Prayer: Sermon on the Mount, The Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father”)
Our Father - Recognizing God as our father; Recognizing our purpose and relationship with God; Recognizing "our", not "me," is about fellowship and love (the verb).
Who art in heaven - Like colors in a prism, heaven is all around us, It calls us; it is home; we desire to be "there," not "here." Humans are the only species never satisfied with who they are or where they are. Our true desire is God and heaven.
Hallowed be thy name - Hallowed is holy-whole-perfect. "Name" refers to who someone is. Since we can't fathom who God is with our finite minds, we apprehend His attributes: perfect love, perfect truth, perfect justice, perfect happiness.
Thy kingdom come - Jesus Christ brought the Kingdom back to us when he came here (past); Jesus Christ gave us himself and the HS in the present so we could build on the Kingdom's presence here; Jesus Christ will bring us to the permanent/eternal Kingdom when he returns on the Last Day. Christ past, Christ present, Christ future = Maranatha!
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven - This is how we are to establish the Kingdom here: Love for others + Prayer (boat-dock) = Relationship and spiritual growth.
Give us this day our daily bread - the Bread of Life is the Eucharist he consecrated for us, for all time, at the Last Supper. It is food for this Trinitarian journey. It is another incarnation.
Forgive us our trespasses - For this to happen, we must first recognize our shortcomings and then ask forgiveness, both of which are humbling in a God-like way! However, it is linked to the next one.
As we forgive those who trespass against us - This is the "love others mandate." We are called to imitate Christ in this way or lose our own forgiveness. God is training us to be like Him.
Lead us not into temptation - Our life is a life of trials (choices) which comes with our free will. Trials and difficult choices develop strength and wisdom. But we are not alone. The HS is here at our beckon and call, if we choose to call upon him.
Deliver us from evil (or the evil one) - Evil is one of the choices that follows temptation and blocks us from God, Satan works relentlessly to tempt/beguile/fool us, and hold onto us. Jesus Christ/HS offer to deliver us all evil, if we are willing to work with them.
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The corollary (immediate consequence of) free will is trial and temptation, for that’s what choice is all about. The choices human beings define both the power and the danger facing humans their whole lives. The quality of our choices continually defines who we are, such as to love or hate, be honest or dishonest, instant gratification or self-control, to be respectful or rude, kind or selfish, humble or arrogant, forgiving or condemning, loyalty or betrayal, or take responsibility for everything in our lives or be apathetic; and the list goes on.
God gave us this spiritual power but he would like to help us learn how to use it, if we will let him. It’s the meaning of the prayer.
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