Our Father,
Sit quietly and consider this brief opening to the prayer. The Creator, the One who spoke all things into being, the One who is and was and is to come. The Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning and the End.......and we call Him Father.
In heaven,
In heaven, high and lifted up, far above us in might and majesty, full of grace and truth, Ruler of all, think of the majesty and might and grandeur as you speak these two small words.
hallowed be Your name,
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty! Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord, high and lifted up, he was so overcome with the holiness of the vision that he cried out " Woe is me! I am undone, for I am a person of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips!" God is holy. His name is holy! As you speak these words consider His holiness and pray that you will proclaim the holiness of His name, that our lives would proclaim the holiness of His name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Pray that the work of God will be done in all areas of your life, in the lives of your loved ones, in the halls of government, in the counsels of the nations. Pray for the strength and wisdom to walk out His will and declare His kingdom. Pray that we His people will show forth to the world a piece of heaven on earth in the manner in which we live and love and have our being.
Give us this day our daily bread,
Consider the things that you have been given and be thankful for them, pray for that which is needed in order to live a life pleasing to God, enough that You might not sin against Him in coveting or thievery, but not so much that you forget that it is in Him that you have life and provision.
and forgive us our debts,
Pause and consider the great debts you owe, and how Christ by His own doing willingly paid your debt. Consider how many times a day you fail to even think of God, consider the things that you ought do but do not do, consider the things that you ought to have said but did not say, consider those things that you ought not to have done but you did do, and the things you said in anger, in frustration, things that ought not have been said. There is much to consider as you read these brief words.
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Forgive the ones who have wronged you. Remember that this is not a feeling, it is an action and it is difficult. You may not feel it, and I find it sometimes helpful to just tell God, such and such hurt me greatly, I am bruised, I am angry, I am frustrated and I feel no love towards them, Lord help me, I forgive them, I give all this hurt to You and I ask that You would help me work through these things, so that my feelings would become at some point, aligned with my decision to forgive.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Pray to be spared temptation, pray for eyes that clearly see temptation for what it is, pray for deliverance from temptation, and pray to be kept from evil, to be spared from contending with evil, and pray for discernment to recognize evil.
Our Father, high and lifted up, holy and mighty, may Your name be kept holy in my thoughts words and deeds today, and in the thoughts words and deeds of those I love and of all those who call You Father. May the world in all it's misery see the holiness of Your name when they interact with we Your people. May Your kingdom come today, in my life and in all that I do may I be about bringing Your kingdom to the hurting ones, the hopeless ones, the sick ones, and the desperate ones that You bring into my path this day. May Your kingdom come in such a way that we glimpse a tiny bit of heaven here on this broken earth. May Your will be done in our lives today, as we seek to live for Your kingdom.
Give us this day that which we need to live it well, to live it with purpose, to live it in faith, to live it as a declaration to others of Your grace and Your mercy towards we who have been given the privilege to call You Father. Give us enough that we might not be tempted to sin against You in our want and desire, and not so much that we forget that all that we have is given to us by You, not so much that we think we provide for our families, not so much that we think that we built this life we have.
Forgive us our sins, and help us to be more aware of them. We error against You a multitude of times and do not even pause to realize our error. May we be conscious of our actions always, may we guard our tongues and speak only words of life. Forgive us when we fail, for we will fail in our frailty, in our humanness. Forgive us Father and help us to learn from our mistakes. Lead us away from temptation and into Your truth and light. May we hear Your voice clearly if we are about to stray from the path, may we be given the strength to resist the temptation to go our own way and may we be given the grace to repent should we fail. Deliver us from evil, may we recognize it clearly, may we be given strength and wisdom to always resist it.
For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever.
Amen
I highly recommend these podcasts if you are interested in studying the depth and riches of the Lord's Prayer. I have found myself going back to these for a listen from time to time.
http://poddirectory.com/podcast/143644/the-lords-prayer-lord-teach-us-to-pray