Our Father

In Luke chapter 11, in response to the request of one of the disciples to teach them to pray, Jesus related a similar prayer template to the one he related in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. We can read in that chapter:
1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."
2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one."

Later in the chapter, Jesus said:
9 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

I believe that God instructs us to be very diligent in our prayers, calling upon Him specifically and praying in specific areas.  Jesus was actually praying when He was approached by this disciple in Luke 11 - He invites us to follow that model.  Jesus took time away from other people to spend time in prayer, in communication, with His Father.  We are invited to come before Him and present our requests and to know Him better.

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The Lord's Prayer, which was included in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew; in Luke, was the response by Jesus to a disciple's request to teach them to pray. In Matthew 6, he provides some parameters for prayer:
5 "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

And, so begins what is known as The Lord's Prayer, which you would think has become very popular within and outside the Church.

But for three contestants on the game show, Jeopardy!, recently, well, not so much.  FoxNews.com had this to say about a recent sequence in an article published June 14:

"Jeopardy!" contestants made an error of biblical proportions on last night's game show.

Fans were enraged Tuesday after all three contestants failed to answer what many believed to be a very easy question about the Lord's Prayer.

Host Mayim Bialik read a clue that began, "Matthew 6:9 says, ‘Our Father, which art in heaven, [THIS] be thy name.’"

When the camera cut to Laura, Joe and returning champion Suresh, not one contestant buzzed in with a response.

The article notes:

Fans began tweeting their disdain for the religious blunder, with one writing "Today, 3 Jeopardy contestants did not know the first line of the 'Lord's Prayer!' Sad. Our Father, who art in heaven, ________ be thy name; They didn't know the answer: ‘Hallowed.’ Pathetic," they wrote.

Another said, "Sad world we're in..."

Franklin Graham tweeted out a link to the Fox article and included these comments:

Twitter erupted with @Jeopardy fans who were surprised that 3 smart contestants were unable to fill in the blank with a word from the Lord’s Prayer. We have lost so much Biblical literacy & basic awareness of the things of God’s Word. This moving away from Biblical values will equal double jeopardy for our nation.

CBN.com noted that one social media influencer published on Twitter: "This was a clue on Jeopardy last night & not one contestant got it right. This may seem like a silly example of cultural decay. But my 5-year-old knows the entire Lord's Prayer and loves to recite it at dinner time. Parents can change the world with how they raise their children."

And, then, apparently you have those that question why the game show would have a Bible question anyway...CBN said:

Some users questioned if Jeopardy! writers had been adding too many questions about the Bible to the game show in recent years, despite the fact the Bible is still the most popular book sold in the world today.

The discussion was also the subject of the Jeopardy! Reddit forum, where one user claimed, "Christianity/biblical categories get too much space," on the game show.

One person explained a teacher had once told the user "that to truly consider yourself well-read (by U.S. standards), you need to be passingly familiar with Greek mythology, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Between those three, you can find almost every archetype that Western stories are built on."

One person, who claimed to not be religious, responded, "I'm not religious but think it's undeniable that the Bible had an absolutely enormous impact on Western civilization, architecture, literature, art, and politics. Yes, it's featured more, but it's also had a greater influence."

And, there is a point well-taken: the Bible is still the most popular book in the world - and it has been influential in a variety of sectors in American society.  One would expect game show contestants to know that "What is hallowed?" would be the correct response. But, Franklin Graham is right: this is a reminder of a decline in Biblical literacy in our world today.

For the believer in Christ, it's about more that just being "literate" in the Bible and knowing The Lord's Prayer or the Apostle's Creed.  Those are important, but we have to ask ourselves if we are living according to the principles we find in The Lord's Prayer.  Are we praying as He taught His disciples?  How important is our prayer life to us?

We can also evaluate the degree to which we are incorporating the Word of God into the way we live our lives.  God's Word can help us to renew our minds and provide direction for us as we seek to navigate this world.  When the Word is part of us and governs our thinking and acting, we draw closer to God and produce fruit to His glory.