The Lord's Prayer

This prayer is a very particular call/commission to the Apostles, for what the Apostles and Disciples of the Lord should be doing in the Name of God. This is clear by the instruction given to, "After this manner, therefore, pray ye."

In the Lord's prayer, there are things like "Our Father in heaven", which is to not only acknowledge him, but to connect with Him in all reality. The disciple should be making that solid connection. This is our direction, the direction to which we should be connecting at all times.

"Hallowed be Thy name", should not be lip service. You are not bragging and telling him 'oh, you are so wonderful'. He is not a God of pride, nor does he need His ego inflated. It is the disciple who is supposed to be hallowing the name of God. We are to be that perfect example of hallowing His name. So the disciple is first making that connection, and second hallowing His name, because they just transfigured and became like Him, they just connected with Him. All of a sudden His Holy fruit is now emanating from the connected disciple.

The next focus is: "Thy kingdom come". That phrase in and of itself is a whole lot. Zion should have just been established in the previous directions, and with it, the Father having shared His ideas and plans of a beautiful kingdom, of which the disciple pledges to accomplish by the words, "Thy Kingdom come." Now that the disciple is committed to ensuring God's Kingdom coming. To where is it coming? It is coming into the heart of the disciples, where their own kingdom is. It is the disciples, which are to bring God's Kingdom into themselves, the disciple's kingdom becoming subject to God's Kingdom design. This is what the prayer means, for the disciple to accomplish these things. This is why the third person grammatical structure is used. It is a covenant, that the disciple will do all in their power to accomplish the will of their Lord.

As the prayer/instruction continues, a deeper and deeper connection with God is established.

Next, the commission; "Thy will be done", what is that? 'I am going to go do it.' This is not a prayer, to be like 'Oh God, go do all this stuff. You are so wonderful.' Since the faithful disciples have already brought His Kingdom inside their hearts, now it is going to come out. This instruction is to the disciple to actually accomplish this. The disciple is to be truly God's agent here upon this earth. The faithful disciples are going to do His will, of that Kingdom they have just established inside themselves. When God gives a command, or shares with the disciple what He has in His heart, the loyal disciple's response is of course, O Lord, Thy will be done! In other words, 'Thy will will be done', or 'O Lord, I will help you accomplish Your will'!

When the phrase "Father in heaven" is spoken, the disciple is connecting. "Hallowed be Thy name," the light is just glowing now, as the disciple carries out the commission to hallow His name. The joy of the Father fills the disciple. "Thy kingdom come", all that knowledge and goodness comes here inside the heart, and then "Thy will be done," and the disciple now freely shares it out to everybody, doing it for God and fellow man.

"On earth just like it is in heaven." Well, where is heaven? Inside the heart. It has just been established in the heart, and how it is going to be done on earth, is just like it was done with you. So, you are supposed to be connecting with other people and doing the same thing that God is doing with you. Since there is somebody who is sharing it with you, there is somebody who is teaching you, there is somebody who is helping you, until you can make that connection yourself solid, you are to serve others in that capacity.

And then the instructions take on a new form, to show the Will that is to be done on earth, as the Lord continues, "Give us this day our daily bread." Well, what could this possibly mean? Does it mean, 'Oh God, come on, come on, give me something.'? Or could it expand from what is previously established, 'I am going to seek out my daily bread, but only just what I need, so that all I can focus on is spreading the kingdom of God, the will of God being done on the earth'? 'Lord provide for me and show me where I can get my daily bread. Do not worry about tomorrow, Lord, I will be okay, just a little bit for today so I can do Your will.' And now, since the disciples have asked from God, and God has provided, the disciples are going give that to others, doing the same for others as was done for them. So, the idea is not to be concerned with saving a large amount of food, but more concerned with spreading the Gospel, and therefore only needing to provide just what is needed for the day. And for the disciples, only a handful to shove in the mouth, so they can be on their way teaching and helping others. This, of course, applies to all daily needs. The disciples are the agents of God, administering for, and in behalf of God.

Next, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." What could be different ways of keeping this commandment? 'Lord, I am forgiving everybody because You forgive me.' What about 'Lord, You forgive, and I am doing Your will. I am forgiving everybody, they are all forgiven. I forgave them all for You.' The disciples of Yeshua, will be doing as He does, and forgiving people. They will cover the sins of others with a cloak of charity, they will help them, they forgive them for God. And all that is forgiven, is gone. Leave it gone. Remember, God is inside the disciple, in His Kingdom inside you, it is up to the disciple to act in the capacity of an agent for God, doing what God would do, forgive others. Those praying this prayer are to be His disciples doing His work!

The next phrase: "Lead us not into temptation". Joseph Smith translation says "Suffer us not to be led into temptation". And if the disciple is God's agent and is talking to God, making this connection, the disciple is not begging from a careless boss, but is a proactive employee fulfilling his job description. It is just like the forgiveness concept. The disciple is ever so careful, making sure nobody is led into temptation. As much influence as can be provided. No disciple would find it appropriate to play devil's advocate, nor trick anyone, nor try to get their neighbour to do anything wicked.

It is better to try to teach people without being cruel. It is better to try kindness with people. The disciple is actually being, in that prayer, God. Being that connection to God, and spreading that light.

"Suffer us not to be led into temptation", 'Lord, we are making sure. Let us make sure none of us get led into temptation. We are doing it.' How about "lead us not into temptation", the disciples ensure their words, actions, behaviours, heart, and everything is correct so they are not leading people into temptation. In fact, the disciple will do all righteousness to deliver their beloved neighbour from evil!

And then he says, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory", bringing the prayer back to the beginning. It is not to pay lip service here. It is a disciple's responsibility to carry out this commission, ensuring the Kingdom, Power, and Glory all belong to God. After all, it was "Thy kingdom come", that just came at the beginning, for which we prayed. And now that His Kingdom has come, we are to ensure that His Kingdom remains with Him!

That kingdom that just came, that is the kingdom to be established here, Heavenly Father's kingdom.

People are being fed. No one is hording all the food, but all are sharing.

People are forgiven, people are forgiving each other.

Nobody is tempting each other, being led into temptation. Nobody is playing devil's advocate, trying to lead somebody into temptation. People are being delivered from evil.

'It is Your kingdom, Lord. Look, here it is, we got it ready for You. For this kingdom is Yours! And the power is all Yours! And the glory is all Yours! It is for You.' "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever," 'I do not want any of it.'

'I am content to be a part of things, I just want whatever you want O Lord, Thy will be done, O Lord.  I will do all in my power to accomplish Thy will.'  

I view this prayer as the same prayer that Heavenly Father makes.  He is selfless too.  So, Heavenly Father is praying to His father.  This is pretty interesting stuff, is it not?  

This may be a new way of thinking, although it is worth considering, what could this prayer actually mean?  It is not a begging prayer.  This is a prayer of actually connecting and being God's agent here on earth.  And there is nothing in that prayer of any type of selfishness at all.  This prayer invites everyone to come to the Lord, and have good priorities, to have God inside you, to be perfectly connected to God.  And then, since God is inside us, what God would be doing is what we should be doing.  Forgiving people, feeding people, teaching people, helping them, administering to them, healing them, helping them to go forward.  If we look at the Lord's prayer in the respect that we are standing in for the Lord, we would be doing those things.  This is actually a very deep prayer.  We are actually becoming one with the Father, and doing what the Father would do here upon the earth.  This prayer organizes what a disciple should be doing every day of their life.  This prayer invokes the "Name of God".  This prayer is His Holy Name!