Our Father:
Not my Father, but our Father:
Father of priests and prostitutes,
of teachers and truants,
of kings and criminals,
of stockbrokers and the plain broke;
Divine ‘Daddy’ to all people,
we are your beloved children
and there is no other way
to enter into your kingdom
but as children: small, needy and weak;
You, Lord, are the Source of our life and being.
who art in heaven:
Not in some remote, distant patch of sky,
but in that place beyond the veil of sight,
where only faith has eyes to see:
where you alone are all in all,
your presence, worshipped and glorified,
your love, celebrated and made known,
your power, unfathomed and uncontained;
which touches and overlaps with our world,
and one day shall be as one with our world,
as was your perfect plan in the beginning.
hallowed be thy Name:
Object of our praise and rejoicing,
deepest desire of our hearts:
may your name be made holy in our lives,
honoured by all who bear it,
revered in all the world,
and blessed in heaven and on earth;
may we learn to love you
with a love that renounces self
and orbits you, our sacred Other.
thy kingdom come:
The City of God be built in our midst,
that place of truth and justice and peace
where you are King, enthroned in power:
may your love rule supreme over all things,
expand until it encompasses all things,
and prevail in the outworking of all things;
as citizens of your heavenly country,
we commit ourselves to its establishment
and look with joy to its coming among us.
thy will be done:
Surrendering whole-heartedly to you,
we give up our claims to self-rule:
we are no longer our own but yours,
your will, not ours, be done in all things,
your purpose be worked out in our lives,
and your designs take root in our world;
we submit, trusting in your Fatherly goodness,
knowing that your will for us is best
and offering all that we have and are
to seek and do all that pleases you.
on earth as it is in heaven:
That heaven and earth may be one,
that earth may reflect heaven,
and heaven be formed on earth:
that your dwelling may be made amongst us,
your presence and power felt in our midst,
your loving sway owned by all creation,
and the veil separating us be forever removed;
may we and all that you have created
come to live in perfect harmony with you,
obeying you willingly, joyfully and perfectly.
Give us this day our daily bread:
Provide us with the things we need for life,
for our life hangs by the invisible thread
of your merciful and abundant generosity:
feed us, both in body and in soul,
for we are hungry and poor,
dependent on you and on one other
to nourish and strengthen our lives;
help us to receive each day as a gift
and never to believe our lives are our own.
And forgive us our trespasses:
As great as the body’s need for bread,
so is the soul’s need for forgiveness;
as food and drink are necessary for physical life,
so is your mercy necessary for spiritual life:
help us to recognise our need for grace,
to know ourselves to be sinners,
to admit our wrongdoing and seek pardon,
and to amend our lives for good;
we confess the self-centredness of our hearts,
which unseats you from the throne,
which imagines that we are self-sufficient,
and which seeks to make life revolve around us,
destroying all of our relationships.
as we forgive those who trespass against us:
As those who know their need of mercy,
make us merciful as you are merciful to us:
give us humility to recognise our own shortcomings,
charity to deal with the shortcomings of others,
patience to bear with those who hurt us,
and a deep desire to forgive those who wrong us
fully aware of how much we have been forgiven;
do not let us mock you by asking for ourselves
that which we are unwilling to give to others.
And lead us not into temptation:
How prone we are to wander and stray from you,
to follow our own foolish and selfish desires
instead of the perfect way you have for us:
give us wisdom to discern the Devil’s disguise,
strength to resist what we know is wrong,
courage to pursue what we know is right,
and grace to keep us near to you at all times;
help us in the hour of our testing,
and may we be refined as gold in the fire.
but deliver us from evil:
Save us from the influence of sin in our lives,
and clothe us with power from on high:
rescue us from our own self-absorption,
heal us from our human greed and pride,
and restore us to our true humanity
to live lives holy and pleasing to you;
equip us with your saving and sustaining love,
for without it we can do nothing.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory:
You have created and redeemed all things,
the universe and all that is in it is yours:
you deserve to reign over all,
to exercise authority in all,
and to be praised by all;
you alone are the King of creation,
heaven and earth are rightfully yours,
and let us not forget it.
for ever and ever:
As it was in the beginning,
is now and shall be forever:
from everlasting to everlasting,
from the first word to the last word,
for time and eternity;
today, tomorrow and always,
Amen:
Yes, yes and yes!
That’s it.
This is true!
Let it be so!
And Can It Be? 