Prayer, Unconstructed Grace, and Constructed Grace - Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

A main theme for the Scripture Readings of Tuesday of the First Week of Lent (Isaiah 55:10-11; Matthew 6:7-15) is a prayer. In fact, the Gospel Reading (Matthew 6:7-15) is the narrative that is skipped in the Gospel Reading of Ash Wednesday (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18).

In the Ash Wednesday Gospel Reading (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18), Jesus teaches us to give alms rather anonymously (vv. 1-4), pray rather in private (vv.5-6), and fast but make ourselves look as if not fasting (vv. 16-18), because these three Lenten commitments are not to draw attention to ourselves. In the Gospel Reading of Tuesday of the First Week of Lent (Matthew 6:7-15), Jesus first warns not to pray like pagans, whose prayers are nothing but a nonsense verbose babbling. Their prayers get wordier and wordier because they think that the more they speak the better their deities would hear. On the other hand, Jesus reminds us that our Father already knows our needs before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8).

Some Protestants consider that praying the Rosary is a babbly prayer that Jesus is speaking against, because of the repetition of “Hail Mary”s. But what Jesus calls a pagan’s prayer is, for example, a wordy and laud prayer cited by the prophet of Baal (1 Kings 18:24-39). And the repetitiveness of “Hail Mary” is more like the repetition of “for his mercy endures forever” in the all 26 verses in Psalm 136. Would these Rosary criticizers also consider Psalm 136 to be problematic?

Enough said.

In Matthew 6:5-8, Jesus gives a twofold warning for a prayer. Not to pray like a hypocrite who prays to garner attention to himself or herself. Not to pray like a pagan, whose prayer is a meaningless wordy babble as if god were deaf. Then, Jesus introduces what is known as the Lord’s Prayer, saying, “This is how you are to pray”(Matthew 6:9a). And the below is the prayer that Jesus teaches.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one (Matthew 6:9-13).

In this pithy prayer, taught by Jesus, we first express our reverence to the Almighty Father in heaven, acknowledging Him as the Creator. We also show our awareness of the coming of His Kingdom and our understanding that His will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Then, we move on to making a petition to the generous Father for our daily sustenance, symbolized with daily bread. And we acknowledge that each day is also a gift from God. Like manna from heaven (Exodus 16:4-28), the sustenance comes to us one day at a time. It is not like stocking up grocery for the entire. We humbly ask God our daily sustenance one day at a time. In regard to not worrying about tomorrow but being content with bread for a day, Jesus also says:

If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, “What are we to eat?” or “What are we to drink?” or “What are we to wear?” All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself (Matthew 6:30-34).

In this prayer, we also ask the Father for forgiveness, while pledging to forgive those who have offended us.  In order to be forgiven by God, we cannot be as selfish as the unforgiving servant, whose debt was forgiven by his master but refused to forgive his fellow servant’s debt to him (Matthew 18:21-35). And Jesus says:

If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Fathe”r forgive your transgressions (Matthew 6:14-15).

Let us not skip, “as we forgive our debtors”(Matthew 6:12a). We promise God that we forgive our offenders so that we will be forgiven by Him for our offenses against Him.

Additionally, we ask the Father to spare us from trials and evil. On the night before his death, Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, in Gethsemane:

Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:31).

This means that we cannot just ask the Father not to subject us to test and deliver us from evil but we also need to be able to endure trials and fight evil by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, how does the Gospel Reading (Matthew 6:7-15), featuring the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is related to the First Reading (Isaiah 55:10-11) are related?

The First Reading (Isaiah 55:10-11) is drawn from the Deutero Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55), which is mainly a consolation to Israelites in the Babylonian exile. In this reading, Isaiah poetically juxtaposes God’s grace for our sustenance to His grace, including His Word.

God’s providential grace comes to make us fertile ground so that the grace will grow into abundant fruition for a great harvest, as rain and snow make the earth fertile and fruitful. What is important to note here is that God’s grace cannot be wasted as it shall not be returned to God in vain. It means that we do not simply receive it but put our work on it so that it is returned to Him as rich harvest offering. This is basically turning unconstructed grace, which is sent from God, into constructed grace by our works, according to His will, so that the Kingdom of God shall be established on earth as it is in heaven.

Through the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for God’s grace as our daily bread so that we can sustain ourselves one day at a time. In our humility, we acknowledge that it is enough for us (i.e. 2 Corinthians 12:9). But, we are not simply asking God to send us daily bread but it is we who makes bread, by growing, harvesting, and milling wheat, as God’s grace keeps the earth fertile enough for wheat to grow. This way, we can offer bread to God. And this is how we turn unconstructed grace into constructed grace, making sure that what comes out of God is not return to him ineffectually.

Let us remember, when we pray, especially the Lord’s Prayer, we are not simply asking God of His favor but we are also making our pledge to work on His provision, turning it into abundant constructed grace. Taking our part also includes forgiveness, as we are not simply asking God to forgive us but we promise to forgive those who are in debt to us without a string.

Prayer, indeed, is not simply to receive from God but also to return what we receive with our work, as a token of our gratitude. And this exchange is a process to build the Kingdom.

God provides. We receive graciously. We work hard on what we receive. And we offer God what we worked on His provision. Prayer is for this process.