Today we're going to go line by line through the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father as some people call it.
And then we'll say it completely at the end,
Maybe with a different perspective and different appreciation for it.
So Jesus was asked,
How do we pray to God?
And he gave us the Lord's Prayer.
And of course,
We start with our Father.
And at the time people didn't talk about God like that,
Didn't talk to God like that with such a familiar tone.
But Jesus was saying it's okay to do that because God should be familiar to us.
So he says,
Our Father who art in heaven.
And we'll talk about where heaven is in just a second.
Then he goes on.
Hallowed be thy name and another word for hallowed of course is holy.
So holy be your name.
So I think that's pretty straightforward.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done.
Okay,
We want God's will to be done,
Meaning that our ego is not the will of God.
Our ego is something completely separate.
When we want things to be the way we want them to be,
And we will only be happy when things are that way.
That's the ego talking.
And what Jesus is saying here is that you have to drop the ego.
We have to empty ourselves and be completely open to God's will,
Whether we understand it or agree with it or not.
Okay,
So thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And what Jesus I think is saying here is that it is possible for heaven and earth to indeed be the same place.
And maybe some of you have heard that saying that goes something like,
Heaven and hell exist on earth.
It's just truly how you think about both.
It's something like that.
But what Jesus is saying is that heaven does exist here on earth.
And even more than that,
Heaven exists within us and outside of us.
And so heaven and God certainly are everywhere.
And if we are able to,
Getting back to thy will be done,
If we are able to be open to God's will,
Then we will experience heaven here on earth.
All right,
So on earth as it is in heaven,
Give us this day.
And I think that's a really interesting statement.
And I think what Jesus is saying there is give us this day as a way of saying we're not going to worry about what happened yesterday.
We're not going to worry about tomorrow or anytime in the future,
But instead we're going to focus on right now.
It's a very mindful approach to being open to God's will in this moment for this day and not really worrying about anything else.
All right,
So give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses because we're human beings because we're asking God or the higher power,
If you will,
If you have a problem thinking about God that way,
To forgive us our trespasses or sins.
And if we think about the word sin,
We know from archery it means to miss the mark.
And so if we go back to thy will be done,
If we're not allowing God's will to be done,
If we're not open to God's will,
Then indeed we're missing the mark.
So we're asking for forgiveness for that when we're not able to do that.
Okay.
So forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
So we're going to forgive those who may sin against us.
And maybe we are being open and trying to do God's will and someone else is maybe offended or taking advantage of that or whatever it is.
But just as God or the higher power,
I think Jesus is saying that God forgives us.
And so it's important that we be as God-like as we can,
Which means that we are going of course to forgive others.
Okay.
So as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
And here I think what Jesus is saying is that temptation and evil could be one and the same.
And I've always thought it interesting that Jesus isn't saying that temptation and evil don't exist or it's possible for us to exist without some temptation and without some evil.
Otherwise I think he would have said,
Do away with temptation,
Do away with evil.
But he doesn't say that.
He says,
Lead us not into temptation.
So he's recognizing and he's telling us that yes,
Temptation and evil exist.
And we need to be mindful and prayerful to be able to avoid that.
So please God,
Keep us from,
Not to eliminate,
But keep us from temptation and evil.
And then we wrap up with,
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
And of course,
When we say amen,
We're saying yes to everything that we just said that preceded the amen.
And so we're,
The Lord's prayer,
We're saying yes to it.
And we're attempting as human beings to accept the Lord's prayer and what Jesus is offering as much as we possibly can.
And the more open we can be to it,
The more God-like and holy we will be because then heaven will truly exist on earth.
Okay.
So let's say it in its entirety.
And then that will be it for today.
Our Father,
Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
