10 Contemplative Days in the Lord's PrayerSample

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven those who sin against us. Help us not to give into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen

It’s amazing that you have a God who came to earth, lived your life, and knows your weakness firsthand; how much more reassuring though is it that you have that same God in heaven who’s above everything in this life as you know it now! Talk is cheap and the ruts of “this is just how it always is” are always around you—but not in your prayers. Your prayers exit this world and enter a world of perfection, power, and possibility. You send your prayers up to a Father in heaven and let them come back down as a new creation here on earth.

So we “hallow” his name. Honor it really. Value it. Cherish it. It’s not the place of heaven that makes your prayers there so amazing; it’s the person who’s receiving them there. The name of Jesus is above every name. There’s no other name that saves. Now he sits next to the Father, in heaven, and still intercedes for us.

So as you pray today “our Father in heaven hallowed be your name,” spend some time noticing where your prayers lately sound more like they’re to a guy on earth than they are to a God in heaven. You’ve probably well intentionally told God a lot about when and how to answer your prayers, based on the way things work here on earth. Turn that instead today into a prayer to a God in heaven whose thoughts are not the same as your thoughts, and whose ways are not the same as your ways. Make a prayer that’s open to new power and possibilities from heaven.

Also spend time noticing what your heart hallows about Jesus, and his Father and Spirit. Don’t fumble around for all the words that’ll say everything you love about Jesus. Just sit still and let your heart feel all the love you have for God, in all three persons he meets us as. A simple “Amen” after feeling that will do.