Teach Us to Pray: A New Look at an Old Prayer

By Bill Hamann

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9781465322265

Bill Hamann

Bill Hamann’s vocation is rooted in the law, but his passion rises from the sea, including the great inland sea called Lake Erie. Bill’s romance with sailing yachts began as a midshipman at Kings Point. He has sailed the seven seas and all the Great Lakes by power and sail. The writing of several screenplays, stage dramas, and musicals has provided a never-ending life adventure that continues with each day at the keyboard. Bill is married to Cindy Jane, has two sons, lives in Cincinnati, teaches, preaches, writes, and will go sailing whenever there’s a stiff breeze.

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Copyright © 2009 by Bill Hamann.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 08/07/2019

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE:       A Burning Question

CHAPTER TWO:       Jesus Responds

CHAPTER THREE:    Father

CHAPTER FOUR:     Hallowed Be Your Name

CHAPTER FIVE:       Your Kingdom Come

CHAPTER SIX:         Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

CHAPTER SEVEN:   And Forgive Us Our Sins

CHAPTER EIGHT:    As We Forgive Everyone Indebted To Us

CHAPTER NINE:      And Do Not Bring Us to the Time of Trial

CHAPTER TEN:        A Dissertation Summary

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture passages marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

This book is

dedicated to my mother, Rosemary, who continues to teach me every day about the peace that comes from lifting

up praise and thanksgiving to our God, who always knows

what we need and supplies it so abundantly. It is also dedicated to everyone who prays without ceasing and patiently

waits for answers to their prayers. May the peace of the

Lord be upon each and every one of you in your

faith journey.

The author acknowledges, with gratitude and love, the valuable reading and critique of early manuscripts by Cindy, John, Peggy, and Shirley without whom this volume would be a lesser work. Thanks and blessings to each one of you for your inspiration!

The Lord’s Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer – 1549

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury

Oure father,

whiche arte in heaven,

hallowed by thy name.

Thy kyngdom come.

Thy wyll be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Geve us this daye oure dayly bread.

And forgeve us oure trespasses,

as we forgeve them that trespasse agaynst us.

And leade us not into temptacion.

But deliver us from evell.

Amen.

INTRODUCTION

M Y EARLIEST RECOL-LECTION of the existence of God came through prayer. I have vivid and fond memories of overnight visits with my maternal grandmother, Millie Dirkes, the most vivid of which centered around Millie’s bedtime ritual of prayer. Once I had brushed my teeth and put on my pajamas, Millie met me at bedside where we knelt down to pray. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Above the huge mahogany bed where I prayed and slept was a painting of the face of Jesus looking up into the heavens. It was one of those familiar old paintings that seemed omnipresent in most ethnic (German-Dutch for me) homes of the 40’s & 50’s. It had the muted colors of antiquity, and a plain brown wooden frame which seemed perpetually off-kilter.

Who is that? I asked several times, as only a pre-schooler could. Millie Dirkes would smile brightly and answer, That’s Jesus, the Son of God. Who is God? I asked. God is our Father who looks down upon us from heaven. Is Jesus saying his prayers to God, like we are? Millie looked at the old painting and said softly, I think he is, Billy. But Jesus’ prayer to God is different than ours. Of course, I asked the inevitable follow-up question: How does Jesus pray?

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had asked my grandmother the very same question Jesus’ disciples once asked him. Lord, teach us to pray. Jesus’ answer, like my grandmother’s, went like this: Our Father, who art in Heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Sixty years later I continue to recite the timeless version of The Lord’s Prayer that Millie Dirkes taught me at bedside. In my later life experiences as a Christian, Christian educator, and minister, I find a great spiritual connection with folks who so easily