The Lord and His Prayer (2) – A Book Review

 

This book is vintage N.T. Wright – not just because it’s copyright is 1995, but also because the themes he treats are so typical of his writing – at least of that part of it that I have been privileged to read.

In the first segment of this review, I looked at the first two of the six chapters: “Our Father in Heaven” and “Thy Kingdom Come.”

Chapter Three is “Give Us This Day.” It begins:

The danger with the prayer for bread is that we get there too soon.

We come to prayer, aware of urgent needs, or at least wants. It’s tempting to race through the Lord’s Prayer, as far as ‘on earth as it is in heaven’, so that we can then take a deep breath and say ‘Now look here: when it comes to daily bread, there are some things I simply must have.’ And then off we go into a shopping list. To do this, of course, is to let greed get in the way of grace.

Report for 2012

I have been surprised at the response this blog has received in the past year. Mid-year it passed the milestones of 500 posts and 100,000 views.

You can go here to see a report on activity for the entire year. While many of those views were by casual visitors who may never return to visit again, there are also many regulars. We welcome the casual visitors; we love the regulars! Especially those who comment.

I usually interact with comments, as this give me an opportunity to expand on what I have said, clarify – and sometimes even to modify my views. As I said to one church elder once, “I believe that my opinions are the very best in the world.” Then a pause while he looked shocked before I added, “…because as soon as someone convinces me he has a better one, I adopt it!”

Some of your comments have made me re-examine my opinions to adopt better ones, for which I thank you.

I hope to be more consistent in posting this year than I was last year – and I especially want to examine a couple of general subjects in more depth: worship, especially the Lord’s Supper, and the Kingdom of God.

I have not forgotten my promise to have another segment (or maybe two) in my review of N. T. Wrights 1995 book, The Lord and His Prayer. Hopefully that will be done soon.

I’m also teaching a series right now on the Kingdom, and expect to use some material from that in discussing God’s kingdom.

I also want to get back into my earlier custom of posting a brief communion meditation each week. I would also like to do some more in depth looks at what the communion is all about as it contributes to the life of the individual Christian and in the life of the church.

Please come along for the ride!