Prayer sometimes becomes a list of things we want fixed, or at least it does for me. It might not be entirely self interested because I spend quite a bit of time praying for people or situations other than myself but it's still not ideal. There's a thing I do to counter this bad habit and that is to pray The Lord's Prayer in my own words, taking the existing words of the prayer and modifying them in whatever way comes to me at the time. There are many expert and academic commentaries available for The Lord's Prayer which might be at odds with my musings and that is ok. At some stage I might incorporate some more "learned" ideas but right now, what I do with it is a discipline for me.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
my heavenly father, who loves me like my own dad but with more wisdom and more ability to change my circumstances.
hallowed be thy name,
you are worthy of all praise, all honour, all glory. You give every good thing, you model what I should be. I want my life to reflect you.
Thy kingdom come,
I want to play my part in fulfilling your purposes and I want your love, grace and mercy to be extended to all people by all people. A world without war, discrimination, racism, road rage, domestic abuse....
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Your plans play out uninterrupted in heaven, your love is uncontaminated there. I want to see that and be part of that here in this earthly life and then i will have a little of heaven on earth
Give us this day our daily bread
I'm trusting you, God, for the things I truly need. I might not live on lobster and chocolate, and I might not have a lot at any time. Your promise is to supply day to day, not years in advance. I may not be rich in material things but you will give me what I need for a healthy and satisfied life, I just need to believe that you have my best in mind
And forgive us our trespasses,
forgive me when my own interests, annoyances, grievances, immaturity, selfishness and small mindedness hurt you or those around me
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
and when others fail me, I will remember that I am fallible. I will remember that hurting people hurt people. When I see pure evil, when forgiveness seems impossible and unwarranted I will forgive anyway and in doing that I stop the chain of hurt
And lead us not into temptation
You wouldn't lead us to temptation so the wording of this is a bit funny, blame translation. Help me to stay away from what i know to be hurtful
but deliver us from evil.
protect me, my friends, my family, the people I haven't met and will never meet. Rescue us as individuals and as humanity, rescue us from ourselves, honour our attempts to get things right, heal us and the earth from our stupid ways
For Thine is the Kingdom,
the power and the glory,
forever and ever.
God, you are "the one" you have the power to do all things, all goodness comes from you, all love, all joy, all peace, all healing, all beauty....
It's all yours so I want to reflect that and rely on that and see that grow. Forever.
5 comments:
Beautiful! so
Thank you Marion
xo
kylie, I really like your expansion of the prayer into chunks we can chew on.
Thank you, Robert.
Lead us not into temptation:
VI. "AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION"
2846 This petition goes to the root of the preceding one, for our sins result from our consenting to temptation; we therefore ask our Father not to "lead" us into temptation. It is difficult to translate the Greek verb used by a single English word: the Greek means both "do not allow us to enter into temptation" and "do not let us yield to temptation." "God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one"; on the contrary, he wants to set us free from evil. We ask him not to allow us to take the way that leads to sin. We are engaged in the battle "between flesh and spirit"; this petition implores the Spirit of discernment and strength.
2847 The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a "delight to the eyes" and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death.
God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. . . . There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even we ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us.
2848 "Lead us not into temptation" implies a decision of the heart: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. . . . No one can serve two masters." "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." In this assent to the Holy Spirit the Father gives us strength. "No testing has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it."
2849 Such a battle and such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter, both at the outset of his public mission and in the ultimate struggle of his agony. In this petition to our heavenly Father, Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in communion with his own. Vigilance is "custody of the heart," and Jesus prayed for us to the Father: "Keep them in your name." The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep watch. Finally, this petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in relation to the last temptation of our earthly battle; it asks for final perseverance. "Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake."
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