What the Lord's Prayer Means

In this blog post, I will be going through the Lord's Prayer and explaining what I think it all means, line for line. I will have the translation I have recited since Kindergarten and that I know and love on the first line, warning it's a bit of an old translation. Then underneath that, I will have that same line in a WAAAAAY better, more modern, and easily understandable in a version you may have never heard of before - it's called the 'God's Word' translation. not even kidding. Underneath that line, I will have my explanation of what I think it means.

So, in other words, this will be a very long blog post! Let's get started! :) Oh and if you want to look it up in your own Bible it's Matthew 6:9-13. :)

1st Line:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Our Father in heaven, let your name be kept holy.
I think the better translation of this verse is pretty straight forward and obvious. No explaining necessary here.

2nd Line:

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.
Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on Earth as it is done in Heaven.
I think that in this line, Jesus is telling his disciples that when they pray they can ask for things, but they should always keep in mind that God's will for our lives is ALWAYS better for us in the long run, even if it doesnt seem like it. We should pray for strength and guidance to do His will and do what He would want us to do, so that His will can one day be carried out as consistently and as often as it is in Heaven - which is literally every second of your existence. A tough act to follow, trust me I know, but remember Jesus isn't ordering you to become utterly perfect - but He does want you to try to be as close to his likeness - so, perfection - as possible. He will always graciously forgive you when you fail, and if you really do try, you will find a fulfilling life with Him and great reward in Heaven.

3rd line:
Give us this day our daily bread
Give us our daily bread today
Please provide for all of our needs today.

4th line:

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Forgive us as we forgive others.
Please forgive us of all of the sins we will commit today, and help us to forgive everyone else who sins against us. OR, Forgive us of our sins just as much as we forgive others of their sins against us.

Final Line:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Don't allow us to be tempted, instead rescue us from the evil one.
Pretty obvious, just asking God to help us overcome/avoid temptation or just to help us not be tempted in the first place. Instead, please save us from evil or could be from the devil or from sin. Or all three.

Ending:

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen.
None. But, the next verse which I think is 'interesting' is Matthew 6\:14: If you forgive the failures of others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failures.
That ^^^^ Turns back to my second possible meaning on the 4th line, doesn't it?

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I decided to write this post because I had been going to a Christian/Mennonite private school (really more so Christian though, we aren't/weren't conservative Mennonites or anything. It was a private school, but it didn't even have a uniform! and personally I dont even think the dress code was outrageous at all either. Anyway, we are getting off topic here) from kindergarten to grade 8, which I just finished. Honestly I would've stayed longer had more grades been available! Anyway, I had/have friends who had also gone through every grade in that school and had never been in any different, like me. Yet even with this, I honestly think that I might be the ONLY person in the class (or maybe just one of a few - a very small group though) who at the end of the year could tell you line for line what the Lord's Prayer, which we had been reciting everyday in the morning after Oh Canada since Kindergarten (although it was optional - you didn't HAVE to say it). The translation never even changed! Yet still, I am probably the only one in my class who could have done this. I personally think that that is utterly outrageous. So, I wrote this blog post to maybe/possibly/hopefully educate a few Chrisitans on what it means - or, at least, what I think it means!! :)

Thank you for reading!!!!! :) have a great day!!!