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Things to Remember

The Lord's Prayer - An Alternative Version

31/12/2020

13 Comments

 
Our Father,

Perfect Love,

We turn again to You.

Guide us;
help us to love,

so that Your Will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us this day
that which we need.
Fill us with hope and trust.

Help us to forgive
our brothers and sisters
(and ourselves as well);

and to look on them
as you look on us.

Give us strength to resist temptation.
When we are tempted, let us choose peace.

Deliver us from our fears.

For what You love is safe.

And Your love remains
forever and always.

Amen.

Featured in the book The Kindness of Presence.

Why, you might ask, would we want an alternative version of the Lord's Prayer?

Well, there are a couple of reasons why I felt moved to write this interpretation.

First, no matter how inspired or inspiring words may be, there's a risk that with over-familiarity they may lose their power to stir and transform us. (Think of how moved you feel when you hear an amazing piece of music for the first time. You listen to it over and over again. As the days, weeks and months go by, the intensity of your response to the music may fade. You still like it, but it no longer inspires or affects you to the extent it did when you first heard it.) Adjusting the words may help us to engage with the prayer more deeply again. (To pick up the music analogy again, maybe you discover a fresh new cover of an old favourite song.)

Second, for me, a prayer should be heart-felt. It should be authentic. How can I pray authentically using a set prayer if some of its words confuse me, or if I disagree with them?

In the Lord's Prayer, there are a couple of things I struggle with:
  • We ask God to forgive our debts (or trespasses or sins). We've made mistakes, certainly. We've turned our back on God; cut ourselves off from awareness of His Presence. We have forgotten What we are (a Child of God), and we know not what we do. But when a child acting in ignorance or forgetfulness makes a mistake, do we as parents require them to ask for forgiveness? As Lesson 46 of A Course in Miracles puts it, "God does not forgive, because He has never condemned". Forgiveness is vital (I made it the theme of my novel, Escape to Redemption) - but, it feels to me, it isn't God who needs to forgive. More, it's we who need to forgive one another - including ourselves.
  • We pray to God, "Lead us not into temptation". I may be misinterpreting this line, or perhaps its original meaning may have been lost in translation or prior to transcription - but, for me, it's clear that God (Who is Love) would not lead us into temptation. We'll certainly face temptation - temptation to judge others, temptation to diverge from our primary goal of seeking and living the Kingdom of Heaven. But surely the source of that temptation isn't God? 
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Photo by Julia Volk from Pexels
13 Comments
Sharon Willan
27/8/2022 08:26:22 pm

Hello,
My name is Sharon Willan and I reside in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. I am on a worship team with Holy Cross Lutheran Church (Progressive Christianity)that prepares Sunday worship online.
We have been recording our prayer and reflections throughout the last three years. Our Pastor has retired and our little team is continuing until an Interim Pastor can come to our Church.
May we use your alternative Jesus Prayer in our service. We will publish your name and provide your website in our online bulletin.

Thank you,
Sharon

Reply
Peter Parr
28/8/2022 10:00:56 am

Hello Sharon. Yes, of course, I'd be happy for you to use this version of the prayer in your service. There's also a slightly different version which appears in the book, Reflections on God's Love. I'll email you a copy so you can choose which you prefer to use.

PS Aurora is a lovely name for a town. I imagine, with a name like that, you get some mesmerizing winter skies?

Peter

Reply
Jaume
9/3/2024 08:18:25 pm

I liked your alternative Lord's prayer a lot, but I'm still a bit hesitant about using it instead of the one they taught me. I just learnt about quakers. Is there any priest who regards this as a good form of praying?

Reply
Peter Parr
10/3/2024 07:12:48 pm

Hi. In many church denominations (including the Church of England), the priest or vicar leading the service needs to follow the established liturgy, which includes the original Lord's Prayer. They aren't permitted to amend the liturgy to use a different version of the prayer.

Interestingly, the New Zealand Anglican Church recently included an alternative version of the Lord's Prayer within The New Zealand Book of Prayer. So, in Anglican churches in New Zealand, the person leading the service can choose to use either the original version of the Lord's Prayer or the approved alternative version that's included in the New Zealand Prayer Book. That version begins with the following opening lines:
"Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven..."

I like this quote by Evelyn Underhill: “The type of prayer best for you is that to which you feel drawn in your best and quietest times and in which it is easiest to you to remain with God.” Trust that God will hear your heart-felt prayer, regardless of the specific words you use.

Reply
Jaume
12/3/2024 05:41:12 pm

Thank you very much for your reply. It's nice to see that some churches accept alternative forms of praying that evolve from the same concepts as the traditional ones.

Reply
Joanne Hedge link
16/10/2024 09:25:22 pm

Hi Peter
I minister in a progressive protestant congregation as part of the United Church of Canada, just outside Toronto, Ontario in a city called Mississauga. I just discovered your lovely and meaningful version of the Lord's Prayer. I would love to share it with our congregation, as we explore various versions in our worship time (including the version you mentioned from New Zealand, which has been in our hymn book for a few decades!)
We do post our recorded services and a print version to our website, but I always acknowledge the source for any materials we use!
Would you be comfortable with us using your version?

Reply
Peter Parr
17/10/2024 02:17:21 pm

Hi Joanne. Thank you for reaching out. I'd be very happy for you to share my version of the Lord's Prayer with your congregation.
With kind wishes, Peter.

Reply
Alan J Crowley link
20/4/2025 08:57:37 pm

Dear Mr. Parr, I am an online prayer leader and lay minister at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Jericho, Vermont. We are a progressive, reconciling, and affirming community. On Monday mornings I lead a Lectio Divina based prayer experience.

May we use your your translation of the Lord's Prayer on our blog, "The Prayer of Sacred Listening"? I find your translation of the Lord's prayer particularly coherent theologically and powerfully meaningful for its original purpose of teaching. I would cite this source on our prayer script and link your blog to ours. Thank you!

Reply
Peter Parr
21/4/2025 11:37:55 am

Hi Alan. I'd be very happy for you to use this version of the Lord's Prayer on your blog. With kind wishes and (belated) Easter blessings, Peter.

Reply
Rev. Deborah Hughes-Habel
28/4/2025 01:28:12 am

Hello Peter,
My husband and I lead a Centering Prayer group at our Episcopal Church in Portland, OR. We feel your version of the Lord’s Prayer would be very appropriate to use after our 20 minute quiet, contemplative sit.
So, we hope you would be amendable to our use of your version.

Sincerely,
Rev. Deborah Hughes-Habel

Reply
Peter Parr link
28/4/2025 01:30:25 pm

Hi Deborah. Yes, I'm very happy for you to use this version of the Lord's Prayer in your Centering Prayer group. With kind wishes, Peter.

Reply
Craig
29/4/2025 05:49:06 pm

Hello Mr Parr,

I came across your version of the prayer today. I try to use different versions in worship services and I thought this would be the perfect one for the psychiatric hospital at Mayo Clinic where I lead a Sunday morning service. I would place the prayer in a bulletin and on the PowerPoint. I will give you credit in both places.

Thank you for considering and I also bought your book. Looking forward to reading it!

Craig

Reply
Peter Parr link
30/4/2025 10:04:38 am

Hi Craig.
I'm very happy for you to use the prayer in any worship services that you lead. With kind wishes,
Peter.

Reply

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  • The web-site of Peter M Parr
  • Books
    • You are loved
    • The Kindness of Presence
    • Encounters
    • Escape to Redemption
    • Answering that of God
  • Spiritual Accompaniment
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