Do you say this prayer once a week in church? Do you say it every day? It was never meant to be used like that. It is a pattern from which we can make our own prayers. There is no virtue in repeating the same words over and over again. Jesus said that the pharisees thought they would be heard by God because they said long prayers and used "vain repetition."
The Lord's prayer is a pattern of how to set about praying to God. Always we need to start with God, not ourselves and realise that he is our Father and is holy. Then we speak of what he wants our world to be like, his kingdom coming to earth and his will being done. We then pray for our practical needs, recognising that we are totally dependent on him. Next we acknowledge our sin and ask for forgiveness and agree to forgive our neighbour also. We ask for God's protection against temptation and the evil one. To end we again acknowledge how great God is and end there. Try setting the Lord's prayer out in front of you and after each line add something of your own that fits in with those words. You should find this very helpful. It is so easy when just repeating words to do it on auto-pilot and gain nothing from it. I would love you to tell me if this is helpful to you.
The Lord's prayer is a pattern of how to set about praying to God. Always we need to start with God, not ourselves and realise that he is our Father and is holy. Then we speak of what he wants our world to be like, his kingdom coming to earth and his will being done. We then pray for our practical needs, recognising that we are totally dependent on him. Next we acknowledge our sin and ask for forgiveness and agree to forgive our neighbour also. We ask for God's protection against temptation and the evil one. To end we again acknowledge how great God is and end there. Try setting the Lord's prayer out in front of you and after each line add something of your own that fits in with those words. You should find this very helpful. It is so easy when just repeating words to do it on auto-pilot and gain nothing from it. I would love you to tell me if this is helpful to you.
I actually had my heart opened to the true meaning of the Lord's Prayer by a TV Rabbi who spoke about it several years ago. He stated that most people recite the words as if we are begging God not to do bad things to us and this is not in the spirit of Christ's prayer.It is also not meant to be recited on auto-pilot as so many of us tend to do.The words Jesus used in his prayer are words of praise and thanksgiving:
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After a lifetime of mindlessly quoting the words over and over,the revelation of the true meaning of the Lord's Prayer changed my life.
May God continue to use and bless you,Lizpreach.
Thanks so much for this helpful comment Tyla. God bless.
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