Our Father—the Greatest Prayer!

Every morning and every night, we say the “Our Father”. This very traditional prayer has existed since Jesus recited it during the Sermon on the Mount. This is a very significant prayer because it summarizes what being a Christian is about, starting with the words, “Our Father”. Who is our ultimate Father to whom we all can turn? I have explored many directions in life, but it always pointed to the Supreme Being. Who is the “Father”? Well, the Father is the One Who is in Heaven, as the prayer continues. What is Heaven you might ask? Generally, when we answer, we point upward to the sky. But Heaven is all around us because we are a part of the Universe, the Universe who is God. How else can we explain the many imponderables? God is frequently described as “omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. If that is the case, the Universe is God. It is not the anthropomorphic deity that we are accustomed to envisioning. The only anthropomorphic version of God is Jesus. Consider that if the Holy Spirit is part of the God concept, then it adds further credence that God is the universe and universal energy.

“Hallowed be thy name” refers to our upholding the good name of the Great Lord as the Supreme Being. We are so small, but so great in the Lord, as long as we trust in the Lord. No ideology and no earth-based utopia can replace the inner peace that comes from this.

“Thy Kingdom come” is the Kingdom within. There is a saying that goes something like this. There are some people who can make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven. What this means to me is that it is up to us to make this earthly existence a “Kingdom”. It is based on attitude and faith. Viktor Frankl wrote a book about his experience in a concentration camp, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” He believed that he survived being in the concentration camp because of his attitude. He said they could take away his comfort, his food, his peace of mind, and his dignity, but they could not take away his attitude. Choose an attitude of gratitude! The Lord’s Prayer guarantees an earthly Kingdom and a heavenly Kingdom (on earth as it is in heaven) if His will is done.

“Give us this day, our daily bread.” This guarantees that if our faith is strong enough, our needs will be met. In fact, five loaves and two fish were enough to feed a crowd of 5000 that had gathered to hear Jesus speak.

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This is a key point of the Our Father. In order for us to have a life full of inner peace, we must be able to forgive. If we hold a grudge, it hurts us much more than the person that we hold it against. There is an expression that says that holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Forgiveness releases a negative burden from us. It is more about what forgiveness does for us, than releasing the other person. The Lord’s Prayer certainly has a good prescription for our well-being.

“And lead us not into temptation” means do not let us fall into temptation. This is a basic admonishment to be vigilant against the forces of evil that exist all around us. It seems to be truer than ever now. Technology popularizes some of these evils as something good. “But deliver us from evil” is beseeching the Good Lord to help us with this important task because our eternity depends on this. You will never go wrong if the Lord’s Prayer is part of your daily routine.