Jesus gave the Lord's Prayer to us as a model for our prayers. It can be helpful for us to use the model as an outline and to fill in the details from our daily lives. Here is one way to do that: I have presented below a traditional version, followed by a paraphrased version, followed by a statement for you to complete during your devotional time.
Our Father who art in heaven,
Our Father in heaven,
As your children, we ask for your loving, parental protecting and guiding in these ways:
Hallowed be thy name.
May we use your name only for your perfect purposes.
We confess and repent that we have misused your name for our own selfish desires, preferences, and agendas in these ways:
Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
May your reign come in, through, and around us so that your will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
We open ourselves to see and to serve the miraculous and transforming work of your Holy Spirit in these ways:
Give us this day our daily bread (or our bread for tomorrow).
Give us all that we need to sustain us until the total fulfillment of your reign comes.
We ask for your providing in these ways:
And forgive us our debts (or trespasses),
And forgive us for missing and messing up your goals for us,
We confess and repent that we have missed and messed up your goals for us in these ways:
as we forgive our debtors (or those who have trespassed against us).
as we forgive those who have missed and messed up your goals for them in their treatment of us.
We confess and repent that we have held grudges in these ways:
And kead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (or the evil one).
And, in trying times, do not let us fail to trust and obey your revealed truth, but rescue us from the deceptions of the evil one.
We recognize that we have been tempted in difficult circumstances to turn away from full trust and obedience, and we ask that you would rescue us from deception in these ways:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
For to you belongs all authority, power, and glory forever.
We honor your sovereign majesty over all creation in these ways:
Amen.
So be it!
We stand behind what we have prayed in these ways:
Our Father who art in heaven,
Our Father in heaven,
As your children, we ask for your loving, parental protecting and guiding in these ways:
Hallowed be thy name.
May we use your name only for your perfect purposes.
We confess and repent that we have misused your name for our own selfish desires, preferences, and agendas in these ways:
Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
May your reign come in, through, and around us so that your will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
We open ourselves to see and to serve the miraculous and transforming work of your Holy Spirit in these ways:
Give us this day our daily bread (or our bread for tomorrow).
Give us all that we need to sustain us until the total fulfillment of your reign comes.
We ask for your providing in these ways:
And forgive us our debts (or trespasses),
And forgive us for missing and messing up your goals for us,
We confess and repent that we have missed and messed up your goals for us in these ways:
as we forgive our debtors (or those who have trespassed against us).
as we forgive those who have missed and messed up your goals for them in their treatment of us.
We confess and repent that we have held grudges in these ways:
And kead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (or the evil one).
And, in trying times, do not let us fail to trust and obey your revealed truth, but rescue us from the deceptions of the evil one.
We recognize that we have been tempted in difficult circumstances to turn away from full trust and obedience, and we ask that you would rescue us from deception in these ways:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
For to you belongs all authority, power, and glory forever.
We honor your sovereign majesty over all creation in these ways:
Amen.
So be it!
We stand behind what we have prayed in these ways:
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