Prayer: Connections

Myrtle Beach from a helicopter

Someone I know posted the following on Facebook:

I've been thinking about the plurality of the Lord's Prayer today - specifically the use of the word "us" instead of "I."  I want to be just as connected and concerned about the people around me as I am for myself  So, my prayer today is that we all receive forgiveness, that we all find deliverance and that no one goes without their daily bread.  Amen.  Hattip to Josh Webb

Think about that, and think about the Lord's Prayer and how that outlook changes it:

• Our Father, who art in heaven...Not just my Father, but the Father of us all -- all of us children of God, brothers and sisters.
• Hallowed be thy name.  Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...  God's will for all of us, not just me.
• Give us this day, our daily bread...  As Josh says, may no one go without food.  That might motivate me to provide bread to someone else, even at the expense of my own "share."  And it eliminates the thought that I have a "right" to a portion -- all must be fed.  
• Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us...  We're all in this "sin state" together.  Forgive us all, and help us to forgive each other.  
• Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil...We travel together down this road.  May God guide us all to the himself, and maybe we will realize that while one of us remains away from God, all of us are impacted.  Deliver us all from evil, O God.
• For thine in the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever.  Amen.