I woke up thinking about the Lord's prayer this morning. It is a beautiful prayer and Jesus provided it as a model for the prayers we offer to our Father in Heaven:
Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed by Thy Name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done
In earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever,
Amen.
These are some things we learn about God and how we should pray to Him:
1. He starts the prayer by addressing His Father, not God, but His Father. It is important for us to remember, especially when praying, that God is the Father of our spirit. He is our Father. He loves us because we are His.
2. His name should be spoken with reverence. His name should be hallowed. When we address Him, we should do so reverently.
3. We should be seeking to help His kingdom come to pass.
4. We should always remember when praying, that His will should be done. God is smarter than we are. We should trust Him and desire His will in our lives and in the lives of those we pray for.
5. We are dependent on God for everything.
6. We should be patient with others and their weaknesses as God is patient with us. We need to remember that we are forgiven to the same extent that we are willing to forgive others.
7. The Joseph Smith translation of the New Testament states this part of the prayer as: "and suffer us not to be led into temptation". That really makes more sense. God doesn't lead us into temptation, but He can help us avoid temptation. In fact, praying when we feel tempted is one of the best things we can do to avoid temptation.
8. We are delivered from evil through His son, Jesus Christ. What a wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father and from His Son.
9. All glory, honor and power go to our Father in Heaven.
What a beautiful prayer. Jesus gave us this prayer as a pattern or model for what we should consider when we pray.
