Abba

“Abba, Father...” Luke 11:2

This is what was written in pencil on my Bible. I don't know from where I copied it, except for the last part:

The “Our Father” was a secret prayer. The first Christians were taught this only after years of learning and baptism.

“OUR Father in heaven…” shows necessity for us to be missionaries, with the goal that God would be known to all. By saying “ABBA Father” Jesus shows that prayer is a disposition of the heart, not just a matter of the right time words. Thus the Lord’s prayer is based upon an intimate relationship with God. Similar to the 18 benedictions and the Kaddish of synagogue liturgy, to which He added addressing God as Father. This suggested a childlike trust, intimacy and readiness of access. (The Eighteen Benedictions are praises and petitions directed to God that ask for wisdom, forgiveness of sins, help in times of trouble and so on. The Kaddish asks that God’s name be hallowed and glorified throughout the world, and that God may soon establish his Kingdom in its fullness.)

“Hallowed be thy Name..” May Your Name be known on this earth. Reveal the holiness of Your Name so it may be respected and revered by all. Make known Your greatness, that all praise Your majesty!

“May Your Kingdom come…” Let it come now Father! Let Your will be done in our lives. Show us Your will. Give us the zeal to accomplish it here on earth. ,as it is in Heaven. Father, free us from selfishness, fear, worry, and sorrow, and let the joy of Your Kingdom come into our hearts.

“Give us this day our daily bread…” Father, the storehouses of heaven are Yours. Open them to us, and pour out to us the treasures of Your wisdom, knowledge, courage, and patience, self-control and love. We hunger and thirst for you- feed us with the Bread of Life, Your Son, Jesus. Fill us with His presence and power, His healing and compassion. Nourish and sustain Your life in us today.

“Forgive us our trespasses…” Forgive us our unbelief, our grumbling, and our fear. Cancel the debt we’ve amassed through our lack of discipline and restraint, and through our bitterness, resentment and disregard for others. Father, You make all things new: Make our hearts and minds new! Not just ours, but all on the face of the earth! Help us to forgive those who have hurt us as completely as we want You to forgive us.

‘Jesus gave us a prayer which in its simplicity contrasts sharply with many of the very fulsome formulations used in Jewish and Greco-Roman prayers of His day. Despite its brevity, Tertullan called the Lord’s Prayer “truly a summary of the whole Gospel”- the expression of our chief beliefs, as the first disciples had wanted. In it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired.’ (Cathechism of the Catholic Church, n 2763, citing Thomas Aquinas)