Familiarity, in the case of the Lord's Prayer, probably hasn't bred contempt in most of us, but it certainly can breed a kind of inertia. The words we speak in prayer run the same risks as all our other human words: they can be spoken hastily, thoughtlessly, carelessly. In a manner parallel to the words we say in the Lord's Prayer--"forgive us as we forgive others"--today might be the day to invite God to "listen to us as well as we listen to you." Today might be the day to listen to the Lord's Prayer with newly attentive ears.

Let us learn from the example of Luke's Jesus, who would not instruct others how to pray until he himself had been a man of prayer. Moreover, listen carefully to the follow-up Jesus gives for the prayer itself. In our quick-fix society we must heed the call to persistence; in a world that puts glib explanations on difficult situations we must continue to seek and knock; in our all-too-humanness, we must be open to the patience, grace, and wisdom of the will of God. Do we want the Lord to listen to our voice? Maybe we can start by listening to God's.
(c) Copyright, J. S. Paluch Co.