How many of us REALLY know what we are asking for, when we pray the "Lord's Prayer"?

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Most Christians, Catholics and non-Catholics, frequently say the “Lord’s Prayer”. But, I truly wonder, how many of us REALLY understand exactly what we are asking God for?

We state that we truly want God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in Heaven”. But, how many of us really try to follow God’s will here on earth, 24/7? Or even after absolution, how many of us REALLY WANT to institute God’s will, and ONLY God’s will?

But the REAL kicker is: we ask God to forgive our sins EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS WE FORGIVE THOSE THAT HAVE SINNED AGAINST US.

That is the real meaning of the phrase: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us".

That is a truly powerful statement.

We are actually asking God to judge us AND TO FORGIVE US, exactly as we judge the person who seduced our spouse; the person that beat us up; the one that stole our possessions; the one that molested our child; the people that flew airplanes into the twin towers, etc.

I hear people speak those words, by rote, in many, many churches and at many other occasions. BUT, how often do we actually think about the actual meaning of those words? How often do we really think about just what we are asking God to do with US?

Jesus did NOT give us some form of automatic immunity with that prayer. He gave us a standard to follow, one that I suspect that most of us have never actually thought about very much.

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”!

Let’s hope that God is even more forgiving than we ask him to be. Because, if he truly does forgive us, exactly as we forgive others, a lot of us are in serious trouble.
 
I noticed this too when I was praying this prayer one day. It’s as if Jesus was subtly saying “The only way you can be forgiven is if you forgive”. That’s very true from what He said at other times, such as “Love your enemies” and “Forgive up to seventy times seven”.
 
The_Old_Medic said:
Most Christians, Catholics and non-Catholics, frequently say the “Lord’s Prayer”. But, I truly wonder, how many of us REALLY understand exactly what we are asking God for?

We state that we truly want God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in Heaven”. But, how many of us really try to follow God’s will here on earth, 24/7? Or even after absolution, how many of us REALLY WANT to institute God’s will, and ONLY God’s will?

But the REAL kicker is: we ask God to forgive our sins EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS WE FORGIVE THOSE THAT HAVE SINNED AGAINST US.

That is the real meaning of the phrase: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us".

That is a truly powerful statement.

We are actually asking God to judge us AND TO FORGIVE US, exactly as we judge the person who seduced our spouse; the person that beat us up; the one that stole our possessions; the one that molested our child; the people that flew airplanes into the twin towers, etc.

I hear people speak those words, by rote, in many, many churches and at many other occasions. BUT, how often do we actually think about the actual meaning of those words? How often do we really think about just what we are asking God to do with US?

Jesus did NOT give us some form of automatic immunity with that prayer. He gave us a standard to follow, one that I suspect that most of us have never actually thought about very much.

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”!

Let’s hope that God is even more forgiving than we ask him to be. Because, if he truly does forgive us, exactly as we forgive others, a lot of us are in serious trouble.
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I’ll speak only for myself but I know what I am asking for and I know how difficult what I am asking for is to live up to. But thats why we need God and why we have the Lord’s Prayer…to remind us.
 
I wish people would S L O W D O W N and take in the meanings of the Creed and the Our Father. Both prayers are around 2,000 years old.

(Not a contest to see who can finish first.)
 
I also worry about: “Thy Will be done; Thy Kingdom come”, and “Deliver us from evil.” Am I really ready for God to clean up this place.

I identify with Baruch in Jeremiah 45.
1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 You said, ‘Woe is me! for the LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.’ 4 Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up–that is, the whole land. 5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not; for, behold, I am bringing evil upon all flesh, says the LORD; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”
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As I read it Baruch was writing down Jeremiah’s prophecies and cheering at the prospect of God cleaning up the bad guys. Then he realizes that this is going to involve the destruction of the world as he knows it:eek:, and thinks that maybe God should go a little slow on this. 😦
 
Just what is meant by"deliver us from evil"?
The rest i think i understand.

"Forgive us as we forgive others…heard a protestant minster on the radio say that it doesn’t matter if we don’t forgive some who wronged us, osas theology.Also only God can forgive so what’s the point of us forgiving another because we have not the power to forgive sin.
 
I find it’s easier to forgive someone when I take into account how I have sinned in the past. Humility, humility and more humility.
 
This is quite an interesting thread and applies to a lot of prayers. How many people mindlessly recant the prayers at Mass? I know I do, or did. Only at a recent funeral I took time to digest what was being said.

One of the worst offenders is decades of the rosary. When this is being said, the words often merge into one another and people might as well be saying (or mumbling as often is the case) anything. Totally meaningless in my opinion.

More fundamentally, how many people realise what ‘The body of Christ’, when receiving communion really means?
 
user3856530 said:
This is quite an interesting thread and applies to a lot of prayers. How many people mindlessly recant the prayers at Mass? I know I do, or did. Only at a recent funeral I took time to digest what was being said.

One of the worst offenders is decades of the rosary. When this is being said, the words often merge into one another and people might as well be saying (or mumbling as often is the case) anything. Totally meaningless in my opinion.

More fundamentally, how many people realise what ‘The body of Christ’, when receiving communion really means?
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You think praying the rosary is meaningless, or am I misunderstanding you?

I had a nun emphasize to me to slow down when saying the Our Father, the Creed and pay attention to all the parts of the mass, becuase they all should be significant to all Catholics. One shouldn’t be just going through the motions. Same with praying the rosary, I mediate on each mystery as I pray a decade, try to put myself into the scene. It may come off as mumbling and merging when a group prays the rosary together, but most people that pray as a group know and understand the significance of the rosary, its not just lip service.
 
You think praying the rosary is meaningless, or am I misunderstanding you?
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For me, saying the rosary is meaningless.
Of course, I not suggesting it’s meaningless for everyone.

My point is that I learnt Mass and prayers in parrot fashion. In Mass, I recant these, or mumble through them, with out consideration. Indeed, my brain switches off.
 
When I’m praying by myself, I sometimes make additions to the petitions in the Our Father, like:

Lead us not into temptation…for I already know the way.

Deliver us from evil…especially the evil with which I have polluted my own mind over the years.

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…and give me the fortitude to forgive those who trespass against me in the same way that I would like you to forgive my trespasses.

DaveBj
 
For me it comes down to “Thy will be done”…learning to trust that God’s will is being done in me in good times and bad.

All that happens to us in this world against our will happens to us only by the will of God, by the disposal of Providence, by His orders and under His guidance; and if from the fraility of our understanding we cannot grasp the reason fro some event, let us attribute it to divine Providence, show Him respect by accepting it from His hand, believe firmly that He does not send it us without cause.
 
To believe that everything that happens is “God’s Will” flies in the face of the belief system of the Roman Catholic Church. That kind of belief system does not allow for any form of free will, it presupposes that everything is ordained in advance, and that we really have no control over our own actions.

That kind of belief has been repudiated by the Church for centuries,. It is called “Pre-Destination”, and the Church has determined that such beliefs are heresy.

God did not will the Nazi’s to murder some 20 million people.

God did not will the Soviets to murder some 25-30 million people.

God did not will the Chinese Communists to murder some 50 million of their people.

God does not will that child molesters harm children.

God wants all of us to follow his will, but he leaves that decision up to each of us individually. We have the choice to follow his laws, or not to.

If he did not do this, then the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross would be meaningless. After all, if it is God’s will that certain people will go to heaven, and other people will not, why would the death of Jesus be necessary? It was pre-determined, from the beginning of time, what would happen to each and every one of us.

The Church rejects, utterly and completely, such a belief. What happens to us is the result of other human decisions. What we do with what happens to us is OUR choice.
 
Trusting completely in God to guide us IS choosing to allow his will to be done instead of choosing to exercise my own will in the situation. From this place I can trust that even the estimated 750,000 Iraqi citizens slaughtered by the US will some how, some day be a factor in accomplishing God’s great will…though the act itself may have been the result of free will, God finds ways to use ALL events, good and bad, for accomplishment of his good purposes.
 
The_Old_Medic said:
Most Christians, Catholics and non-Catholics, frequently say the “Lord’s Prayer”. But, I truly wonder, how many of us REALLY understand exactly what we are asking God for?

We state that we truly want God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in Heaven”. But, how many of us really try to follow God’s will here on earth, 24/7? Or even after absolution, how many of us REALLY WANT to institute God’s will, and ONLY God’s will?

But the REAL kicker is: we ask God to forgive our sins EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS WE FORGIVE THOSE THAT HAVE SINNED AGAINST US.

That is the real meaning of the phrase: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us".

That is a truly powerful statement.

We are actually asking God to judge us AND TO FORGIVE US, exactly as we judge the person who seduced our spouse; the person that beat us up; the one that stole our possessions; the one that molested our child; the people that flew airplanes into the twin towers, etc.

I hear people speak those words, by rote, in many, many churches and at many other occasions. BUT, how often do we actually think about the actual meaning of those words? How often do we really think about just what we are asking God to do with US?

Jesus did NOT give us some form of automatic immunity with that prayer. He gave us a standard to follow, one that I suspect that most of us have never actually thought about very much.

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”!

Let’s hope that God is even more forgiving than we ask him to be. Because, if he truly does forgive us, exactly as we forgive others, a lot of us are in serious trouble.
Click to expand...
Just before God made me a sinless saint, he had me pray the Lord’s Prayer but before this, he gave me understanding why I was praying this prayer. He told me that it was to forgive others of their sins against me so there are no attachments left before the last of my sins were forgiven.

Then he told me that people pray for things they don’t need and that’s why their prayers don’t get answered. He said, what they need is the Holy Spirit so that’s what he wanted me to pray for along with the Lord’s Prayer. Three weeks later, he came to ask for my life and two days later, I started getting new thoughts and this is the Holy Spirit I was created as.
 
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