Do you know where your cell phone charger is right now? Do you pay attention to how long your battery lasts between charges? I bet the answer to both questions is a resounding “Of course!”
John Dominic Crossan says that prayer does for our souls what electricity does for our cell phones. Prayer is the source of our spiritual energy. Whether we realize it or not, we have batteries too. We push our batteries. We run our spiritual batteries right into the ground. Without prayer, we cannot be at our best; no more than our cell phone can work well without a complete charge every few days. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he offered a model of prayer most of us memorized as children and regularly recite without deeply considering its meaning. Beginning the first Sunday in February, and going through Lent, I’ll be collaborating on a sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer with colleague Rev. David Felten. We’ll be drawing from Crossan’s book, The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord’s Prayer. Let’s discover together the power and profundity of one of Jesus’ greatest teachings.
Feb 5 Greatest Prayer #1: Pray Then in This Way
Feb 12 Greatest Prayer #2: Our Father in Heaven
Feb 19 Greatest Prayer #3: Hallowed Be Your Nam
Feb 26 Greatest Prayer #4: Your Kingdom Come
Mar 5 LENT 1 Greatest Prayer #5: Your Will Be Done on Earth
Mar 12 LENT 2 Greatest Prayer #6: Give Us Our Daily Bread
Mar 19 Guest Preacher
Mar 26 LENT 4 Greatest Prayer #7: Forgive Us Our Debts
April 2 LENT 5 Greatest Prayer #8: Lead Us Not into Temptation