Why another book on the Lord’s Prayer? The title of the book in French is Approaches to Our Father; Daniel discusses the setting and overarching themes of the prayer, rather than the details. This is not to say that there is nothing said about individual phrases, but that these elements emerge incidentally; thus there is, for example, particularly powerful insight into forgiveness. There are two settings for the Lord’s Prayer. The first is Luke, where it is given as a response to a question from a disciple on how to pray, and here Daniel stresses our great need to be taught — our great need, our poverty. The second is in Matthew, where Jesus gives the background to private prayer, in our chamber with the door shut — and, wonder of wonders, God is there! So the focus is on this humble generosity of God. A third chapter points to the overall scheme of the prayer, starting with heaven and ending with evil or the evil one, and so points to the incarnation of Jesus, coming down from heaven to engage with our troubled world and the reality of our sin. In typical fashion, the book closes with the observation that there is no ‘Amen’ stated in the text — in his engagement with sin, it is Jesus and he alone who is and can give the true Amen. This is one of the shorter of Daniel’s books, and packed with good things.
Here is a short, typical, extract, from a passage titled “Your room is the Holy of Holies”:
All that Jesus tells us about our room has this further remarkable feature, that he compares it to the most prestigious of places. Biblically, in fact, the only place on earth where God was present each day to listen in secret to prayers was the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple. Only there was it possible to be one on one with God, far from the crowds of hypocrites who occupied the synagogues and street corners! Only there, and, even then, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and that only once a year! That was all! Jesus overturned it all, revealing God’s secret: that your chamber too is the Holy of Holies, and that you are its high priest since it is you who crosses its threshold to address your prayer to the one who is there in secret. You are therefore a high priest when you close that door; be so without fear and do not wait a year before you pray again! He awaits you every day, and you alone! Wonder of wonders, the Lord’s Prayer is prayer within the Holy of Holies, making a feast day of every day!