The Two Prayers of Jesus
One is the Lord’s Prayer with doubtful attribution to Jesus. The other is the “Thank-you Father” prayer recited by Jesus before his miracles.
The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer is known, or known of, by all Christians, and practiced extensively:
“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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” (Matt.6:9–13).
I have never liked this particular prayer from the time I was a young boy in Catholic boarding school. I could not relate to the god this prayer is addressed to. I know I am not alone in that feeling.
The false anthropomorphic concept of God
The Lord’s Prayer implies a vision of God that could not be the vision of Jesus. This god is one you seemingly trade with, or petition. A god that might tempt you with evil.
Such a vision of God reflects a false anthropomorphic concept of God. It is not a vision that Jesus could express and share.
The Lord’s Prayer suffered either from translation errors or was tampered with at a certain point in the early creation of the Bible.
The “Thank-you Father’ prayer
The reason we can be doubtful of the attribution of the Lord’s Prayer to Jesus is because of its contrast with the “Thank-you Father” prayer frequently expressed by Jesus before his miracles.
The way Jesus spoke to “his Father” is not the way implied in the Lord’s Prayer.
The multiplication of bread and small fish
When Jesus fed five thousand followers by the multiplication of five loaves of bread and two small fish, we are told in John 6:10 that “Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed . . . as much as they wanted.”
The salient point is that Jesus did not dwell on the lack of food, and he did not ask for God’s help.
Despite the appearance of a lack, Jesus’ consciousness was full of the conviction of a God of love, omnipresent and omnipotent.
The death of Lazarus
When Jesus learned of the death of his friend Lazarus, he did not petition God on his friend’s behalf.
In John 11:41 we learn that, “Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you have always heard me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here.’”
Remarkably, Jesus said all this while Lazarus was still in the tomb by all appearances a dead man.
Again, Jesus thanks God before the miracle takes place.
A spiritual lesson
Note that this episode is an opportunity for Jesus to reveal the truth of spiritual Reality to his followers. This is clear when he says, “But I said this for the benefit of the people standing here.”
His prayer was to thank God first — not for the miracle, but for the non-reality of the worldly appearance of lack, disease, or death.
The “Thank you Father” prayer is an acknowledgment of the unconditional love of God as well as Its divine omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience.
Omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience
Jesus knew that there is always harmony and fulfillment in God’s presence. There cannot be a reality of lack, disease, or death, but only the appearance of such conditions.
Despite an appearance of lack or ailment, even death, Jesus knew the permanent harmony of spiritual Reality.
Because Jesus was in conscious realization of the presence of God, the veils hiding God’s Grace were immediately removed.
The unreality of worldly appearances
The thank-you Father prayer is also the reminder that in Truth and Reality, nothing ungodlike can exist and have any power over the consciousness imbued with the principle of divine omnipresence and omnipotence.
That form of prayer expresses thankfulness for the miracle of God’s existence and Its unconditional love.
The perfect prayer
The “Thank-you Father” prayer is the model of the perfect prayer because it expresses both the conviction of the true nature of God and the understanding that worldly appearances are not God’s creation.
Worldly appearances have the power given by the collective consciousness. That consciousness imposes itself on individuals unless they consciously reject its mesmerizing process.
This prayer is an affirmation rather than a petition. It shows us how far off the traditional prayer of petition is from the correct prayer of thankfulness. It requires a rock-solid faith and trust in “The Father.”
The essential element is faith
Prayer, if void of faith, is lip service.
Jesus told us, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).
This is possible only with enormous and sincere faith and trust. It cannot be faked.
The uniqueness of Jesus was the strength of his conviction that spiritual Reality is ever-present despite appearances.
The strength of the faith in Jesus became the agency of the miracles he performed.
That, of course, is the prayer of the Master who has reached the highest possible level of consciousness.
Text derived from Religion, Politics, and Reclaiming the Soul of Christianity: A Spiritual Imperative for Our Time and Our Nation, by Jon Canas.
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