6. “Guide our lives away from situations in which we may be tempted to do wrong, and protect us from harm.” * Evil is being wronged and/or doing wrong. The prayer closes with us praying for God to keep us from being on either side of wrong doing. We know that there is still much

4. “Provide for our needs today.” * Again, this doesn’t say, “Provide for my needs today”, though I used to think of it that way in my mind, as you may have as well. Are your needs not being met? It probably isn’t because God isn’t providing—God has provided enough—it’s because someone isn’t sharing (make

3. “We want to see your nation established here, your desires to become reality in our world.” * We are not just waiting to go to heaven and be saved ourselves. We so love God and his ways that we want to see them lived out presently, right here in our world. Again, in so

2. “Your are so incredible, people should be in awe at the mere mention of your name.” * We recognize how good he is, but beyond that, we want others to recognize this as well. In saying this, we take on the responsibility to make this happen though our actions, as we bear his name.

1. “Father, you are father of us all, and above us all.” * We address God as our father (or elsewhere even “daddy”), because he has chosen to have an intimate, familial relationship with us. * He is not just my father, but our father. Throughout the entire Lord’s prayer, the singular pronouns “I, me,

Several years ago I was at a retreat which focused on “the Lord’s prayer”. I believe I had already begun to pray through it regularly, but either way, it made me want to rewrite the prayer in modern language. I have continued to pray through this prayer regularly, and have learned from it by meditating