The Lords Prayer
"Our Father which art in heaven....."
--Yes? Don't interrupt me.
I'm praying.
--But you called me.
Called you? I didn't call
you.I'm praying.
"Our Father which art in heaven....."
--There you did it again.
Did What?
--Called me.
You said, "Our Father which
art in heaven." Here I am..What's on your mind?
But I didn't mean anything
by it. I was, you know, just saying my prayers for the day. I always say
the Lord's Prayer. It makes
me feel good, kind of
like getting a duty done.
--All right. Go on.
"Hallowed be thy name....."
--Hold it. What do you mean
by that?
By what?
--By "hallowed be thy name"?
It means...it means...Good
grief, I don't know what
it means. How should I know?
It's just a part of the prayer. By the way, what does it mean?
--It means honored, holy,
wonderful.
Hey, that makes sense. I never
thought about what "hallowed" meant before.
"Thy kingdom come, thy will
be done, on earth as
it is in heaven."
--Do you really mean that?
Sure, why not?
--What are you doing about
it?
Doing? Nothing, I guess. I
just think it would be
kind of neat if you got control
of everything down here like you have up there.
--Have I got control of you?
Well, I go to church.
--That isn't what I asked
you. What about your
bad temper? You've really
got a problem there,
you know. And then there's
the way you spend
your money---all on yourself.
And what about the kind of books you read?
Stop picking on me! I'm just
as good as some of
the rest of those people at
the church.
--Excuse me. I thought you
were praying for my
will to be done. If that is
to happen, it will have to start with the ones who are praying for it.
Like you, for example.
Oh, all right. I guess I do
have some hang-ups.
Now that you mention it, I
could probably name
some others.
--So could I.
I haven't thought about it
very much until now,
but I really would like to
cut out some of those things. I would like to, you know, be really free.
--Good. Now we're getting
somewhere. We'll work together, you and I. Some victories can truly be
won. I'm proud of you.
Look, Lord, I need to finish
up here. This is taking
a lot longer than it usually
does.
"Give us this day, our daily
bread."
--You need to cut out the
bread. You're
overweight as it is.
Hey, wait a minute! What is
this, "Criticize me
day"? Here I was doing
my religious duty, and all
of a sudden you break in and
remind me of all my hang-ups.
--Praying is a dangerous thing.
You could wind
up changed, you know. That's
what I'm trying to
get across to you. You called
me, and here I am.
It's too late to stop now.
Keep praying, I'm
interested in the next part
of your prayer.....
(pause). Well, go on.
I'm scared to.
--Scared? Of what? I know
what you'll say.
--Try me and see.
"Forgive us our sins, as we
forgive those who sin against us."
--What about Ann?
See? I knew it! I knew you
would bring her up!
Why Lord, she's told lies
about me, spread stories about my family. She never paid back the debt
she owes me. I've sworn to
get even with her!
--But your prayer? What about
your prayer?
I didn't mean it. --
Well, at least you're honest.
But it's not much
fun carrying that load of
bitterness around inside,
is it?
No. But I'll feel better as
soon as I get even. Boy, have I got some plans for that neighbor. She'll
wish she had never moved into this neighborhood.
--You won't feel any better.
You'll feel worse. Revenge isn't sweet. Think of how unhappy you
already are.
But I can change all that.
You can? How?
--Forgive Ann. Then I'll forgive
you. Then the hate and sin will be Ann's problem and not yours. You
will have settled your heart.
Oh, you're right. You always
are. And more than I want to revenge Ann, I want to be right with you.
Ann, I want to be right with you.....(pause)
.....(sigh). All right. All
right. I forgive her.
Help her to find the right
road in life, Lord. She's bound to be awfully miserable now that I think
about it. Anybody who goes
around doing the things
she does to others has to
be out of it. Someway, somehow, show her the right way. --There now! Wonderful!
How do you feel?
Hmmmmmm. Well, not bad. Not
bad at all. In fact,
I feel pretty great! You know,
I don't think I'll
have to go to bed uptight
tonight for the first time since I can remember. Maybe I won't be so tired
from now on because I'm not
getting enough rest. --You're not through with your prayer. Go on.
Oh, all right."And lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
--Good! Good! I'll do that.
Just don't put yourself
in a place where you can be
tempted.
What do you mean by that?
--Don't turn on the TV when
you know the laundry needs to be done and the house needs to be
picked up. Also, about the
time you spend with
your friends, if you can't
influence the conversation
to positive things, perhaps
you should re-think the value of those friendships. Another thing, your
neighbors and friends shouldn't be your standard
for "keeping up". And please
don't use me for an escape hatch.
I don't understand the last
part.
--Sure you do. You've done
it a lot of times. You
get caught in a bad situation.
You get into trouble and then you come running to me, "Lord, help me
out of this mess, and I promise
you I'll never do it again." You remember some of those bargains you tried
to make with me?
Yes and I'm ashamed, Lord.
I really am.
--Which bargain are you remembering?
Well, there was the night
that Bill was gone and
the children and I were home
alone. The wind was blowing so hard I thought the roof would go any minute
and tornado warnings were out. I remember praying, "Oh God, if you spare
us, I'll never skip my devotions again."
--I protected you, but you
didn't keep your
promise, did you?
I'm sorry, Lord, I really
am. Up until now I thought
that if I just prayed the
Lord's Prayer every day,
then I could do what I liked.
I didn't expect
anything to happen like it
did.
--Go ahead and finish your
prayer.
"For Thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory forever." Amen
--Do you know what would bring
me glory? What would really make me happy?
No, but I'd like to know.
I want now to please you.
I can see what a mess I've
made of my life. And I
can see how great it would
be to really be one of your followers.
--You just answered the question.
I did? --
Yes. The thing that would
bring me glory is to have people like you truly love me. And I see that
happening between us. Now that some of these old sins are exposed and out
of the way, well, there is
no telling what we can do
together.
Lord, let's see what we can
make of me, O.K.?
--Yes, let's see.....
Author Unknown
|
|
 
|
|
|