This really appeals to our more selfish instincts. And the LORD’s Prayer is sometimes bent in this direction as a kind of divine mantra.   Say it over and over and God will give you the desires of your heart.

The LORD’s Prayer is known throughout the world.  And yet there remains a secret in this prayer hidden by centuries of translation.  It’s not so much a “mistranslation” as an emphasis of translation that subtly hides something from us.

Normally, the first half of the prayer is read this way:

Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name,
     Thy Kingdom come,
     Thy Will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.

This beautiful reading is known wherever English is spoken.  In this way, the opening is read as essentially two stanzas with a concluding line. As beautiful and well known as this is, the prayer bears an even closer look, not to pick it apart, but that we might “breathe-in” its refreshing call. For actually, the arrangement of this prayer is somewhat different in Greek than in English, and it displays a compelling parallelism along with a remarkable emphasis sometimes not seen by English readers.

So now, let us look at some things that are normally hard to see from English translations . . .

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NOTES:    

1. 1. There are three stanzas:

       

      • 9b-10—about the name, kingdom and will of the Father;
      • 11-12—about what we need and what owe; (give/forgive)
      • 13—about our rescue from the evil one (carry/deliver).

         

   2. The first word of the entire prayer is “Father” (Pater) the last word of the entire prayer is “the evil one” (tou pon?rou), even though it is not normally translated that way.
       
   3. In the first stanza, the first and last lines are progressive: beginning in heaven, ending on the earth (“earth” is placed last, not first as in English).

       

   4. The center of the first stanza is made up of three identically structured phrases:

3^rd person imperative verb +  (emphatic noun + article + pronoun)

Let it be sanctified                —your name (YWHW)
Let it arrive                           —your rule,
Let it be accomplished        —your will.

The three emphatic nouns are held together by the three verbs.  In fact, the entire prayer is about these three things: your name, your rule, your will – as in heaven, so may it be on earth.  

1. 5. The rest of the prayer (stanzas 2-3) is about bringing those three things “onto the earth” in real ways:

What we need—the “Givenness” (of God)—to provide our needs.

What we owe—“the Forgiveness” of God—to live in the world.
(our relation to God is tied to how we interact with people)

Rescue from temptation and the evil one.

There is so much more, of course.  This prayer is so very rich. 

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The Secret?

So, what is the secret of this prayer?  It is this:  What we want is the wrong place to focus.  We are to daily elevate and sanctify the name, rule, and will of the LORD (Yahweh or Jehovah) in every aspect of our lives.    

The prayer is not:  “Tell the Universe what you want and it is the Universe’s job to give it to you!”  It is not a mantra that, if said enough, will break-down God to give you what you want.  This is upside down and backwards.

This prayer teaches us that to overcome the woes of the earth, we are to focus on the name, rule, and will of the Father of heaven.    

Matt 6:9-13

Our Father in heaven

   May your name be treated as holy,
   May your pervasive rule arrive,
   May your will be accomplished,

as in heaven, so may it be on earth.

What we need each day,
   may you grant us our portion for today;

And may you forgive us our failings
   to the extent we have already forgiven those who fail us;

And may you carry us away from temptation
   liberating us from the one who is evil.