A Way to Pray "the Lord's Prayer"

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I volunteer in a small hospital, working for the chaplain’s office. My job is to visit patients assigned to me – about 12 to 15 per week – ask about their needs, what the hospital can do to meet their needs and, if they are able and seem amenable, to pray with them.

I believe I can usually tell whether they’re the “praying type” before I ask, and if they’re Christian, I suggest praying the Lord’s Prayer together. That way, they can participate rather than just have me mouth something or pray spontaneously.

The problem with the Our Father is we probably pray it so often, or hear it so often, we have to make an effort to think about what we’re saying. In my view, it’s never a good idea to pray by rote or mechanically.

Here's My Take

Many spiritual writers have commented on the meaning of this prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples. If you want an expert on it, consult one of them; you can do so online. But here’s my take on it.

Our Father. These are, arguably, the most important words in the prayer. One of Jesus’ principal missions on earth, I believe, is to reveal who God is. And according to the theologian Leonardo Boff in his little book, “Jesus and his Abba,” Jesus uses the expression, the equivalent of “Daddy,” 170 times in the gospels. This father image, apparent in the story of the Prodigal Son, should be at the top of our minds when we think of God. If you have, or had, a good Dad, it should be easy. If not, think of the best possible Dad. (You could, of course, also think of God as “mother.”)

Now about the word “Our.” The Lord’s Prayer is not a Jesus-and-Me thing. It doesn’t start with “My Father,” although there may be times when we address the Father in the first person. Instead, it’s a prayer in which we pray on our own behalf as well as a representative of the human race. Included are our families and friends, everyone we may know or not know, and people the world over.

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Who Art in Heaven. First, a word about the language. It’s influenced by the King James Version of the Bible, which dates from 1611. Thus, “art” instead of “is.” But the idea of this verse is the otherness of God, who is in another realm than ours. Many philosophers and theologians, in fact, say God is unknowable and all language about him/her is metaphor (like in Jesus’ use of “father”).

Hallowed be thy name. Again, the influence of King James of England, and again, an acknowledgement of God’s holiness, his/her otherness and the awareness that the only appropriate human response is awe, praise and love.

Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven. Again, “thy” instead of “you” because of King James. These two phrases are prayers of petition and Christian “wishes,” that the kingdom of God, of which Jesus often spoke (and predicted would eventually come) would not be delayed. This “kingdom” is the central theme of Jesus’ message in which he intended to usher in a time when God, and his loving care, would reign just as it does in God’s heavenly kingdom. This kingdom is present and in the future.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread. Most of us in the western world take our food for granted. Hungry? Go to the store and buy something. But the world’s food supply and its distribution is not a sure thing. It’s complex and much could go wrong. So, we ask for this since food and everything else, is in God's hands. In Jesus’ time, food was not generally stored. You had to procure and prepare it daily.

Most Relevant Sentence?

And Forgive Us our Trespasses as We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us. This may be the most relevant sentence in the prayer, a repetition of Jesus’ teaching in which he conditions the Father’s forgiveness on our own forgiveness of others. “If you do not forgive others,” he warns in Matthew’s gospel, “neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” It is, perhaps, the prayer’s greatest challenge since we humans for some reason often find it hard to forgive.

And Lead Us Not into Temptation. This is not just about the temptation to do bad things but the temptation to do nothing, to be indifferent, to fail to love God and others.

But Deliver Us from Evil. The “us” here corresponds to the “our” in the first word of the prayer. So, we think about not only the evil that we do or that can be done to us, but about the evil done to people around the world – in Ukraine and Russia, in Iran, in Palestine and Israel, in Haiti, in El Salvador, in the Congo and Somalia and in our own country – who are doers and victims of evil.