Remaking the Lord’s Prayer

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 debts as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.

I’m sure you grew up with your own precise wording as well. There’s something sacred about the words we learned when we were young. Something special about the phrases spoken together with other believers, all in one chorus. These things are to be cherished.

So when we remake this prayer, we are:

• Making this prayer once again

• Re-forming it in our minds and our lives, applying it to ourselves and our walk

• And still honouring those moments long ago, that first hearing, that first interpretation

So let us begin - re-making, remaking, and re-honouring as we share this prayer together.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

We enter in with the heartfelt longing of a child estranged from their father. The gap between us and him. The yearning to be together.

We are on earth; he is in heaven.

And yet, our prayer stretches to close that gap. To hear his voice. To feel his touch, and to meet him again, as we did in the past. Each Follower remembering back to those moments when he came down and showed himself to us personally.

Hallowed be his name. The memory of his touch, these very words on our lips taste sweet.
His name is our hope, his name is our joy, his name is our salvation.

Remember it again.

Remember when we last met together…

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

How I wish that his kingdom were here today. My bones ache to be with him, to rest in his arms, to be held in his embrace. How long must I wait?

Everything I have is like sand, just slipping away, my greatest days faded and dim. I would give it all up in a heartbeat to see his kingdom, to have him by my side.

And      so      I      will. 

I will give up my “kingdom” for his. I will give up my will and take on his will for my life. If I must be on this earth, let it be as he designed me to be in heaven.

For my kingdom isn’t worth holding on to; my desires and my designs flawed, and this earth is such a pale reflection of his design.

Why hold on to dust? Why cling to pain? Why anchor myself to decay?

…and so I let it go.

Your kingdom. Your will. Your design.

Give us this day our daily bread.

First, a hint…   Jesus is not talking about bread…

Paul spoke of his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12). The weakness, the failing that even as an apostle of Christ, he had to live with:

Some think it could be that his vision was never quite the same after he was blinded by Christ.
I personally think it was a moral or emotional failing - a sin he couldn’t conquer, or a depression, or something he was ashamed enough to need a metaphor just to talk about it.

For years, the bread I pray daily for is confidence & optimism, as well as wisdom & foresight. The first of these is to overcome anxiety and despair. The second is to give me the ability to succeed in what he’s called me to do.

I pray daily for this bread because without it, I can’t survive. For each one of us, our bread looks different. Some part of our daily sustenance is missing unless we ask God to give it to us. I also find that each season brings new challenges. New needs which only God can fill.

And he does. Day by day, prayer by prayer, he fills me. He gives me what no one else ever could. He sustains me, and I find that my daily bread does come from him.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Have you noticed that this shares the same sentence as our daily bread? Noticing that as God sustains us, within the same breath, we must lean on him for daily grace. Every day, recognizing the compassion and mercy we need just to get through.

Everyone may differ in the daily bread they need, but when it comes to grace, we’re all in the same boat. From “Pope to pauper,” we lean on the Lord for daily forgiveness.

And just as we give up our kingdom for his, we must also give our forgiveness when we receive his. Daily forgiving, so that daily we may be forgiven. So rarely does Jesus put a condition on his grace, but in this, he does - that every day we must forgive those who “owe us,” knowing that we owe God so much more.

How interesting that Christ instructed us to include this condition on our forgiveness. Like saying to a friend, “Okay, if I’m going to do this, you have to do it too.”

But isn’t that what following the Lord is like? Every task he gives us, we have to rely on him to complete it, and every blessing he bestows, he then asks us to share with others.

And so it is with forgiveness - learning to forgive because we have been forgiven.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Remember again the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. How many fell away after the seed had taken root?

Lord, keep us safe. Lord protect us, for we are weak.

Our best pastors, our best theologians, see their sins publicly exposed after decades of ministry. Our friends and our bible study leaders leave the faith after being so strong when we first met them. How much more at risk am I?

Daily is my dependence - not only to feed and forgive me, but even to remain in Him. Only by the Lord can we, the saints, persevere. Only by his grace are we kept from the temptations that would completely capsize us.

Lead me not into temptation, because even now, I am weak… and so I pray that I won’t forget that.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.

Because at the end of the day, there is only your Kingdom. There is only your power. There is only your glory. Nothing else remains, nothing sustains, nothing endures except you and what you hold safe. It is only by you that we live and move and have our being, and our privilege is that we can be a part of your kingdom.

Today, you have let me serve your kingdom.

Today, you have lifted me up with your power.

Today, you have shown me your glory.

And may it be so forever…

Amen.