The Prayer that Spans the World

Book excerpt: 'The Lord's Prayer can be spoken at the cradle or the grave. It can rise from the altars of great cathedrals and from the dark hovels of those who eat their bread with tears. It can be prayed at weddings and on the gallows. All seven colours of our life are contained in it, and so there is never a time when we are left alone.' In these sermons delivered in the shattered city of Stuttgart during the last days of the war, Helmut Thielicke examined the Lord's Prayer phrase by phrase, drawing from it both immediate comfort and inspiration for the future. As he expounded upon the inner meaning of the familiar phrases, he enabled his despairing congregation to share in this promise of hope - to see the world in a new way, through prayer. Today, for those who are prepared to listen, his words still carry the same power.