This morning at Ward Church, we launch a new sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer has become one of the greatest treasures of God’s people for 2000 years.
I like Dallas Willard’s paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer, especially for those for whom the Lord’s Prayer has become all too familiar and routine. A fresh paraphrase can help us grasp the lesson in every line.
Dear Father always near us,
may your name be treasured and loved,
may your rule be completed in us-
may your will be done here on earth in
just the way it is done in heaven.
Give us today the things we need today,
and forgive us our sins and impositions on you
as we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.
Please don’t put us through trials,
but deliver us from everything bad.
Because you are the one is charge,
and you have all the power, and the glory too is all yours-forever-
which is just the way we want it!
One Comment
I notice that the Lord’s Prayer appears in Luke 11:1-4 as well as Matt 6:9-13 — with some subtle but perhaps significant differences that Dallas Willard’s paraphrase captures.
Notably that our offenses to be forgiven are against GOD, rather than men as Matt 6:12 is commonly interpreted. Never thought of it quite that way, or as strongly.