Us
We come across it now and then: someone approaches God in prayer, but they don’t pray for themselves. They pray for God’s people. In fact they go so far as to confess the sins of the people and plead for mercy. They use “we” and “us” pronouns, rather than “I” and “me”. This, even though the people praying are not in fact guilty, personally! Examples are found in Daniel 9, Ezra 9, and Nehemiah 1. There are others in the Psalms.
It goes without saying that these believers are foreshadowing the Lord Jesus, appearing before God on our behalf, gaining reconciliation for us. In him alone we have forgiveness of sins. Yet, it is not as though we cannot approach the Father ourselves. Those three Old Testament brothers did so, and Jesus himself is very clear about it (John 16:26-27). In fact, Jesus teaches us to pray, right? The prayer he used for teaching begins, “Our Father…” Direct access. Which does not negate his mediatorial role, which is emphasized very often.
There are several instances where we find similar events recorded in a couple of the gospels, with differing details—which can be confusing until we look at the context and realize something very similar happened or was said more than once. There was no TV or internet to spread the message—it was all face-to-face. Jesus’s message was consistent, and inevitably he would say similar things on many occasions. The same questions would arise, the same accusations would be made. So it is that we find, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaching the disciples about prayer (Matthew 6:5-13). He gives them some things NOT to do, then says, “Pray then like this…” Then we find, at a later date, the disciples coming to Jesus asking, “Teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:1-4) He does, and he uses words very similar to what he had used earlier. We take seriously anything Jesus teaches us, but when near-identical teaching is given prominence on two separate occasions, probably we’re being told to sit up and pay attention.
Sorry for the long build-up here, seemingly going down two different roads. What has very recently struck me is that these roads converge. I can’t possibly count the times I’ve read or said the “Lord’s prayer”. It is a wonderful prayer, very wide-ranging, every phrase carrying a great deal to think about and pray about. It can be and is misused, of course, becoming rote repetition—something the Lord never would want. But I can and do pray this prayer with my full attention and with intensity, making it personal.
And what has just recently smacked me in the head is that the prayer, as taught by Jesus, isn’t personal. All the pronouns are “us” and “our”. It’s communal. It has more to do with Daniel’s prayer than with my own personal petitions.
Let me say right here that I don’t think it’s wrong at all to personalize the prayer. “My Father…” “Thank you for providing me daily bread, and please continue…” “Lead me not into temptation…” All absolutely right things to pray for. What I have come to think, though, is that I’ve been missing the larger scale picture, and I think maybe it’s the larger scale that was at the front of Jesus’s mind. Otherwise he wouldn’t have used the collective pronouns.
So, if we say this prayer as “us”, what are we saying? Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah were praying on behalf of literal Israel. Maybe we should look at the Lord’s prayer as a prayer for spiritual Israel—our community of believers. Is it outrageous to think Jesus would teach us to pray for the health of his body, his bride? Taken this way, how does he instruct us to pray?
Our Father. The one, living God and Father of us all. We pray for your name to be treated as holy, among us. We pray for your Kingdom, for only then will your will be done in the earth, among us as it is now among the angels. (A confession!)
Please give us our daily bread, the bread of every word that proceeds from your mouth. Within our ecclesias and among them. Philosophy, opinion, politics, culture and more claim to be food…but aren’t. Please feed us on what it true, what is right. Teach us to reject the junk that advertises itself as food.
Forgive us, Father, your family, because we have failed you. The details aren’t the same, but the result is the same as what Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah prayed about. And, we acknowledge that you are righteous in applying to us the same standard we apply to others. So please help us, as a community, to exhibit the grace we beg for from you.
We pray that we as a body not be led into testing. We understand, Father, that in the last days tests are bound to come, and they will be really hard. Please rescue us, our community, from the disasters that we can already see forming—physical, familial, spiritual, ecclesial.
We, your children, bow before you and confess that yours alone is the Kingdom, the power, the glory. We have none. Please help us to remember it.
Love, still chewing on this, Paul
If you have any feedback, please contact me at: paul.zilmer@gmail.com