20 Jan. Jesus's guidelines for prayer
"When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray so people will see them... When you pray, you should go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father who cannot be seen."
"And when you pray, don't be like those people who don't know God. They continue saying things that mean nothing, thinking that God will hear them because of their many words..."
"So when you pray, you should pray like this:
'Our Father in heaven,
may your name always be kept holy.
May your kingdom come
and what you want be done,
here on earth as it is in heaven."
"Give us the food we need for each day.
Forgive us our sins,
just as we have forgiven those who sinned against us.
And do not cause us to be tempted,
But save us from the Evil One."
(Matthew 6:5-13)
One day, after Jesus had been praying, his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray (see Luke 11:1-4). Jesus said they should address God personally as their heavenly Father:
'Father, may your holy name be glorified and your kingdom come on earth.
Give us each day the food we need to live.
Forgive us when we do wrong and go against your will – in just the same way as you teach us to forgive those who do wrong to us.
And do not let us be led astray by temptation and the glamour of evil.'
These guidelines for prayer – known today as the 'Lord’s Prayer' – have been translated into hundreds of different languages across the world. Over a hundred translations are displayed on the walls of the Pater Noster (‘Our Father’) Church and convent on the upper slopes of the Mount of Olives above Jerusalem, constructed on the site of a Byzantine church built by the Roman Empress Helena in the 4th Century AD (see the photo).
The church is located above a cave where it's believed that Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer and explained to his disciples about his second coming (see Matthew 24:3-31).
The photo shows the Lord's Prayer in English on the cloister wall of the Pater Noster Church outside Jerusalem.
You can read more about Jesus's 'teachings on a hillside' on The Bible Journey website @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/jesuss-teachings-on-a-h…/…