The Lord's Prayer

As I was cleaning my kitchen about a month ago, my prayers for the Church, once again, were on my mind. All of a sudden, the burden became too heavy for me. I fell on the floor crying out to the Lord, pleading for God's mercy to be poured out on the Church. I was begging for God's voice to be heard and His reign to be seen. These intense episodes seem to be coming on me more frequently in the last year or so. Part of it, I think, is not only my burden for the Church, both in North America and around the world, but also I've been frustrated with myself, not knowing what I am supposed to be doing to be a part of the mission God has for the Church . . . I often don't feel like I am doing what I should be about as a disciple of Christ.

Well, what was different about this episode was God actually gave me something to do. He asked me to pray the Lord's Prayer everyday. At first I responded, "sure," more out of politeness. I was wondering what was up with that request -- was He just trying to calm me down by giving me something to do? Or maybe He wanted me to be more intentional in my prayer time. But of course, no matter the reason I was going to do it, believing that in due time I would see why. Though I admit there were a few days amidst the craziness of life when I nearly forgot, the most amazing thing happened. Since that day, I have literally been bombarded by the Lord's Prayer. Just yesterday someone who I hardly ever talk to sent me a YouTube of a little girl singing it (see the link below). And I appreciated the version we prayed on Easter, so I asked my pastor for a copy of it to hang in my bedroom. In the routine of this prayer, I started out focusing on the parts about God's Kingdom and our Daily Bread. And as I listened to what it says, I prayed it with increasing fervency.

A lot of the people I know are much more organized and systematic about their prayer times than I am, so this is probably not a big deal to them. And maybe this will be a step for me in that direction. We'll see.

Here is the 2-year old little girl singing The Lord's Prayer. I noticed her parents have done several YouTube recordings of her, a very talented little one!