Our father, who are in heaven,
   hallowed be thy Name,
   they kingdom come,
   thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, 
   as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
   for ever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, show they mercy upon us;
And grant us they salvation.
Endue thy ministers with righteousness;
And make thy chosen people joyful.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in thee can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under thy care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let thy way be known upon earth;
Thy saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us with thy Holy Spirit.

 –from the book of Common Prayer.

These beautiful prayers are suggested once in the morning and once in the evening. The first part is the Lord’s Prayer, the only pray Christ taught his disciples. The second part is written by the authors of the book of Common Prayer (I imagine.) Imagine if everyone prayed these prayers twice a day. I know Muslims who pray five times a day. When we were in Morroco a man showing us his rug store suddenly pulled out a rug and kneeled down and prayed. He was ready to do business again in 5 minutes. I imagine most Christians are not so diligent. If they were, we woud see some incredible things happen. For one, perhaps our nation would not be in a deadlock of politics. We have smart people. We can launch spaceships and create ipods. Why can’t we feed and educate our own people?

Recently I have been finding great comfort in praying set prayers. I am using my father’s book of Common Prayer, given to him on his 50^th birthday by my mother. My father experienced a tremendous spiritual transformation at age 50. Today he is a seminary professor at one of the few growing seminaries in the world, based in a nation that is experiencing a huge growth and interest in Christianity. My dad has written two wonderful books, one of the life of Christ and the other an overview of the whole Bible in layman’s terms. I keep telling Dad he must put his books on the internet. Yesterday I met a taxi driver who told me his grandfather was a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He wanted a copy of my dad’s books but I didn’t have any. I am hoping that next week I can help him get his books on the internet and the taxi driver, who goes by the name Neighbor, can get a copy. Unfortunately Neighbor is just as tired of politics as everyone else. Our political conversation was a little heated (I still like Obama but he is disappointed by him) but our spiritual conversation was very fruitful.