The Prayer of Prayers

 By: Chip Carter, MA, LPC
 
A question for each of you – How many times do you think you’ve prayed ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ (1) in your life?
 
A dozen?  A few hundred?  Close to a thousand or more?
 
Those sixty-eight words Jesus spoke are some of His most famous, and are meant to guide us in our prayer lives.  Often, when I’ve had no words to utter to God because of grief, sadness or weariness, I will pray that prayer because I know it by heart and because I know that it is good.
 
But on the flip side, I can also speak those same sixty-eight words with little meaning in my voice or movement in my heart.  Things that I tend to lean on when I’m down can also be the same things I go to when I feel indifferent or, honestly, would rather be doing anything besides praying.  It can, and has become at times, the prayer I pray when I want to check ‘prayer’ off my to-do list for the day. 
 
When I get to that point, I need to do something to shake things up and look at what Jesus was trying to teach me.  Here is how I’ve broken down the Lord’s Prayer to help me get back on track and get my heart in alignment with His. 
 
Our Father who art in heaven

• He’s Abba.  He’s the King of Kings.  He is I am.  He knows all things.  He is in heaven.  And I am not…

 
Hallowed be Your Name

• Hallowed means ‘holy’.  And this line is a continuation of how Jesus exalted God for who He is.  He is the Holiest of Holies.  He is God.  And I am not…

 
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven

• In Heaven, all things are right and just.  On Earth, not so much.  Bring Heaven to Earth. 

 
Give us this day, our daily bread

• God, help me fight against all the things I want and believe I need.  Help me settle into a simpler life of walking with You and You meeting my needs.  Help me to be thankful in all times.

 
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

• God, help me at the minute, no the second where I feel wronged or hurt to start forgiving the person right then, that second.  Because that is what you do for me every single time.

 
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

• Help me stay close to you, God.  I can be impulsive and make decisions that aren’t good for me or the ones I love.  I can say something that can hurt others for a long time.  I am weak.  I am human. You are the strongest of them all. 

 
For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. 

• It’s all circling back to God, just as the prayer started.  It’s all His – Heaven and Earth.  Absolute dominion.  All the beauty.  All the honor.  Everything.

 
Amen

• So be it.  I agree.  Bring it. 

 
And so be it, good readers.  I hope this has helped remind you that God is for you, that He knows what He is doing, and that He desires to bring Heaven to Earth. 
 
Let’s go after that…