Wednesday, July 09, 2014

The Lord's Prayer of New Zealand

This Sunday in worship we are focusing on prayer as a Christian practice. It was certainly a practice important to Jesus.  So we're using the text of Matthew 6 which includes the Lord's Prayer - that is 'the prayer that Jesus taught us'. There are many ways that Christians through the centuries have interpreted and expanded on the Lord's Prayer since Jesus first taught his disciples this prayer, but below is one of my favorites. It is a part of the New Zealand Prayer Book - the common prayer book for the Anglican church in that country.

Eternal Spirit, 
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, 
Source of all that is and that shall be, 
Father and Mother of us all, 
Loving God, in whom is heaven: 
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! 
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! 
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! 
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. 
With the bread we need for today, feed us. 
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. 
In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us. 
From trials too great to endure, spare us. 
From the grip of all that is evil, free us. 
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. 
Amen.