These questions are connected to the message, “A Revolution Hiding in Plain Sight (The Lord’s Prayer),” from Feb. 6, 2022. You can watch it here.
Dive In: There are few, if any, passages more familiar than The Lord’s Prayer. This is one that is particularly helpful to read in a different translation (e.g. The Message, N. T. Wright’s The New Testament for Everyone, Contemporary English Version, Amplified Bible, The Living Bible).
Reflect:
- If you are familiar with The Lord’s Prayer, what from the sermon was new, insightful, challenging, or shocking to you? Discuss.
- Discuss this quote: “How a person prays reveals more about what they believe than what they say they believe.” (Unknown)
- Have you always thought of God as male (even if you knew that God is not gendered)? How did hearing the many examples in Scripture of God being imaged as a female sit with you? Were you shocked, relieved, unmoved? Have you ever prayed to God as mother or envisioned God as a female friend (particularly if you identify as female)? Did the idea of “father” not being a term to perpetuate patriarchy impact your view of God?
- Discuss how the revolutionary and political nature of “your kingdom come” has implications for us today. How does God’s kingdom challenge capitalism, individualism, personal rights and freedoms, ownership, etc.?
- Pause and consider if there are any areas that you have not been willing to hand over authority to Jesus, areas you want to keep in your control. What is the underlying issue? If you’re comfortable, discuss this OR take some time as a group to sit quietly with this question and pray, asking Holy Spirit to reveal the obstacle at the heart of it.
Digging Deeper:
- Note the differences in Luke’s version (11:1-4) than Matthew’s version (6:9-13). Does your Bible have the familiar ending in Matthew: “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen.“? If it is missing does it have a footnote explaining the omission? What does this tell you about the composition and transmission of Scripture?
- The first time the idea of God as father appears is in Exodus 4 when Moses appeals to the Pharaoh to let Israel go. God says, “Israel is my son,” implying God as father. Discuss the connection to “Father” in this prayer. What are the parallels of the Exodus story and the Kingdom of God?
Ponder:
In first century middle eastern culture, the son was to represent the father, to be like the father. In many cases the son apprenticed in the father’s business or trade. The son would carry the authority of the father as we see in the parable of the vineyard owner (Matthew 20, Mark 12, Luke 20). To call God “Father” is to sign on or acknowledge that we are God’s child; we are signing on for apprenticeship, to be like the Father — we are signing on to the Kingdom way of being, the Father’s way of being.
In first century middle eastern culture, the son was to represent the father, to be like the father. In many cases the son apprenticed in the father’s business or trade. The son would carry the authority of the father as we see in the parable of the vineyard owner (Matthew 20, Mark 12, Luke 20). To call God “Father” is to sign on or acknowledge that we are God’s child; we are signing on for apprenticeship, to be like the Father — we are signing on to the Kingdom way of being, the Father’s way of being.
Act on it:
Try praying to God as mother or grandmother this week. Note how you experience praying this way.
Try praying to God as mother or grandmother this week. Note how you experience praying this way.