NOTES: 1] Compare MT's account of the 'Lord's Prayer' in 6:9-13. 2] The word translated 'daily' may mean : 'enough for today' (i.e. 'that's all'), or, 'enough for tomorrow'. The word is unique. 3] 'Time of trial', meaning 'the Judgment', is an ancient translation, not a modern one as some complain! LK doesn't include a petition for 'delivery from evil' as MT does.

WARMING UP:  Is praying more or less 'practical Christianity' than other things we do?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Any follow-up to last week’s Group? Can we identify God at work anywhere in our life?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

1           Does anyone ever 'teach us to pray' these days? Are we doing anything to teach ourselves? Is the 'Lord's Prayer' so easy we rattle it off, or too hard, so we rattle it off? Has personal prayer rather 'gone out of fashion'?Is it necessarily a good thing to learn prayers by heart? If we were to take the L's P. as a framework for praying, might it lead us to change anything?

2           Do we normally start our prayers with God, or with ourself & our needs? What does it really mean to 'hallow' God's name? Is it really wise to pray "Your kingdom (Rule) come"? Is God's Rule ever anything other than love? Do we ever mistake love for weakness? God's love for weakness? Take advantage of God or others because of that fundamental mistake? Does God's Rule happen because God does something, or because we do something?

3          In the light of N.2 above, what do we mean when we pray for daily bread? If "to have bread & not share it is blasph emy" (Mother Theresa) are we 'guilty as charged'? Is the food supply in our kind of society such that we buy more because there's more to buy? Would we be more likely to share 'bread' with others in a society different from our own?

4          Is 'being forgiven as we forgive' something to be thankful for, or to dread? Or is it just a case of 'wait & see'? In the light of what Jesus says, can we afford the latter?
            What do we, personally, mean when we pray "do not bring us to the time of trial"? How much does that meaning depend upon the kind of God we believe in? Does 'keep us from landing ourselves in hot water' (at the Judgment, or in any other situation) make some kind of good sense of the gist of what Jesus is teaching us to pray?

5-8      Is there a relationship between ministering to others, even when it's inconvenient, &: a) hallowing God's name? b) acknowledging God's Rule? c) taking daily bread seriously? d) taking forgiving & forgiveness seriously? e) being tried?

9-13    Are we spending enough time & effort: Asking for the right thing(s)? Searching for the right thing(s)? Knocking at the right door(s)? Is there any sense in which we're giving someone snakes when they need fish, or scorpions when they need eggs? How could we change that around? Do we want to? What makes the difference? Who makes the difference?