Dear Friends, 
What comes to your mind when someone says, let's pray the Lord's Prayer? You likely think of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, which begins with "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Though traditionally known as the Lord's Prayer, I prefer to refer to it as the Disciples Prayer since Jesus gave it to his disciples as a divine pattern for the way they were to pray (notice that the prayer includes the disciples asking for the forgiveness of their sins which our sinless Savior did not need to do)!
When I think about The Lord's Prayer I think about the prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17 before going to the cross which begins with Him lifting up His eyes to heaven and praying;
"Father, the hour has come, glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. (John 17:1)
After he prays for himself and his disciples, he prays for all believers:
"I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me, for they are Your's, and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, and yet they are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name you have given Me, that they may be one even as We are." (John 17:9-11)
This Sunday, we will be reflecting on the Lord's Prayer in John 17; and how we can be an answer to our Savior's prayer as we move forward into the future.
Looking forward to our time of worship this Sunday!
Your servant in Christ,
The Rev. Dean F. Schultz - Christ The Redeemer Church in Springfield, VA
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