Today's gospel reading gives us St Luke's version of how Jesus taught His disciples to pray, when they asked for His instruction. It's the familiar 'Our Father' that we say so often, a little shorter than the St Matthean version we normally use. A number of saints and Christian writers have pointed out that the various petitions in the 'Our Father' actually include all the ways in which we can properly pray to God. One famous church doctor went so far as to say that any prayer of ours that doesn't fit into the petitions of the Lord's Prayer cannot be a legitimate prayer at all. Short as it is, the Lord's Prayer gives a model or pattern for all kinds of prayer methods.

The very first thing is to address God as "Father". This title overrides any other name we might use and gives a very special colouring to those others such as "almighty", "Lord", "Creator", "Majesty" etc. This is important for the image that we have of God, or calling God our "Father" implies not only that we come from God but that God cares for me, provides for me, listens to me, is my guide and confidant. Sadly, for some people the word 'father' carries a painful or negative image, because their personal experience of their own fathers has not been a good one. It can be difficult for such people to relate easily with God in prayer. Yet Jesus instructs us to approach God with such intimacy. It is God who heals all of our hurts.