“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (NIV)

“Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.” (Good News)

Shannon Nath writes:

Working through the second line, forgiveness is something easier said than done. In our current distant world, it is very easy to just forget. I know I have been in situations where I have felt wronged and it would be easier to entirely walk away from that relationship than to calm down and forgive for a friend’s mistake. I remind myself that I too make mistakes sometimes. I ask for forgiveness. To deny someone that which I ask for seems cruel. I believe this line serves as a humble reminder to forgive, even when it is easy not to.

Of course, it is wishful to hope that you will not have to forgive people. It is an ideal that the people who you love will not let you down. But whether intentionally or not, it is a situation we all encounter at some point or another. Our relationships are about both giving and receiving. It would not be right to accept forgiveness but to never give it when it is needed back. It makes for a resentment that eats you up inside. If you are too preoccupied with holding this grudge, it will be awfully hard to have a fulfilling relationship with God.

Even when it feels challenging, forgiving is possible and will allow healing.

For those of you with little ones at home, this short video may help 😊

Is there anyone that you need to forgive?

“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

Lizzie Jackson writes:

To me this is a reminder of God’s provision, something I will never fully grasp but he has definitely spoken to me about recently. To me, believing that God will provide is not just to say so before getting on with your daily life, but to actively prioritise God, knowing that your earthly needs will be accounted for.

I am currently studying for mid-term exams. This year of medical school is the year that study leave disappears. Our lectures now go right up to the first exam. Gone are the days of 4 weeks off to study. I know that I could block out all hours of the day for studying and cancel all other responsibilities, it might be an impressive work ethic but would it really be glorifying God? Its important to give time to other things- even though it might mean getting lower grades.

My instinct says that’s an excuse for being lazy, but its quite likely that this desire to study all day doesn’t come from a work ethic but a fear of failure, a lack of understanding that my career really is in God’s hands. Full marks is not necessary for me to be able to live out God’s purposes and would only really benefit my ego. At that point I’m using my time to worship exam success rather than God because I’m not trusting in his provision.

When reading Ecclesiastes in the Summer, God really spoke to me over Ecclesiastes 5:19-20. “God keeps them occupied with a gladness of heart!” Are we working down to the bone when we actually don’t need to? We could be trusting in God’s provision that the money lost from taking on a morning’s volunteering wont change his promise to provide. The sheer simplicity of that verse strips back the stress, the worry, the demands and tells us to enjoy our day to day.

Does my life look different to the lives of those who don’t believe there is a God providing for them? Why not? Where can I commit my needs to God and take a leap of faith? I think it’s time for me to cook dinner for my family more often instead of always studying into the evening and when I catch myself worrying about a mid-term exam, lifting my eyes back to God so he can put it into perspective. He knows what we want and what we need and he promises to provide when we serve him first.

“your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (NIV)

“may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Good News)

Lizzie Jackson writes:

I always have a very clear image in my head when I say ‘God’s kingdom’. I picture God on his throne and people of all races and cultures gathered around, worshipping him together. But it occurred to me that what we mean by ‘God’s Kingdom’ varies a lot between people. When we pray this line, what are each of us actually praying for? I decided to ask some friends what they picture when they think about God’s Kingdom:

The first two friends pictured the new creation. One sees Earth but the same way she imagines Eden. Everything that much brighter. “Like suddenly turning the brightness up on your phone and you can see everything so much clearer”. The other pictured nature completely new, restored and people in permanent communion with God.

This is a beautiful perspective. But from this perspective I sometimes struggle to pray for the Kingdom to come because I have a non-Christian family and I wonder what that looks like for them. It takes a lot of trust to pray that line.

The third friend had a different perspective. She said she didn’t really picture anything, just thought of the phrase:“The Kingdom is God’s will accomplished”

With her perspective, there is an element of eternity to this prayer but also a message for now. We can bring God’s kingdom closer the more we act according to his will and allow it to prevail. ‘Your kingdom come’ means God’s will shall be done and Earth is made a little more like heaven.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (New International Version)

“Our Father in heaven: may your holy name be honoured…” (Good News Bible)

This week’s thoughts are from students at Severn Vineyard.

Today, Eoin Rollins writes:

When I pray the Lord’s Prayer, my mind turns to the first verse, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name”.

I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of family, I miss my 3 younger brothers and have realised just how important my family is to me. Then I also remember that I am part of a much larger community or family, brought together by Our Father.

I am reminded of this whenever I pray, that no matter haw far apart we are, separated by distance or by arguments, there is something that ties us all together, the love of God. The Father is always there for us, showering us all in His love.

I feel that this prayer further elaborates on this, that while God remains in heaven, we can see and feel and worship his presence here on Earth. ‘Hallowed’ is derived from the word holy, the holiness of His name and His acts. I see the work of God everyday, in his creation, his children and this amazing world that He made.

Whenever I pray the Lord’s Prayer, I am reminded of the love God has for all of us, and the holiness of his Name and creation.

What does God's kingdom mean, and is asking for "daily bread" really all about bread? This week, the Green family have been sharing their thoughts as we have prayed parts of the Lord’s Prayer together. Today, Mal Calladine chats with them about what they have learned around the dinner table.

“but deliver us from the evil one.” (NIV)

“but keep us safe from the Evil One.” (Good News)

Dan Green writes:

A little insight into the way conversations in our household can go… today it took all of about 30 seconds for us to go from reading this verse, to exploring what the word ‘deliver’ conjured up in our minds, to discussing Deliveroo cyclists and then into a full on rendition of ‘Did somebody say, did somebody say, did somebody say JUST EEEAATTT’!!

Once we had calmed down a little bit and gathered our thoughts, we decided to think about what the word ‘evil’ conjured up in our minds instead, and thankfully this one didn’t get anyone started on any TV adverts!

Layla said the word immediately brought to mind ways that people are ruining this planet, conjuring up images of trees being chopped down and people being impacted by climate change. Someone else brought up the topic of modern day slavery, which we’ve been learning about through Slave Free Lent (a lent resource run by IJM – we highly recommend it!) and which we all agreed was evil.

As we discussed these ways that others around the world are suffering, and how they must be so much more aware of evil than we are, it made us really aware of just how fortunate we are as a family. But it also made us wonder if this line of the Lord’s Prayer is one that we can pray in solidarity with others, on behalf of humanity?

Our prayer today is: Deliver us from evil Lord, rescue us and set us free from all of the ways that we harm ourselves one another, and all of the ways in which we harm your creation.

“And lead us not into temptation” (NIV)

“Do not bring us to hard testing” (Good News)

Dan Green writes:

Karen and my girls love watching ‘kids temptation challenge’ videos on Youtube, so for something a bit different today we thought it would be fun to invite you to watch this hilarious video where children try to resist eating a marshmallow when they’ve been told not to!

The Marshmallow Test - YouTube

Which of those kids do you think you are most like?? What’s your approach and your track record when it comes to resisting things that you’re tempted by?

As we munched on our dinner (burgers and chips today!), we chatted about whether we think God leads us towards temptation or away from it (is he like the woman in the video who puts temptation in front of us and then leaves the room?) and also the way that many people see the Bible as a book of rules telling them what they can’t do (rather than seeing it as a way to get ‘the second marshmallow’!).

But our main take away point from this line in the Lord’s Prayer was that it reminds us of the need for humility – the need for us to recognise our own weakness, to recognise the fact that in the right circumstances and without God’s intervention we are all prone to make poor choices that will harm us or will cause us to miss out on what’s best.

So our prayer today is a simple one; that whichever of those kids we’re like, and whatever our ‘marshmallow’ might be today, that God would give us the wisdom, the strength and the grace to choose what’s best.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (NIV)

“Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.” (Good News)

Dan Green writes:

Forgiveness is a topic that seems to keep popping up in our family (or perhaps more accurately, the ongoing need for it does!) so our discussion about this part of the Lord’s prayer threw up all kinds of questions… Is forgiving the same as forgetting? Can we forgive someone if they don’t apologise or say sorry? And can we forgive if we haven’t experienced forgiveness ourselves?

We talked about how difficult it must be to forgive if you’ve never received forgiveness yourself, from God or from others. Somehow the two are linked, which might be why Jesus instructed us to pray in this specific way. Similarly, it probably doesn’t make much sense to just be on the receiving end of forgiveness without also extending forgiveness to others. Again, the two seem to be very much connected.

We also agreed (in between our servings of macaroni cheese and glasses of blackcurrant squash) that forgiveness doesn’t just benefit the person who’s receiving it, but the person who is choosing to forgive as well. We know what it feels like to be upset with each other and to hold on to the frustration and resentment that can build up inside, and we know what it feels like to be free of those emotions once things have been talked about and we’ve chosen to forgive each other. Although it normally doesn’t feel easy to forgive, we’re so glad when we have done!

Our prayer today is that each of us would be fully aware of God’s forgiveness for us, and that we’d have the courage and strength to forgive even when it feels difficult.

“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

Dan Green writes:

Bread is a source of some frustration in our household. No matter how much of it Karen seems to buy, it just seems to keep running out or going mouldy in the bread bin!

The regularity with which we need to buy bread should be a good reminder of just how much we depend on it. It’s so easy to forget this though, when a 5-minute walk from our front door can get us to the bread aisle in Aldi, Co-op, Tesco or a handful of other shops too! In Jesus’ day, and even today in many parts of the world, it’s a different story of course. People rely on bread to stay alive, and they don’t take its availability for granted in the way that we do.

So as we discussed this line in the Lord’s prayer over dinner together (which included bread of the naan variety by the way, alongside a delicious rice and daal special!), it reminded us of two things: to be grateful for the abundance that we have, and to keep depending on God for all the things we need, not just the ones we eat. As Noah pointed out to us, what if bread isn’t just physical or literal, but might be a picture of something else… like love? What if we read this prayer more like ‘give us today our daily dose of love’?

Let’s keep looking to God and depending on Him for all that we need today.

“your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (NIV)

“may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Good News)

Dan Green writes:

Our discussion about this part of the Lord’s prayer centred on what God’s kingdom is, and on what it would look like for that kingdom to fully come to earth.

As a family we have lived in two kingdoms during our time… the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan! Both kingdoms have their monarchs, but the nature of their rule and their power looks very, very different. While Queen Elizabeth’s rule is largely symbolic, limited by the particular quirks of British history and by the will of the people (cue rolled eyes from the family as I even mention Magna Carta!), King Abdullah of Jordan enjoys more or less total control and what he wants to happen is pretty much what happens!

Following a brief discussion on which of these kingdoms God’s kingdom was most like, we managed to agree that we all think God’s kingdom is a place where everything that is good and beautiful in life exists, and where people are fully loved, fully healed, and fully at peace. By inviting us to pray for this kingdom to come to earth (and by declaring elsewhere that it was, in fact, near and available), Jesus was making it clear that the good things of God’s kingdom can be part of our lives today.

The other side to this coin is that God’s kingdom coming to earth also means an end to all suffering. This is very good news indeed, as we’ve been following Slave Free Lent with IJM (International Justice Mission) this month, and learning lots about modern day slavery and the ways that the products we buy have a real impact on the conditions people work in and live in around the world. So as we pray for God’s kingdom to come today, we invite you to join us in praying that every person who is caught up in slavery would be set free, and to pray for any other area of social justice that you care about.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (New International Version)

“Our Father in heaven: may your holy name be honoured…” (Good News Bible)

This week’s thoughts are from the Green family - parents Dan and Karen, with children Jasmine (15), Layla (13) and Noah (10). 

Dan Green writes:

‘Oh my gosh Dad, that is so predictable. I must have heard a hundred talks about that already!’

‘Can someone please go and get the sour cream from the fridge?’

‘Why do we call God our father anyway, it’s such a cliché.’

‘Noah, can you please stop kicking me under the table!’

It turns out that writing a reflection as a family isn’t always straightforward, and is definitely not a linear process. Instead, our conversations are full of interruptions, seemingly random contributions, somebody occasionally bursting into song… and every now and then an absolute gem of an insight from somebody who is looking at things from a completely different angle to me!

As we discussed today’s verse over our chicken fajita wraps, the question that we got most fixated on was why Jesus instructs us to pray to God the Father, rather than directly to himself (as Jesus) or to the Holy Spirit. We batted back and forth various possibilities that we could think of: that it would have seemed weird and egotistical for Jesus to invite people to pray to him (especially as they hadn’t yet realised who he was), and that he hadn’t yet explained that he would send the Holy Spirit (that would come later, before he ascended to heaven).

My mind drifted to reasons why some people can find it difficult relating to God as father, and I couldn’t help thinking that if Jesus is the best picture of God that we have (the image of the invisible God, as Colossians 1 puts it) then wouldn’t it make sense if we addressed our prayers to him?

It was Jasmine who cut through my wandering thoughts, and offered a different perspective. It was so good that I asked her to write it down and Whatsapp it to me! Here it is:

‘Why do we use this prayer as our template, and why do we follow Jesus’ example in addressing God as father? I think in the end it all comes down to how we think of Jesus, and what we know about his relationship with God. Why do we trust a teacher with what they teach us? It is because we know that they have had experiences and lessons that help them to know what’s right or what’s best. Therefore, when we are told things by people wiser in a subject than we are, we believe them and copy them. It’s the same with the Lord’s prayer: we can use these words ‘our father in heaven, hallowed be your name’ because those are the words of someone who has had the experiences and knowledge needed to declare those things accurate and right.’

So there it was. I could have spent all evening chewing over the pros and cons of different approaches and different language, but Jasmine had reminded me of the value of simple faith and that there’s a place for saying that we’ll follow Jesus, copy Jesus, take Jesus’ words at face value…. just because we trust him and trust that he knows best.

This week, Joanna Moss and Andrew & Laura Kerr have been sharing their daily thoughts. Today, Mal Calladine chats with them about their experience. What does it mean to trust God to be an everyday provider?

“but deliver us from the evil one.” (NIV)

“but keep us safe from the Evil One.” (Good News)

Andrew Kerr writes:

Have you ever been somewhere and it just didn't feel right? Not that it smelt funny or you didn't like the curtains but that deep down your "Spidey sense" (perhaps better called your spiritual discernment) was tingling and you just had to leave? I've had that feeling couple of times before and it's on those occasions that I have been most aware of the spiritual battle that rages.

Thankfully we know what the outcome of the battle is. Jesus died, defeated death, and rose again.

And we know that we have a loving Father who protects us. As Laura reflected, God is a loving Shepherd who protects us like sheep in His fold.

But He's no snoozing shepherd. As Joanna reminded us as we discussed this section, the phrase "deliver" is often used when talking about being rescued in a battle. Being delivered from the enemy when caught in the midst of the chaos. Jesus is a warrior king fighting for us each day. He's the one dangling from a spiritual helicopter (metaphor gone too far?!), jumping down, saving us, and taking our place in the fight.

The battle is won but each day we remain dependent on God to deliver us. Sometimes it's a nudge to save us from ourselves. Sometimes it's a giant swipe at forces unseen. But it's not something we can do without Him. We need to trust God in the fight.

And that is what has struck all of us from the Lord’s Prayer: in order to honestly pray the Lord's Prayer you need to trust God. We need to trust that He will reveal his character more and more. Trust that He will bring creation to look ever more like His kingdom. Trust that He will provide for us. Trust that He has forgiven. Trust that He will guide us and fight for us. Because that's what we're asking Him to do. And by asking we are acknowledging that we can’t do those things and need Him for everything.

Where am I not trusting God and still trying to fight in my own strength?

For those of you who read the Lectio365 app devotionals, last Thursday's words summed it up well with the chorus of Van DeVenter's hymn:

All to Jesus I surrender
All to him I freely give
I will ever love and trust him
In his presence daily live
I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee, my blessed Saviour
I surrender all

“And lead us not into temptation” (NIV)

“Do not bring us to hard testing” (Good News)

Andrew Kerr writes:

I'm not great at resisting temptation. Mrs Doyle from Father Ted, with her encouragement to "Go on! Go on! Go on!”, would have me drinking tea and eating sandwiches until I keeled over.

What I am good at is trying to do it by myself. I’ll be alright. I’ll give it a go. What could do wrong? I can keep myself in line, surely?

But yet again all three of us were struck that Jesus' teaching on how to pray isn't a meek request. It isn't a prayer for God to strengthen us to resist temptation ourselves. It's a bold cry to the Creator of the world to lead us away from the things around us that distract us from Him.

There are so many temptations that surround us; so many things that could draw us away from God and the plans that He has for us. When life is going swimmingly perhaps it's easier to see where God wants us to go. Easier to have the headspace and time to sit and listen to His voice, hear His plan, and follow His way.

But, as Joanna noted, when things are harder and we are being pulled through the wringer of life, sometimes we reach for the easy option, the numbing balm, a quick fix, or perhaps something that others have suggested or done before us. We'll give it a go, as that seems the right way. "I got into this mess so I'll sort it myself.” I don’t have time for anything else.

Deep down though, I know that if I got into a mess, I'm rarely able to get out by myself. I need others to help me. What better person to help us back up than God who always knows what's best. It is, as Laura said, a collaborative process. The process is that we acknowledge we can’t do it and ask God to work in us!

So today I am going to take a deep breath and admit that I don't know how to sort myself out. I know that I get pulled in all sorts of directions. Sometimes I resist but perhaps sometimes I like the easy fix or the quick hit. God help me today to follow you. Help me not to be distracted. Thank you that your way is everlasting.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (NIV)

“Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.” (Good News)

Joanna Moss writes:

One of my favourite lines from our discussion on this verse came from the motto of previous school Laura had taught at. It was, ‘Every child, every day’ which was supposed to mean that every child was to be treated as if they had a clean slate each day. Every day was a new chance. And this is of course how God is with us, no matter what happens today He still sees us as white as snow, cleared of all debts, shiny and clean.

For all of us, as we reflected on forgiveness, we were struck by the immense grace of God’s forgiveness to us and the often limited and reluctant forgiveness we show to others. Laura spoke about how when we forgive someone, we demonstrate God’s own forgiveness of us. And that when we limit forgiveness, we hinder our own understanding of God’s forgiveness over us. For Andrew, he reflected on how totally undeserving we are of God’s forgiveness but yet we often still judge others and hold resentment against them, even after we have supposedly forgiven them.

Through this reflection, it has exposed to us our own struggles with forgiveness and in letting things go. But as we took this verse in the context of the whole prayer, we came back to the same thought of this being part of a daily practice. For each of us, as we try to intentionally pray this prayer daily, we can practice letting things go, laying things down and placing our hurts and judgements into God’s hands everyday – from the small annoyances to the big offences. With the hope that by practicing forgiveness regularly we can become better at the forgiving the bigger things, and in resting in God’s forgiveness and grace over us.

“Give us today our daily bread.” (NIV)

“Give us today the food we need.” (Good News)

Joanna Moss writes:

When reflecting on this verse, it’s tricky to not immediately think about food. In a society where, for the most part, we live in an abundance of food, the need to depend on God to provide ‘our daily bread’ can get a bit lost behind…well, behind our piles of food. In the comfort of my own food security, I am prone to forget the grace of God’s provision over me as well as feel uncomfortable at the contrast of my plenty to others lack. For myself, Andrew and Laura, we recognise the tension of feeling blessed for what we do have, whilst also knowing that for many there isn’t enough.

As we thought on this, we were reminded that we are told to pray for ‘our daily bread’: the context of the Lord’s prayer is community. Andrew highlighted in our discussion that as we each wrestle with local and global inequality, this verse is a reminder to steward what we have been given carefully but also with generosity. To not hoard what we don’t need, but to see where we can be God’s hands and feet in providing daily bread in our own community.

Of course, this verse goes far beyond just our physical provision. In praying for ‘our daily bread’, there is an all-encompassing-ness to it as we are asking to receive everything we need for the day ahead - strength, wisdom, grace, patience, resilience, increased capacity, (fill in your blank here). That’s not to say that everyday suddenly becomes easy and stress-free, but more that in trusting God to provide what we need, we don’t have to fear scarcity, strive on alone or worry about having enough left over to survive tomorrow as well as today. We can trust that God will give us what we need for today and what we need for tomorrow too, but not until tomorrow. For me, there is freedom in that revelation but also a struggle. I am typically reluctant to ask for help and would rather rely on my own capabilities. But this verse reminds me that I can and should be daily asking God for what I need, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.

For Laura, she shared how she sees this outwork in her own life. When she starts the day trusting that God will give her everything she needs emotionally her day goes a lot better because she knows that God has given her everything she needs for it. Instead of relying on our own emotional capacity and resilience, she can work out of God’s.

In all this, I am made aware that I don’t truly trust that or live as though God can provide me with all I need for each day. As I try to get better at asking God daily for what I need, I want to also be mindful of the things or people I am relying on instead of God.

“your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (NIV)

“may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Good News)

“Set the world right; Do what’s best - as above, so below.” (The Message)

Laura Kerr writes:

The mere mention of God’s Kingdom got us talking about the areas of injustice and brokenness that we see in the world. We were immediately reminded of the places where the Kingdom is ’not yet’ visible. But it is the ’not yet’ phrase that we felt was important.

The fact that we know that the Kingdom of God is coming is an acknowledgement that there is a better future ahead. All too often I place my hopes in things that are fleeting and that rely on my own strength. However through Jesus, we know that there is an enduring hope.

Joanna liked how The Message translation phrases this part of the Lord’s Prayer as “Set the world right.” This is a cry out to God to see the world changed and made right by Him. By Him! Andrew noted that the wording is not ‘give us the strength to bring your kingdom’ but instead we are calling God to bring it. It is a reminder that by praying this we are bringing ourselves in alignment with His will.

It was this aspect of the prayer that particularly struck me, as it reminded me of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nethertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Isn’t it comforting that Jesus uses prayer to align His will to the Father's? It’s so countercultural. Instead of taking what we want and doing what we want, we are declaring God’s will be done.

We can be so perpetually short sighted! Often we only comprehend our own situations and desires. But by praying this prayer daily, we are rebelling against that and instead looking at the bigger picture with the hope we have through Christ. I want that revolution to happen in my own heart. I will continue reminding myself of my hope in Him and place His will before my own. I will deliberately look for the places where I can already see God’s Kingdom at work.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (New International Version)

“Our Father in heaven: may your holy name be honoured…” (Good News Bible)

Laura Kerr writes:

Our Father! Isn’t it amazing that we get to call the creator of all things our Father.

As the three of us delved deeper into exploring this, we found ourselves discussing the tension there is between knowing Him as our Father and acknowledging His holiness. Andrew noted that it’s like we can relate to Him on two very different ends of a scale. At one end, He’s the timeless creator, all knowing, holy, omnipresent God. But on the other end He is the Father in the story of the prodigal son, hitching up His cloak to run towards us and who we can run to.

This tension can be confusing as we try to work out how to relate to Him. But what we liked about the framing of the Lord's Prayer is that the declaration of ‘Father’ comes first. It reminded me of a talk from The Gold course (shameless plug there) that included the phrase “He’s a Father that happens to be creator/healer/Lord of all.” It feels like there is the same kind of ordering here. By praying in this way we are starting from a place of declaring this Father-child relationship. It is after we have reminded ourselves of this secure identity that we can begin to explore His characteristics.

Joanna also pointed out the relevance of it being Our Father. In the same way that in the Old Testament, God declare his relationship as the Father of Israel, Jesus teaches us this prayer in which we as a community can declare this filial relationship with Him. It emphasises the fact that we are part of a family.

So what will I take away from this? Well, I feel challenged to start each of my prayers by first reminding and affirming my identity as His child. For it is from the security of knowing His Fatherly love that I can begin to pray His names (El Shaddai - God Almighty, Jehovah Raah - Shepherd, Jehovah Rapha - Healer, Jehovah Jireh - Provider) and characteristics over the situations around me.

This week, the Leckie family have been sharing their daily thoughts, and today, Mal Calladine chats with them about their experience. What does it mean to think of God as Father? What does his Kingdom look like? And how do we talk with young children about evil and the devil?

“but deliver us from the evil one.” (NIV)

“but keep us safe from the Evil One.” (Good News)

Bern Leckie writes:

Talk of the devil! We don’t do this very often, in our family at least. Is Jesus prompting us to start?

This was a tricky realisation, to be honest. We’ve spent a lot of time discussing God as our loving Father, the source of our love and so many good things he has given us in his world.

When I think about how “the evil one” is represented, from high art to cartoons, I’m somehow stuck with this ridiculous image of a grinning, fiery-red villain with pointy horns and a pitchfork that any child would know to stay away from if they didn’t want to get stabbed, toasted and laughed at.

Of course, there are more grown-up stories of devilry, but I don’t think Noah is ready for too much darkness, horror or the subtle deceptions of The Usual Suspects’ Keyser Soze, but this character may have been truthful when he said that “the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

Nevertheless, here he is in the prayer Jesus taught us. We can’t pray this meaningfully unless we can describe evil and “the evil one”. How do we do this truthfully, acknowledging the closeness of evil to us without unnecessary frights and unhelpful cartoonification?

After some thought, prayer and discussion, we landed close to where we began Jesus’ prayer, with a reminder of God as our loving Father and what he wants for us.

We reminded Noah of what we have always chosen to want for him. It’s our parenting syllabus, the only things we need Noah to know as he grows up, the things we believe God wants him to know too:

1. How much he is loved (some of which he should see in us, some he will need to see in God)

2. How good he is at loving others when he practises this (and without practice he will never know)

As simple as this sounds, of course, life gets in the way. Lots of things make us feel unloved or unable to love. We can call these out as opposed to what God wants, the opposite of his goodness: evil. Is anything getting in the way of you or your friends knowing they are loved and able to love? God wants to deliver us from that.

Are there people opposed to God and love that we can recognise in the world? It might look like there are many. Jesus only tells us to pray against one, a source of evil, someone we can’t see in just the same way that we can’t see God. That is not any of the people who hurt us, and that’s very important. Our battle is not with people. It is with an enemy only God can defeat. (And the good news is… he has!)

We live in a culture which encourages us to protect ourselves from harm and accept that we might need to do this by firming up our judgements about people, who is right or wrong, good or evil, safe or dangerous, welcomed or cancelled.

But we want to get better at following Jesus, trusting God for protection, believing that his way of life works, and that Jesus’ prayer is effective. We want to keep praying it and growing our faith that we won’t run out of love, food, forgiveness, protection or purpose. I want us to trust God for these increasingly so that his Kingdom will come, and his will be done in Bristol as it is in heaven.