“Do not be anxious for anything. Come to Me with prayer and petition. Come to Me with thanksgiving. Present your requests to Me. My peace will guard your heart. Focus on what is true, what is noble, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely, what is admirable” (Philippians 4:6-8, paraphrased).
Without a doubt, prayer is powerful and helpful. One of the most famous prayers of all is The Lord’s Prayer. When my friend Chaplain Shelly filled in for me once here at the hospital, she used The Lord’s Prayer in her chapel service and said it went over very well.
But I learned something that really surprised me this past week about it from an issue of The National Catholic Reporter:
“Pope Francis made news recently when he implied that some of the language in the Lord's Prayer needs polishing. The line "lead us not into temptation," for instance, "is not a good translation," he answered in a radio interview about a new French translation of the prayer. "I'm the one who falls," the pope observed. "But it's not [God] who pushes me into temptation to see how I fall. No, a father does not do this. A father helps us up immediately."
There is a verity of ways to interpret scripture from any faith tradition. Some take scripture literally, some view it through a historical lens, some in allegory, some as if it were poetry. To my mind none of them are wrong ......as long as we are spiritually supported by our understanding of scripture, and living that out in fair and equitable ways.
The Lord’s Prayer has recently come into question. What if I had a terrible relationship with my father? Would that have some emotional baggage that might make it hard to say that prayer? Should we anthropomorphize God in the first place? If so, what pronouns do we use? It the Divine a “He” or a “She”? There are churches that have stopped saying The Lord’s Prayer All together! WOW!!!!
I think it is important to remember the context in which Jesus introduced the Prayer in the sermon on the mount:
“For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray…”
Jesus never said this is the ONLY way to pray. The Lord’s Prayer is not THE prayer, it is a prayer. In other words, Jesus said pray in a similar way.
So, what are we saying in The Lord’s Prayer? Well, there are hundreds of interpretations. I will tell you the bits that our important to me, based on an interpretation by Rev. Ed Townley. I am not here to inflict my personal theology upon you. I share so you can have a launching point for exploring its meaning on your own. You may want to stick to an original meaning, that is great, I am so happy you pray in a way that is meaningful to you!
But if something bothers you about The Lord's Prayer, perhaps consider an openness to change, as Pope Frances has. I think it is always good to explore what we are saying in prayer. Any prayer, including The Lord’s Prayer.
Here is my take on The Lord's Prayer:
“Our Father, which art in heaven” – The Divine/God is not distant or far away. Heaven can be found in this prayerful now moment. Jesus described God as his Father to impart how close he felt to God, with the words he had available to him that time.
“Hallowed be thy name” - God is special. It is worth taking time to explore the spiritual awareness that springs from prayer.
“Thy kingdom come” – The kingdom of heaven is available to me because I take time go apart and turn my awareness to the Divine.
“Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” – We live and move and have our being in the Divine, I am taking this moment to pray. I trust, therefore, that I will be guided in what is highest and best for me.
“Give us this day our daily bread.” This is my commitment and contract to always do my best to listen to that guidance, this is my assurance I will always have what I need by doing so.
“And forgive us our trespasses, as we have forgiven those who have trespassed against us.” The Divine Idea that we are forgiven is always a constant and available to us. However, I must forgive others before I can claim forgiveness for myself.
“And leave us not in temptation but deliver us from evil.” (It is absurd to think that God might lead us into temptation.) In my unripe state, at times I may falter. With each passing day I ripen – I grow in love and understanding of what is right when I focus on a state of awareness of the Divine Mind, through my prayer practice.
“For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” – (This, of course, may not be original—but it does follow a Jewish form in closing a prayer.) I like to think that this is a way of affirming that our prayerful times confirm that we are an extension and expression of God. Therefore, the kingdom, power, and glory are something for all of us to share and express with everyone.
I thank you for reading and be blessed this day.
A bonus this week for you is a music video below I created for the Sabbath Ministries musical version of The Lord’s Prayer. I did so with permission, and hope it supports you in exploring the meaning of The Lord’s Prayer for yourself.
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