He had already decided to look more closely at prayer and thought the ‘Our Father,’ the prayer Jesus gave his disciples, would be the best place to start.
He seemed more aware now that he was holding the hand of Jesus because of his daily fresh commitment to do so as if he was a small kid. While he trusted Jesus would be there for him during his day, he was also aware that he had an adult conscience and was free to make decisions for himself.
He decided to look closely at the words of the ‘Our Father’ and it seemed to him that the prayer was divided into two segments. The first half was a prayer to The Father through Jesus, because hadn’t Jesus said, “you can only come to The Father through me”. The second half seemed to him as though it was his personal prayer to Jesus himself whose hand he was holding.
So, in praying the first part of the ‘Our Father,’ he believed he was honouring The Father (‘hallowed be Thy name’). He was talking directly to The Father (‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven’).
The second half was, in his opinion, more of a personal request to the Jesus whose hand he was holding and whom he was trusting to help him during his day. He saw it as thanking Jesus for being with him and giving him another day of his life as his loving carer and supporter. And for giving him food to eat for his sustenance. (“give us this day, our daily bread”). He remembered the suffering and death of Jesus and thanked him for forgiving him his past indiscretions. (“forgive us our trespasses”) Because Jesus was prepared to forgive him then he felt it only right that he should forgive anyone who had done him wrong as well. (“as we forgive those who trespass against us).
Because of his ‘free will’ he knew, even though he might be holding the hand of Jesus, he was still capable of giving into temptation. He asked Jesus that should such a situation occur, he wanted Him to lead him away from the distraction of sin and evil. (“lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil”).
This was it, he thought, the ultimate go-to prayer.
I’m Peter Mack and that’s faith.