Why a site about prayer?

The purpose of this site is to encourage us to each go deeper in our prayer life. One way that we do that is by praying together. Another way we do that is by praying individually yet collectively on the same prayer themes. Our hope is that as we share prayers and reflect on them and pray over them at the same time in our individual lives, the Holy Spirit will speak to each of us and allow us to encourage and edify one another in prayer.

Saturday, April 30, 2016

The Lord's Prayer Expanded

from Water to Wine, Chapter 4, by Brian Zahnd

Our Father, Holy Father, Abba Father, in the heavens.
Hallowed, Holy, Sacred be Your name.
From the rising of the sun,
to the going down of the same,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.
Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD God of Hosts.
The whole earth is full of His glory.
Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD God Almighty,
Who was, and Is, and is to come.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
Thy Government come, thy politics be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
Thy Reign & Rule come, thy plans & purposes be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
May we be an anticipation of the age to come.
May we embody the reign of Christ here and now.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
Provide for the poor among us.
As we seek first your Kingdom and your justice,
May all we need be provided for us.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Transform us by the Holy Spirit into a forgiving community of forgiven sinners.
Lead us not into trouble, trial, tribulation, temptation,
Be mindful of our frame that we are but dust,
We can only take so much.
Lead us out of the wilderness and into the promised land that flows with milk and honey,
out of the badlands into resurrection country.
Deliver us from evil and the evil one.
Save us from satan, the accuser and adversary
So that no weapon formed against us can prosper.
So that every tongue that rises against us in judgement, you will condemn.
So every fiery dart of the wicked one is extinguished by the shield of faith.
So that as we submit to You and resist the devil, the devil flees.
So that as we draw near to Jesus Christ,
lifted up upon the cross,
His cross becomes for us the axis of love
expressed in forgiveness that refounds the world.
And the the devil who became the false ruler of the fallen world
is driven out from among us.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

5 comments:

  1. This prayer is so rich for me that I have to take it in sections. Right away I felt awestruck and humbled by hallowing the Father's name. I think will pray/meditate on it one section a day, then attempt to put it all together by the weeks end. Hallowed be thy name Abba!

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    1. Although I love reading the prayer all the way through, to truly meditate on the words does require, as you have said, focus on chunks.

      Focusing on the address of God, I am struck by the line "the whole earth is full of your glory" - everywhere, everything, it is all full of His glory. That means my eyes are staring at glory all day long - but do I recognize it - do I see it? Lord help me to truly see your glory and worship you for it each minute of each day. You are holy! Your name is to be praised!

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  2. In reading through this prayer again this afternoon, this particular 'couplet' of lines caught my eye:

    "May we embody the reign of Christ here and now.
    Give us day by day our daily bread."

    What stuck out to me about this pairing is how they don't seem to go together, but actually they are deeply entwined.

    To embody the reign of Christ here and now is a continuation of the thought "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". And it doesn't seem to relate to the idea of "give us today our daily bread" except that during this reading, it jumped out to me that these two have to go together. To embody the reign of Christ in the here and now means that we MUST rely on his DAILY bread - no more.

    I often want today's bread along with tomorrow's and the rest of the month's. But that takes faith out of the picture and depends on me thinking that I can manage a month's worth of bread - which comes down to me being dependent on myself. And that does not reflect the reign of Christ at all. But to live in such a way that I am dependent on God day by day by day - that is countercultural to this world and accurately reflects the coming Kingdom.

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  3. Yes! I wonder what would happen if i simply ate the bread Jesus gave me each day? Would the kingdom come? I bet it would. What if when I eat his bread it nourishes the Christ in me? Am I starving the Christ in me because I am busy planning my meals instead of just eating what he has placed in my hands?
    Jesus, make me simple. Amen.

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  4. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
    Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us.
    Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
    Transform us by the Holy Spirit into a forgiving community of forgiven sinners."

    Been coming back to these four lines for days now. I need to be transformed by forgiveness. My heart is hard, it wrestles with pardon. Praying this same concept every morning in 3 consecutive lines challenges me. Lord soften my heart.

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