Seven times in the verses before and after The Prayer, the Teacher references a full reward. His conclusion seems to be that a thriving interiority is more to be desired than approval ratings or choice positions. He says, “Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage.”[1]
It’s in that spirit that we who are the His disciples and teachers by profession ask: Teacher, teach us to pray.
Our Father in heaven
Yahweh, you are the generative source from which all in heaven and on earth take a name (Ephesians 3:15). Collectively ours. We begin this prayer taking the same posture as our students.
Hallowed be your name
We return the gaze you have so lovingly set on us, and this gives us vision for our students, too.
May your reign come
Fear of pain and punishment is replaced by trust in love and grace. May our students experience this alternate reality in our classrooms, and may healthy motivation be the result.
May your will be done on earth as in heaven
Yahweh, your will is total flourishing for all that you have generated, so we ask for that flourishing in and through our students’ lives, as naturally and with as much ease as it would be done in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
The generative source gives without ever being diminished. There is abundance for every need in every dimension. We ask that our lessons and student interactions today meet felt needs.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
We don’t perform teaching duties timidly, afraid of failing. We acknowledge that we fail, and that under your reign, Yahweh, failure is transformed. Help us to turn student failures into growth opportunities.
Don’t put us to the test, but free us from evil
We live and work in systems that are broken. We ask that we be free to heal rather than participate in the breaking.
Master Teaching 
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