What if, when the disciples said to Him, "Teach us to pray," Jesus knew they were looking for something "special,"some new prayer that was particular to Him and His followers? What if He surprised them by telling them to simply continue praying the prayer they had been praying all their lives?

Thank you to my Friends of the Show for loving and lifting me!

LOVE the Word® is a Bible study method based on Mary's own practice: lectio without the Latin.

L - Listen (Receive the Word.)

O - Observe (Choose one or more of the following personality approaches to connect the passage to your life and recent events.)

F | Franciscan - Pray an Our Father, facing East, with feet planted firmly together!

I | Ignatian - Using all your senses, imagine you are in the group when Jesus "teaches" the disciples the Our Father, either at the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5 & 6), while Jesus is alone praying "in a certain place." What do you see? Hear? Smell? Feel? What do you all talk about afterward?

A | Augustinian - Take turns emphasizing the words of the Our Father in turn, until you have done them all, like this:

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name."

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name."

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name."

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name."

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name."

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name."

What new insights do you gain by using this approach?

T | Thomistic - Choose one of the words in the Our Father prayer to research in a concordance. What do you learn?

V - Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)

Remembering that He loves you and that you are in His presence, talk to God about the particulars of your O - Observe step. You may want to write your reflections in your LOVE the Word® journal. Or, get a free journal page and guide in the right-hand margin.

E - Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy 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. Amen +

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*LOVE the Word® exercises are offered according to FIAT: the four personalities, or "prayer forms," explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Franciscan, Ignatian, Augustinian, and Thomistic: FIAT! These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.

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You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript here, courtesy of Dora Donovan who does our transcripts for you.