Spirituality

Luke 11:1
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven...

Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done On Earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
Forever, Amen.

I have a special place in my life for this prayer. When I close my eyes in meditation I always begin with this prayer, and when I lay down to go to sleep I usually do the same. Jesus taught his disciples this prayer as a guide to getting in touch with our inner peace, and open the door to communication with God the Father and the Creator. I believe that we should be praying to our Creator all the time, every moment of our lives; it should be a common practice. The Lord’s Prayer is short enough to be an affirmation that is easily applied at any time.
I have used this prayer when I am afraid or unsure and one thing that always shines through is the Truth. That is what The Lord’s Prayer is, how to be the Truth. In the dictionary Truth is also defined as “reality”.
The Lord’s Prayer is a special prayer asking that we may recognize Reality/Truth and eventually be that Truth, just as Jesus was the Way, the Truth and the Life. My interpretation of The Lord’s Prayer is not the only one, there are many others, but I am sharing mine with you in the hope that we can experience this prayer rather than just recite it.

Our Father who art in Heaven...
Where is Heaven? Jesus tells us that The Kingdom of Heaven is within us, and that special place is where we can go to connect with God our Creator. For me it is a wonderful place of peace and silence. Last summer I had a glorious experience; I spent ten days in my trailer parked in my mom’s backyard. For those ten days I enjoyed listening to the birds and working in the garden. But most of all I learned how to enjoy the silence within. I discovered for myself how to go to this personal place and listen and feel the intense “peace”.
There was one moment that I will always remember, it was a feeling of such happiness, so much Joy that I could not contain it all; at that moment I felt the most joy I have ever felt in my life.
God is within each and every one of us; He is the Light and the creative and loving urge in us that seeks expression. We only have to be still and know that God is in the silence within.

Hallowed be Thy Name...
The name of God is sacred. His "Name" is his Essence, it is in us - we are sons of God. What does that mean? That means that his Essence or Spirit is in our DNA, that is what makes us more special, and elevated above all other creatures. God created us in his image; he gave us his Name and that name is in our bodies, right down to the cellular level.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done On Earth as it is in Heaven...
God’s Kingdom is within each and every one of us. His Will, as Thought (in Heaven), is manifest on Earth (physical form). This verse teaches us that what we think becomes manifest here in this world. With our thoughts we can either make or create. When we use His Will we create; and only creation is real.
Jesus taught that sickness and poverty do not have to exist; we make these things and so they are not real; we need only recognize the Truth or reality and look away from the false appearances that this world shows us. It takes great faith to be able to do this, but Jesus assured us that if he could do it, so can we. This line in the prayer is an affirmation of reality.

Give us this day, our daily bread...
“...this day...” The only time that is real is NOW, there is no other time. The NOW is also Eternity. Eternity is defined as “no beginning, and no ending”, “unchanging”, and “forever”. When you examine all these definitions you begin to see how each of these verses seem to have the same meaning – Eternity, Truth, Reality, NOW... When we look for evidence of God we have only to look at the trees and the flowers, feel the wind in our hair, and the warmth of the sun on our face. God exists in the Now, and we will only find his presence here.
The bread is our daily staple, it is a requirement. The Lord’s Prayer is a daily requirement. And the requirement is experiencing the moment, the NOW, because that is all that we really have and that is where God is.

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
It is so important to let go of the negative feelings that keep you separated from God. Connected to God we shine, and when we harbor darkness such as thoughts of resentment, anger, and jealousy, we are disconnected. Likewise, we should not worry about others opinions or judgments of us, these are the things that this verse tells us is important to remember.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil...
“temptation” is not the urge to eat that whole chocolate cake, but rather it is asking our Father to help us to control our thought. It is our Thought that determines what we make or create in this world, and we have to be very careful what thoughts we focus on. We are continuously hearing our ego talk to us, and our ego has it’s own agenda.

For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory...
So true, and so powerful a statement! Only in God do we have a kingdom, it is not here in the material world, it is in the Kingdom of Heaven which is within us. But don't think that the material world is not important! It is very important - we have a Divine Purpose for being here.

Forever, Amen...
Forever; eternity; NOW and always; Unchanging; No beginning and no ending.
Amen means “it is done”, “so be it”. This is a very powerful word. To affirm that something is already done is to proclaim its power.
Pray with reverence and meaning and you shall always be close to our Father. By using this special prayer that Jesus taught us we can learn to connect with the Universe and let our thoughts work for us instead of against us, because it has never been more true that our thoughts have the all the power of God's creation behind them.

Amen.

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