“OUR FATHER”

We can stop here to say a prayer that Christ Himself taught. We can say it to the Father with Christ in the words that He used. It is a prayer that sums up our whole religious attitude and effort :

Our Father in heaven:

May you be known and praised.

May your kingdom come.

May your will be done, on earth as well as in heaven.

Give us this day, our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts

as we also forgive our debtors,

And do not expose us to temptation

But deliver us from evil.

2. CODE OF BEHAVIOUR

In addition to my prayer, I show my love for God by behaving according to His Law. This is His world. He made it and placed me in it. He has made the world and me according to a fixed plan and blueprint.

“The will of the great Creator manifests itself in the nature of every created thing. It is according to the laws of God that the heavens turn upon their axis, the stars move in their course, the sun gives its light in the day and the moon in the night, and that the whole universe keeps to its appointed order through the days and months and years and the ever changing seasons.” –Saint Augustine.

If the engineer or technician wants his work to run smoothly, he handles equipment or engine according to the maker’s plan.

God has given man a code of behaviour for the smooth running of society – and if our poor world is torn by misery, hatred, violence and corruption, it is because men ignore and neglect God’s rules or commands. If in my own life, I am unhappy and find no peace in my heart, it may well be because I am not clear about God’s commands.

THE TEN COMMANDS

God has given me a voice of conscience within myself, or rather, He speaks within me telling me what is right and what is wrong. And through the Bible He gives me ten commands or guidelines for behaviour. These are my Maker’s instructions for smooth running.