Tuesday 30. September 2014. Trinity 15
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6,1 ESV)
Jesus exhorts us to be humble in practicing our righteousness. He criticizes those who make loud and public spectacle of themselves when praying. Instead, Jesus tells us to pray simply and in secret. He then gives us the Lord's Prayer.
This prayer is simple yet profound. It may be simply prayed as is, or we can take each petition and offer additional prayers specific to the petition.
Notice that the conclusion is absent in Jesus' account. There is no: "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen." This conclusion was formulated by the Church as the response to the the Lord's Prayer when prayed in the Divine Service. It is based on King David's temple prayer: Blessed are You, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all. In Your hand are power and might, and in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank You, our God, and praise Your Glorious Name. (1.Chronicles 29,10-13 ESV)
Prayer: O Lord, God of truth, Your Word is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. You gave Your servant Jerome delight in his study of Holy Scripture. May those who continue to read, mark and inwardly digest Your Word find in it the food for salvation and the fountain of life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (1093, Treasury of Daily Prayer)
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