The Weight of Glory – C. S. Lewis (1980)
The Lord’s Prayer was something that as I child I learnt to recite without ever really taking any notice of the words or the sentiment behind them.
Our Father, Who art in heaven
Acknowledgment of a core belief that God is an all knowing heavenly father
Hallowed be Thy Name
A request that God’s name be recognised by everyone as the ultimate holy power
Thy Kingdom come
Asks for God’s kingdom full of goodness, honesty, and love surround us everyday and that He will return and grant us eternal life
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
A plea for guidance to do His work so as to please Him
Give us this day our daily bread
Recognition that all things come from God, nourishment for the body and spiritually for the soul
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us
A lesson that when there is anger and hurt in our hearts then there is no room to let His love in … forgiving someone is hard but God professes to give us the help we need through prayer
And lead us not into temptation
A call for God to keep us on the right path through life
But deliver us from evil
The devil, apparently makes it a fulltime job trying to temp us away from God (See the Screwtape Letter – C. S. Lewis)
For ever, and ever, Amen
The quest never ends
So, as far as Christianity goes this is the perfect prayer but, to the childhood me it was just the mantra that was required during school assembly’s and when made to go to church on a Sunday.