing Jesus asks his followers to do? There was a time when most Americans were culturally Christian, but honey, that time ain't now. Sure, it's basic. Basics, after all, are a good place to start.
If you've left the church, burned by politicization or the mean-girls cruelty that often drives folks from communities, were the basics what drove you away? Likely not. I bailed on church in young adulthood after a totally pointless ego-driven fight tore the church I'd grown up in apart. Watching Christians squabble and scheme over control of a church just made the whole thing seem like complete [bovine excrement]. When I finally returned, it was to the simplest practices of following Jesus, of service and prayer. When you start again, it's a fine idea to start at the beginning.
But what if you're deep in, so far past the first stages of being a "Baby Christian" that talking about the Lord's Prayer feels like going back to read Hop On Pop or Horton Hears a Who. You're sophisticated. You're experienced. You've got your doctorate in Presuppositional Apologetics, or host a podcast on Queering the Meta-liturgics of Contemplation.
You need this prayer.
Because when Jesus taught this prayer, he didn't describe it as a "starter prayer." This isn't a prayer for beginners, to be replaced by more sophisticated mystic incantations as we advance to higher and higher levels of spiritual power. This is. The Prayer. It doesn't matter if we've just discovered the grace of the Gospel, or if we're the Renowned Senior Pastor of a Gigachurch. It doesn't matter if we're tenure track or if we've got 97,000 followers on ChristTok.
This is the prayer we are meant to pray.
It is meant to shape us and form us and remind us of our purpose, no matter where we are in our journey.
And as we're in a time when Christians have kinda forgotten the purpose of prayer, when we pray for wealth and material success, when we pray for political power, when we pray for influence?
Perhaps a refresher is in order.
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