Thy Kingdom Come is a global ecumenical prayer movement, between 29 May and 8 June 2025, during which members of our senior team are sharing reflections on prayer. Find today’s reflection from Revd Theresa Parker, Chaplain to the Bishop of Winchester, below.
I love words. During my childhood I spent four years living in Scotland where in school we regularly recited the Lord’s Prayer. It fascinated me that the prayer I recited in Scotland spoke of “debts” instead of either sins or trespasses, and that got me thinking more deeply about the prayer. Did it make a difference if we were asking for forgiveness for sins, trespasses or debts? We tend to think of trespass as being related to land; debt is more about something that we owe; the word “sin” is often considered rather heavy.
When I visited South Africa over a decade ago, I loved the fact that during church services some hymns would include verses sung in different languages, and when it came to the Lord’s Prayer, people would be invited to pray in whichever language was the language of their heart. We sometimes invite people to do that in this country, too. I love the cacophony of voices, all heard and understood by God. And I have come to believe that my own exploration of language, words and their meaning is done in God’s presence, and forms part of my prayer life.
On Day 8 of “Thy Kingdom Come” we are invited to consider the words: “and lead us not into temptation.” I wonder what temptation means to you. At the beginning of Lent, we hear about Jesus’s temptations in the wilderness. Are these the things that threaten to lead us astray? Or is it something else entirely? And do we recognise them easily, or can we find ourselves following the wrong path without at first realising it.
I wonder whether there will be particular words that are important to you today, that lead you into conversation with God. And I wonder whether you might hear God respond, in surprising and unexpected ways.
