Can you remember when you first heard The Lord's Prayer?

Can you remember when you first heard The Lord's Prayer? 

For me it was when I was aged 5, at either the local Anglican church mum took me to or at school assemblies at the public primary school I attended. 

Up to about 30 years ago, The Lord's Prayer was something that most people in our society knew. Something we learned, just like learning the alphabet...

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV

Sometimes though I know for me as a child it became just a reciting of some words that I had learned. The heart behind the words, the understanding of what I was actually praying was missing.  I was saying the words, not praying them.

Today if I asked our children to pray The Lord's Prayer, they would probably have no idea what I was talking about. But if I said, 'Let's pray, who'd like to start?' they would respond with starting a conversation with God. And that's great, but sometimes the prayers become a bit self-centred, just as mine to do. We focus too much on our needs and wants. 

There is something about The Lord's Prayer that, when prayed from the heart, very quickly silences our flesh and enables us to position God in our lives exactly where He should be - acknowledged as our Father in heaven, Lord of all, provider, forgiver of sins, rescuer with complete sovereignty over our lives.

When I am in that place of wanting to connect with God, but don't have the words to pray I often do one of two things, either pray in the spirit, or play a worship song (sometimes both). One of my favourite songs to play in these moments is Our Father/The Lords Prayer, recorded by Hillsong in 1997 on their Simply Worship II CD. I bought that CD just after I was saved. It is simply the piano and vocalist, and always takes me to that place of exalting our God. Hillsong have also recently done another version of The Lord's Prayer on their album, There's more.  

So today, lets pause and pray The Lord's Prayer from our heart with a complete focus on our Father in heaven. This version is from The Passion Translation.

Our Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms,
may the glory of your name
be the centre on which our lives turn.
Manifest your kingdom realm,
and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth,
just as it is fulfilled in heaven.
We acknowledge you as our Provider
of all we need each day.
Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves
release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.
Rescue us every time we face tribulation
and set us free from evil.
For you are the King who rules
with power and glory forever. Amen
Matthew 6:9-13 TPT