Let us get ready to meditate upon the Lord's Prayer.
With your feet firmly planted on the floor,
Straighten your back and your spine and your head up to heaven.
Release any tension that you're holding in your shoulders,
Your arms,
Your hands.
Tighten your calves,
Your knees,
Your thighs,
And just release them.
Release the tension in your neck and your head and any tension you might be holding in your face.
With eyes closed and nice slow breathing,
Let us read the scriptures.
Matthew 6,
9 through 13.
Reading from the New International Version.
Is how you should pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
We have here one of the most famous prayers from the Christian Bible.
The Lord's Prayer is said to be recited in more Christian gatherings than any other writing of the Bible.
This prayer is perhaps one you may be familiar with from your childhood.
In fact,
Quite possibly you're so familiar with it that you no longer think about the words.
You might find hidden treasures within these familiar words.
We will go slowly through the prayer,
Pausing often within it to meditate upon it and see what it has to say to you.
Meditation is not an intellectual exercise,
But of a way of exploring our inner landscapes and a means of drawing us closer to the divine presence.
This then is how you should pray.
Our Father in Heaven.
To begin with,
We address one part of the three-part Godhead,
The Father,
The Son,
And the Holy Spirit.
We are speaking directly to the Father.
When Jesus said,
Our Father,
He used a word that affirmed our relationship with the Father,
A relationship that He enjoyed and now so can we.
This was startling to the Old Testament Saint.
Not under any condition did they call God Father in this personal way.
It is true that the Israel as a nation was called a Son.
God was the Father of the nation,
Of His people.
However,
You do not find individual Israelites calling God Father.
The individual was the Son of Abraham,
Isaac,
And Jacob.
So Moses,
David,
All the great prophets of old could not approach God as we do as Father.
So what changed?
God created Adam,
Who was called the Son of God.
Then Adam sinned,
And after the fall,
He had a son who was just like him in the fallen nature.
And from then on,
Mankind was no longer considered sons of God in any personal way.
Have you ever fallen out of relationship with someone you love?
Did you miss them?
God loved us so much that He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to reconnect,
Re-establish our connection with Him.
Today,
To prove a child's father,
There is a blood test that must be made.
We are the sons of God,
Only through the blood of Jesus Christ.
It is that blood which establishes our sonship with God the Father,
Whereby we can say,
Through faith in Jesus Christ,
Our Father.
So let us pause to meditate on the love of Jesus,
Who restored our relationship with the Divine One.
The proper role of a father is to provide encouragement,
Support,
And access to activities that enable a child to master key tasks to prevail in life.
When have you seen God's guidance in your life?
What talents has the Father given you to master in your life?
Fathers are central to the emotional well-being of their children.
He is the pillar of strength,
Support,
And discipline.
A good father loves them,
And he doesn't let them get away with murder.
Let's meditate on a time when the Father was your strength.
A father's work is endless and often thankless.
In the end,
It shows in the sound,
Well-adjusted child he has raised.
Let's meditate on thanking the Father,
Thanking Him for what He has done to bring you to where you are now.
Lastly,
What does it mean to be a child of the Divine One?
He is exalted in heaven above us,
Beyond us,
And yet close enough to address us and to embrace us.
The God of heaven desires a relationship with you.
Meditate on the Father wanting to see you,
To talk to you,
To spend time with you in your life.
Father,
I thank you that I have been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of your dear Son.
I commit to live free from worry in the name of Jesus,
For the law of the Spirit of life,
Christ Jesus,
Has made me free from the law and sin and death.
I humble myself under your mighty hand,
And in due time you may exalt me.
I cast the whole of my cares,
All my anxieties,
My worries,
All of my concerns,
Once and all on you.
You take care of me affectionately and care about me watchfully.
You sustain me.
You never allow the righteous to be moved,
Made to slip,
Fall,
Or fail.
Father,
I delight myself in you and you perfect,
That which concerns me.
I cast down imaginations,
Reasonings,
And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of you.
I bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
I lay aside every weight and the sin of worry.
I run with the patience,
The race that is before me,
Looking into Jesus,
The author and finisher of our faith.
I thank you,
Father,
That you are able to keep that which I have committed unto you.
I think on.
I have my mind fixed upon those things that are true,
Honest,
Pure,
Lovely,
Of good report,
Virtue,
Deserving of praise.
I will not let my heart be troubled.
I will abide in your word,
And your word abides in me.
Therefore,
Father,
I do not forget what manner of person I am.
I look to the perfect law of liberty and continue therein,
Being not a forgetful hearer,
But a doer of the word,
And thus blessed in my doing.
Thank you,
Father,
For I am carefree,
And I will walk in the peace that passes all understanding.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Slowly open your eyes,
Come back to the room.
Take a deep breath and release it.
