The Lord's Prayer

The 6/9 verse of the day is one many of us are familiar with.  The Lord's prayer starts like this in Matthew 6:9, "This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name," (NIV)

While I say that many of us are familiar with the Lord's prayer, it occurs to me, that just reciting this prayer sort of defeats the purpose of the prayer.  This opening line gives reverence to the Almighty God for being Holy.  If we don't approach Him with a humility, coupled with a thankful and repentant heart, I'm not so sure we are doing much more than mumbling some words.  The Lord wanted more for us in this model of prayer.  As always, it wasn't as much about the words as it is about our attitudes; our hearts toward God and others.
 
The Message has an interesting way of translating this passage.  Matthew 6:7-13 says, "The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes. "

All I know is that God's word should be taken seriously when it says, "Here is how you should pray."  To me, that means holding these words in my heart and really knowing what they mean as I utter them with my mouth.  If we could really get our collective minds, and hearts, around WHO He is and WHAT He can do, I think we would really be amazed and blessed.  Why not do more with the Lord's prayer?  Learning what it really means, today, could mean living what it truly means in the future.  I think it's worth looking into; don't you?  We can start by listening to this beautiful version of the prayer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9L8fNkn1Jo&feature=related