Day 96 Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 4: 15-49, Deuteronomy 5, Luke 11: 1-32, Psalm 52

Luke 11: 2-4 (ESV)

“And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.””

Verses 2 through 4 from Luke 11 shows Jesus teaching his disciples to say the Lord’s Prayer. I still remember a sermon I heard about the Lord’s Prayer when I was in junior high. The catholic priest at my childhood church was crying as he was talking about the Lord’s Prayer. He told us we should pray this prayer like we really meant it, and when we did we would feel tears streaming down our faces as we thought about each line we were saying especially the part about forgiveness. He said if we really thought about what it mean about God forgiving our sins and us forgiving everyone, we would cry at the power of God’s love and its ability to work through us because forgiveness was only possible with God’s help. The tears of our priest was so shocking to me. I remember my mother saying she had never seen Father Turgeon cry during a sermon because he was so moved. I remember him as a very kind, middle-aged man, with a wry sense of humor who always had a cigarette in hand after church. I remember trying to cry like he did when I said the Lord’s Prayer in my bedroom and being so proud of myself when I succeeded. It’s been a long time since I’ve cried saying the Lord’s Prayer, but I know someday the tears will come again as I recite the words about forgiveness and ponder on the power of God’s love to work through me.