How to interpret the Lord's Prayer?

Question

Our Father, who art in heaven, (Isn't this stating the obvious?)

Hallowed be thy Name. (Since he has no name and we just call him God?)

Thy kingdom come. (Why doesn't he have the kingdom now?)

Thy will be done, (Who knows what his will really is?)

On earth as it is in heaven. (He should do his own will)

Give us this day our daily bread. (and McDonalds and Burger King and Pizza)

And forgive us our trespasses, (Because I sometimes walk through the neighbors lawn)

As we forgive those who trespass against us. (How come I can forgive those who trespass against me but you gotta forgive me why can't they?)

And lead us not into temptation, (Doesn't Satan do this not God?)

But deliver us from evil. (Because FedEx just isn't cutting it)

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
(Because he loves power and glory, he craves it like a dictator)

for ever and ever. (Because the next 10 minutes isn't long enough)

Amen.

*puts on his firemen suit* Let the flames begin.

Go right ahead Carl, I got a sense of humor. In fact, make fun of anything I care about it...

Answer 1

haha this is funny. i love to interpret bible words like this...(is that bad?) i tell my pastor all about it...

mine is, Adam was a walking skeleton until eve came along and gave him flesh (just the meat part) cause in the bible, it says something like taking out the rib of adam and then covering it with flesh. then when eve ate the apple, God clothed them with skin...now they look like us today

does this make sense? i know it's stupid and someone proved me wrong but...i thought it was funny. :)

Answer 2

some people could pray to other "fathers" not in heaven, just specifying. hallowed means holy, so "holy is your name". he has the kingdom now, it's coming for us later. it doesn't matter if we know his will, it will be done anyway and rightly so because he is God, here on earth as well as in heaven because he is God over all. Give us our daily bread...take care of us, bless us, etc. Forgive our trespasses, trespassing on another's life, liberty or pursuit of happiness, the sins we commit. Just as we ask for forgiveness for our sins, help us to forgive other sinners that do bad things to us. lead us not into temptation, as God is the only one who is leading us now that we've decided to follow him, but we can still fall off the path so protect us from this-deliver us from evil. he is God, the kingdom is his, the power and the glory too. that doesn't make him arrogant or greedy or a dictator. he deserves these things. and for all eternity-"i am the alpha and the omega" he's the only thing constant. hey, that was kind of fun. i've never picked that apart like that. thanks.

Answer 3

Our Father, who art in heaven (It's obviously not obvious enough if you don't believe it)

Hallowed be they Name.( Shiloh, Almighty God, Everlasting father, Jehovah, Each name signifies a different aspect of God)

Thy kingdom come( Christians make up his kingdom, he calls us to him)

Thy will be done( Nobody knows his will, but He is perfect, so we ask him to lead us in his will. Things only get messed up when we try to do things ourselves)

On earth as it is in heaven (he has given us free will, we must choose)

Give us this day our daily bread. (cute, hey its food, it counts:)

And forgive us our trespasses (just means our sins)

As we forgive those who trespass against us.( God =love=forgiveness)

And lead us not into temptation (exactly, if we follow Him, we are lead away from temptation)

But deliver us from evil. (protect us from Satan, he wants to devour us basically)

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory ( It is already his, and if he were a dictator he would command it, instead he asks us for it.)

for ever and ever( Such a God is worthy of praise forever and ever)
AMEN

Answer 4

Our Father, who art in Heaven (that is, we acknowledge that God is our Father, and that he is in Heaven)

hallowed be Thy name (we are acknowledging that God's name is holy)

Thy kingdom come (to earth)

Thy will be done (his will, not ours)

on Earth as it is in Heaven (that is, may his kingdom come to Earth and may his will be done on Earth, as his kingdom exists and his will is done in Heaven)

Give us this day our daily bread (that is, give us what we need to survive this one day--acknowledging that what we have is a gift from God)

and forgive us our trespasses (acknowledging that God is the one who forgives)

as we forgive those who trespass against us (when God teaches us how to forgive, by his forgiving us, then we pass on the gift to others and hold no resentment or hatred, which is un-God-like)

Lead us not into temptation (that is, build a hedge around us so that we may not be tempted to stray from God)

but deliver us from evil (protect us from Satan, through God's power)

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory (that is, OURS is not the kingdom, the power, and the glory, but HIS is)

forever and ever (no, the next 10 minutes is not long enough to acknowledge that God is God and that we are not him)

Answer 5

Basically it is saying do good for those who praise and worship you. And pray for the day that earth and heaven are the one and same.

The temptation part is saying exactally what it says. There is really no other way to explain it.


And the point is to make christians feel like they are doing something good when really most chrisitans i have met are bad people. Who disgrace the name christian.

Answer 6

Translation of the Lord's prayer:

Dad, I honor your name,
I ask that your Divine kingdom manifests on Earth,
I pray that your will be done, not mine,
and I pray that things on Earth are as they are in Heaven.
Thanks for providing me with food today,
Forgive me for everything I screwed up today,
And please help me forgive those who screwed me up today.
I pray that you help me walk away from temptation,
and I pray that you make anything wrong or evil pass me by.
I acknowledge that you've always got control over everything.
Peace out.

Answer 7

It a tool for keeping Christians on the same page. When you believe something that isn't based on reality, it helps to chant the tenets over and over to reinforce it. That makes it more mystical sounding and really shuts off the brain to any serious critique of belief. If you get a whole church to chant it, all the more effective.

Answer 8

I don't think Jesus ever intended people to recite this verbatim. He said to pray "like this", but it was just an example. Jesus taught to pray from the heart, not to say the same things over and over again.

Answer 9

This is not the Lord's Prayer, but the model prayer. The Lord's Prayer is in John chapter 17 in its entirety. Jesus loves you.

Answer 10

To me, the coolest part is "Our Father" because until Jesus came and died for our sins, we had no right to call God "Father". Now, we can boldly and humbly approach Him directly and pray right to Him. Cool - huh?