This week my husband surprised me by getting me The Sound of Music. I love this movie and only recently found out it was available. He saw a copy in the store and picked it up for me. It’s delightful! It was wonderful treat. I love it! One of my favorite lines in the film comes from the song ‘Do-Re-Mi’.
“Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.
It’s so simple. It’s so peppy and it’s been stuck in my head for a few days now. It’s quite appropriate actually. We’ve begun a journey here. Jesus emphasizes simplicity and this song is simplicity at it’s finest. So how do we do this? How do we keep it simple? How are we supposed to pray?
Jesus says:
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we have forgiven our debtors.
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew 6:9-13 NIV)
The Lord’s prayer is a perfect example of what to include in prayer. It contains everything we should be including when we talk with God. It’s simple. It’s honest. It’s perfect. I often hear that people need more direction in faith. That they need templates and guides in order to know what to do. The Lord’s Prayer is the perfect template for prayer. Jesus includes everything we would need to know in these verses.
In the Lord’s prayer we see that when we pray we should praise God and offer our thanks. We should ask God for what we need (not just want) and we should seek guidance on how to become the type of people God wants us to be. We also need protection and care. It’s beautifully simple.
This week our goal should be to pray more than we pray now. We should crave prayer like we crave coffee (or chocolate or whatever your craving happens to be). Remember that Jesus says to keep it simple (and shows us how to do that) so don’t stress about it. This is about starting at the beginning. Just add 5 minutes a day. Add 1 minute if 5 is too intimidating. It’s just about creating a ritual. It’s about giving a little more and trying to connect with God in new ways.
The beginning is a very good place to start.
