This paper consists of notes from an adult Sunday School class that I taught many hears ago. 

“Teach us how to pray,” his disciples said to Jesus. (Luke 11, 1) and He answered by teaching them the prayer we call The Lord’s Prayer. In this prayer, Jesus invites us to draw near to God, who dwells in mystery, who is beyond human understanding, but whom we can call “our Father”.

The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that Christians treasure. As a model of prayer, every Christian learns it by heart. It appears everywhere in the church’s life: in its liturgy and sacraments, in public and private prayer. 

Though we memorize it as a set formula, the Lord’s Prayer shouldn’t be repeated mechanically or without thought. Its purpose is to awaken and stimulate our faith. Through this prayer Jesus invites us to approach God as Father. Indeed, the Lord’s Prayer has been called a summary of the gospel. 

Our Father 

God – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” “All things exist and have their being in God.” 

Calling God “Father” does not mean that God is masculine. God is beyond the categories of gender, of masculine or feminine. None of our descriptions of God is adequate. God, who is “in heaven”, whose name is holy, cannot be fully known by us. 

By calling God “Father,” we are more rightly describing ourselves and our relationship with God. Jesus teaches that we have a filial relationship with God; God sees us as if we were a daughter or a son. And we, on our part, can approach God in the familiar confident way a child approaches a loving parent.  

God, You choose to reveal Yourself to us, and we understand You to be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, eternal and unchangeable, the Creator and Preserver of the world, a morally perfect Being, righteous and loving. Your Son, Jesus, who lived in a very patriarchal society, spoke of You as Abba – Father. Moses, spoke to You face-to-face: “If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face.” Others have found You in nature, (as illustrated by the poem, Vestigia, by Bliss Carman), and some, hermits, withdrawing from the world, claimed to have found You within their inmost souls. 

The Muslim mystic, Rumi, wrote: “A seeker knocked at the door of the beloved – God – and a voice from inside asked: ‘Who is it?’ The seeker answered ‘It is I’; and the voice said: ‘In this house there is no You and I.’ The door remained locked. Then the seeker went into solitude, fasted and prayed and, later, returned and again knocked at the door. Again the voice asked: ‘Who is it?’ Now the believer answered: ‘It is You.’ Then the door opened.” 

Buddhists don’t teach a personal God but, rather, a love that permeates the universe, and we remember that You are that love – our heavenly Father, Mother, Parent. 

who art in heaven 

And where is heaven? Metaphorically, it is above us, as in the old saying, “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” But in another sense, it is around us and within us, just as God is omnipresent, around us and within us. 

Rom 14:17 (NIV) For the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

Hallowed be Thy name. 

Hallowed: meaning “holy.” “May your name be kept holy.” By implication, “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.” Don’t blunt your spiritual experience with a casual attitude toward your Heavenly Father. 

Thy kingdom come. 

And then there is the metaphor of “kingdom.” It is not a metaphor with which I am comfortable; although I suppose that might just be pride talking; but I feel an awe within the presence of God which does not require any kingship metaphor. On the contrary, I feel that it is anthropomorphic and somewhat demeaning to think of God as king. For me, my God has always been so much more than that. 

Thy will be done on Earth 

In the third chapter of Genesis (“Inspired Version” which, although not generally accepted as scripture, has many things from which we can learn), we read: 

[Gen 3:1] And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying, That Satan whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning. 

[Gen 3:2] And he came before me, saying, Behold I, send me, I will be thy Son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore, give me thine honor.

[Gen 3:3] But behold, my beloved Son, which was my beloved and chosen from the beginning, said unto me: Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.

[Gen 3:4] Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him; and also that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten I caused that he should be cast down; and he became Satan.

[Gen 3:5] Yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive, and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.

And from the Book of Mormon: 

[2 Ne 1:111] And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he would not have fallen; but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. 

[2 Ne 1:112] And all things which were created, must have remained in the same state which they were, after they were created; and they must have remained for ever, and had no end.

[2 Ne 1:113] And they would have had no children; wherefore, they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

[2 Ne 1:114] But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

[2 Ne 1:115] Adam fell, that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

[2 Ne 1:116] And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall.

  as it is in heaven. 

And we look forward to that time, as we sing, “And as we hope for heaven, make earth a heaven below.” 

Give us this day our daily bread 

John 6:32-35 (NAS) Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” They said therefore to Him, “Lord, evermore give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” 

and forgive us our trespasses 

Do you remember The Fool’s Prayer? 

The royal feast was done. The king 

Sought some new sport to banish care

And, to his jester, cried, “Sir, Fool,

Kneel now and make for us a prayer.”

The jester doft his cap-and-bells, 

And stood, the mocking court before.

They did not see the bitter smile

Behind the painted grin he wore.

He bowed his head and bent his knee 

Upon the monarch’s silken stool.

His pleading voice arose, “Oh, Lord,

Be merciful to me, a fool.

These clumsy feet, still in the mire, 

Go crushing blossoms without end;

These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust

Among the heartstrings of a friend.”

The unkind word we might have kept, 

Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?

The word we had not sense to say,

Who knows how grandly it had rung.

Our faults no tenderness should ask. 

The chastening stripes must cleanse them all.

But for our follies, oh, in shame

Before the eyes of heaven we fall.”

The room was hushed. In silence 

Rose the king, and sought his gardens cool.

His pleading voice arose, “Oh, Lord,

Be merciful to me, a fool.”

as we forgive those who trespass against us. 

This petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a demanding one. Not only do we ask God’s forgiveness for our daily offenses, but we link God’s forgiveness of us with our forgiveness of others. Forgiving others is not always easy to do. We need God’s help to do it. But it must be done or we ourselves cannot receive God’s mercy. 

[Mat 18:21] Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? 

[Mat 18:22] Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times; but, until seventy times seven.

And lead us not into temptation 

or, as the Pope is said to have recently re-phrased it, “Suffer us not to be led into temptation.”  

In that marvelous story known as the Book of Job, chosen by some early churchmen for inclusion in the bible because of its majestic teachings about God, it is pointed out that His purposes are beyond our understanding:  

But deliver us from evil 

Life is not easy. It is a daily battle. Trials like sickness and failure can crush our spirits. False values and easy promises can entice us and even destroy our souls. And so we ask God to keep us from failing when we are tested, to help us to know the right thing to do, to deliver us from the evil which awaits us in life. 

“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, ‘Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied: ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” 

So, I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of the day in the lone East. 

So, heart, be still: What need our little life, our human life, to know, if God hath comprehension? 

Looked at from another perspective, it is we who must be the deliverers. One of my favorite hymns is #12 in Sing a New Song: 

I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry. 

All who dwell in deepest sin my hand will save.

I who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright.

Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?

I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my people’s pain. 

I have wept for love of them, they turn away.

I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone.

I will speak my word to them. Whom shall I send?

I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame. 

I will set a feast for them, my hand will save.

Finest bread I will provide till their hearts are satisfied.

I will give my life to them. Whom shall I send?

And the answer in each case is: 

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard You calling in the night. 

I will go, Lord, if You lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.

And in the process of delivering, of course, it is we who are delivered. 

For thine is the kingdom 

We are yours, Lord, the children of your hand as well as your hands here on earth. May we indeed make earth a heaven below. Let your kingdom come, first of all in our own souls, that we may begin to realize it in our communities, and then throughout the world. 

And the power 

“O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, 

Consider all the works Thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the world displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God to Thee, 

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.”

I like to think of Jesus as God’s love and power incarnate: “Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His divine manhood. 

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying -– and that was His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. 

Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone, and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader in the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One solitary life.” Here was a man or, as my Jewish friends would say, a true mensch. 

And the glory 

“The heavens herald your glory, O God, and the skies display your handiwork. 

Day after day they tell their story, and night after night they reveal the depth of their understanding.

Without speech, without words, without even an audible voice,

Their cries echo through all the world, and their message reaches the ends of the earth.

Your law, Adonai, is perfect; it refreshes the soul.

Your rule is to be trusted; it gives wisdom to the naive.

Your purposes, God, are right; they gladden the heart.

Your command is clear; it gives light to the eyes.

Holding you in awe, Adonai, is purifying; it endures.

Your decrees are steadfast, and all of them are just.”

Forever, 

Yes, forever; time without end. 

Amen. 

Yes, so be it.