Lord's Prayer Original Meaning

2. Introduction. The spiritual mentors recommended placing the Lord's Prayer first in this collection as a symbol. Among all prayers, this is the one they value highest because it comes from Jesus himself¹ and can replace all others, depending on the thought one attaches to it. It is the perfect model of conciseness, a sublimity masterpiece in its simplicity. It sums up all duties toward God, themselves and the neighbor. It includes an act of worship and submission, a request for the life need, and the charity principle. One can recite it on behalf of others or oneself. However, the original meaning of the Lord’s Prayer is almost forgotten. So, with the assistance of the good spirits, we developed each clause in order to highlight its deep significance. Depending on the circumstances, we can choose its simple or developed form.

God, we trust in you! Everything reveals your power and goodness. The universe harmony testifies wisdom, prudence and providence that surpass all human capabilities. The name of a supremely great and wise being is written on all the creation work, from the smallest particle to the heavenly bodies that travel through space. Everywhere we see the proof of your parental solicitude. This is why denying your existence means blindness, and those who belittle you are regrettably proud and ungrateful.

My God, you have given humans wise laws that would make them happy if they fulfilled them. With your rules they would make peace and justice. They would help one another rather than harming them. The strong would uphold the weak rather than crushing them. They would keep themselves away from abuse and excess. All misfortunes result from the violation of your laws, for all infractions entail unavoidable unpleasant consequences.

You have given animals the instinct that limits their needs, and they conform to it. To the human beings, besides instinct, you gave intelligence and reason. You have also given them the freedom to choose between good and evil, so that they could be the responsible for their acts.

Everyone is aware of your laws because they are recorded in each one's conscience, regardless of religion or creed. Those who violate them intentionally rebel against you.

But everyone will abide by your laws when, according to your promise, disbelief disappears. All will acknowledge you as the Supreme Majesty of everything. The reign of your laws will then come to Earth too.

My God! Deign to hasten its coming! Enlighten the earthly humankind and direct it to the truth pathway!

Obedience is a duty of children toward their parents, of subordinates toward their superiors. So, how much greater is the duty of a creature toward their Creator?

Doing your will, my God, means obeying your laws and decisions without complaint. People will become dutiful when they understand that you are the fountain of all wisdom, and that without you they can do very little. Then, they shall do your will on Earth, as the good spirits do it in heaven.

Give us material nutrition for maintaining body strength, and give us also the invisible nourishment for our spiritual development.

The animal finds its pasture, but human beings depend on their own activity and intelligence, because you have given them freedom.

You said to them, “You shall produce your nourishment from soil through your brow sweat”. Thus you made labor a law, so that humans might expand their intelligence by seeking their need and well-being, some of them through physical work, others through intellectual labor. Without work they would remain standstill, unable to aspiring the bliss that the high order spirits enjoy.

We understand that you assist the faithful good-willed workers for their necessities, and that you leave on their own they who prioritize what is needless and those who expect receiving everything without any effort².

How many are there who fall due to their own negligence, imprudence, ambition or ingratitude? Being the artisans of their own misfortune, they lack right to complain. However, you take care even of them, because you are infinitely merciful. You offer them a helping hand as long as, like the prodigal son, they sincerely return to you³.

Before lamenting our fate, we should seriously ask ourselves if we have been the very responsible for our distress. At each misfortune, we should reflect if we could have prevented it. Moreover, we should remember that we are granted intelligence to lift ourselves out of any downfall and that you, my God, place a consolation next to each pain.

We beg you to give us guidance and strength to diligently fulfill the law of work. Provide us also prudence, foresight and moderation, so that we can keep our labor fruit.

Therefore, my God, give us our daily bread, that is, the moral resources to acquire through labor the material means we really need for living, for nobody has the right to request the unnecessary. If labor is impossible for us, we entrust ourselves to your providence.

If, in spite of our efforts, the most crushing privation comes to us, we will accept it, because it is an experience for our spiritual awakening. We trust you because you are fair. Whatever hardship might hit us, be it trial or atonement, you only allow it because it helps us to become happier in our future lives.

Dear God, keep us from being envious toward those who waste what we lack, and toward those who lavish while we need. Forgive them if they forget your law of love and charity⁴.

Keep from us any tendency of denying your justice when we see prosperity of the wicked and misfortune of the righteous. Thanks to this very enlightenment, that you lovingly give us, we are sure that your justice is always fulfilled and never fails; that the material prosperity of evil people is as fleeting as their bodily existence, and that your justice is awaiting for them, whereas to those who resignedly endure ordeal you will grant everlasting joy⁵.

Each transgression of your laws, my God, means a due we contract, which we will have to pay sooner or later. We beg you to forgive us our debts like we forgive our debtors, and we promise making every effort to prevent a new indebtedness.

We know that, besides helping our needy neighbors, charity includes forgiveness. We also understand, my God, that you made charity a law. Therefore, by what right could we demand your indulgence whether we ourselves deny it to our debtors?

Give us, dear God, the strength to cleanse all grudge from our soul. Prevent death from surprising us with revenge desire inside our hearts.

If it pleases you taking us this very day from this world, ensure we may present ourselves to you purified of all hostility, following the Christ's example, whose last words were in favor of his executioners⁶.

We know the persecutions we bear are part of our earthly challenges. So we accept them without complaint, just like all other kinds of apprenticeship, and we pray for those who, out of malice, wake us up and point the spiritual advancement door to us. You spoke through Jesus' lips, “Blessed are they who suffer for the sake of righteousness!” Thus, we should bless the hand which strikes and humiliates us, for body difficulty strengthens our souls, and our humility will lift us⁷.

Blessed be your name, my God, for having taught us that we can change our destiny even after decease; that in future existences we will be allowed to repair our wrongs and complete the tasks we have left undone in the present life⁸.

May all the apparent life anomalies be finally clarified. May light be shed upon past and future as a radiant sign of your supreme justice and boundless goodness.

My God, give us the strength to resist the evil thoughts that spring up in our minds and attempt straying us from the righteous path.

We know we are imperfect spirits that have incarnated on the Earth to evolve. We also understand that the evil first cause lies inside ourselves and that, by taking advantage of our bad tendencies, the malicious spirits tempt us in order to control us and use us. Our moral imperfections are doors we open to their influence, whereas they give up attempting against the evolved beings. Then we must direct our efforts toward our moral improvement. Without our persisting virtue practice and complete evil renunciation, our attempts to repel the manipulative spirits render useless because the evil we do attracts them like a magnet, whereas they tend to keep themselves far away from charitable people, because goodness displeases them¹⁰.

God, uphold us in our moral weakness! Inspire us, through the voice of the good spirits and guardian angels, the willpower to fix our imperfections, so that we can prevent impure spirits from accessing our souls¹¹.

Wickedness is not your work, my God, because the source of all goodness produces only the purest good. We ourselves create the evil by violating your laws and using selfishly the freedom you grant us. When we humans finally begin to fulfill your laws, wrong will vanish from the Earth, just as it has already disappeared from more advanced worlds.

Evil is not a fatalistic need. It looks irresistible only to those who surrender to it. Therefore, dear God, we ask your assistance for us to resist temptation and defeat our bad trends.

My God! Help us to fulfill our projects if they are sage, and forgive us whenever we send you immature requests. We bow down before your infinite wisdom, because our ignorance prevents us from seeing the truth. May everything be done according to your will, and not ours, for you know better than us what is fit for our good.

This prayer is for ourselves, for the suffering spirits, whether incarnate or discarnate, for our friends, for our enemies, for all those who ask help and specially for [person's name]. We ask for your mercy and blessings upon all¹².

1 - Book of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 9 through 13.

2 - See chapter 25.

3 - See chapter 5, item 4.

4 - See chapter 16, item 8.

5 - See chapter 5, items 7, 9, 12 and 18.

6 - See chapter 10.

7 - See chapter 12, item 4.

8 - See chapter 4. See also chapter 5, item 5.

9 - The often-found expression Lead us not into temptation suggests that God tempts us. This veiled blasphemy cannot be what Jesus meant. We prefer using Help us to overcome temptation because this phrase better aligns to the Christ's doctrine. (See Heaven and Hell, chapter 10, Demons.)

12 - Here thanks may be rendered and requests may be made in favor of others or ourselves. See prayers of items 26 and 27.

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Allan Kardec's The Gospel According to Spiritism (2021 version by Cesar Bezerra) CHAPTER 28. PRAYERS (part 2 of 34)
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I - GENERAL PRAYERS The Lord's Prayer 2. Introduction. The spiritual mentors recommended placing the Lord's Prayer first in this collection as a symbol. Among all prayers, this is the one they value highest because it comes from Jesus himself¹ and can replace all others, depending on the thought one attaches to it. It is the perfect model of conciseness, a sublimity masterpiece in its simplicity. It sums up all duties toward God, themselves and the neighbor. It includes an act of worship and submission, a request for the life need, and the charity principle. One can recite it on behalf of others or oneself. However, the original meaning of the Lord’s Prayer is almost forgotten. So, with the assistance of the good spirits, we developed each clause in order to highlight its deep significance. Depending on the circumstances, we can choose its simple or developed form. 3. Prayer. I. Our God, who are in space, hallowed be your name! God, we trust in you! Everything reveals your power and goodness. The universe harmony testifies wisdom, prudence and providence that surpass all human capabilities. The name of a supremely great and wise being is written on all the creation work, from the smallest particle to the heavenly bodies that travel through space. Everywhere we see the proof of your parental solicitude. This is why denying your existence means blindness, and those who belittle you are regrettably proud and ungrateful. II. Let your kingdom come! My God, you have given humans wise laws that would make them happy if they fulfilled them. With your rules they would make peace and justice. They would help one another rather than harming them. The strong would uphold the weak rather than crushing them. They would keep themselves away from abuse and excess. All misfortunes result from the violation of your laws, for all infractions entail unavoidable unpleasant consequences. You have given animals the instinct that limits their needs, and they conform to it. To the human beings, besides instinct, you gave intelligence and reason. You have also given them the freedom to choose between good and evil, so that they could be the responsible for their acts. Everyone is aware of your laws because they are recorded in each one's conscience, regardless of religion or creed. Those who violate them intentionally rebel against you. But everyone will abide by your laws when, according to your promise, disbelief disappears. All will acknowledge you as the Supreme Majesty of everything. The reign of your laws will then come to Earth too. My God! Deign to hasten its coming! Enlighten the earthly humankind and direct it to the truth pathway! III. Let your will be done on Earth and in space! Obedience is a duty of children toward their parents, of subordinates toward their superiors. So, how much greater is the duty of a creature toward their Creator? Doing your will, my God, means obeying your laws and decisions without complaint. People will become dutiful when they understand that you are the fountain of all wisdom, and that without you they can do very little. Then, they shall do your will on Earth, as the good spirits do it in heaven. IV. Give us this day our daily bread. Give us material nutrition for maintaining body strength, and give us also the invisible nourishment for our spiritual development. The animal finds its pasture, but human beings depend on their own activity and intelligence, because you have given them freedom. You said to them, “You shall produce your nourishment from soil through your brow sweat”. Thus you made labor a law, so that humans might expand their intelligence by seeking their need and well-being, some of them through physical work, others through intellectual labor. Without work they would remain standstill, unable to aspiring the bliss that the high order spirits enjoy. We understand that you assist the faithful good-willed workers for their necessities, and that you leave on their own they who prioritize what is needless and those who expect receiving everything without any effort². How many are there who fall due to their own negligence, imprudence, ambition or ingratitude? Being the artisans of their own misfortune, they lack right to complain. However, you take care even of them, because you are infinitely merciful. You offer them a helping hand as long as, like the prodigal son, they sincerely return to you³. Before lamenting our fate, we should seriously ask ourselves if we have been the very responsible for our distress. At each misfortune, we should reflect if we could have prevented it. Moreover, we should remember that we are granted intelligence to lift ourselves out of any downfall and that you, my God, place a consolation next to each pain. We beg you to give us guidance and strength to diligently fulfill the law of work. Provide us also prudence, foresight and moderation, so that we can keep our labor fruit. Therefore, my God, give us our daily bread, that is, the moral resources to acquire through labor the material means we really need for living, for nobody has the right to request the unnecessary. If labor is impossible for us, we entrust ourselves to your providence. If, in spite of our efforts, the most crushing privation comes to us, we will accept it, because it is an experience for our spiritual awakening. We trust you because you are fair. Whatever hardship might hit us, be it trial or atonement, you only allow it because it helps us to become happier in our future lives. Dear God, keep us from being envious toward those who waste what we lack, and toward those who lavish while we need. Forgive them if they forget your law of love and charity⁴. Keep from us any tendency of denying your justice when we see prosperity of the wicked and misfortune of the righteous. Thanks to this very enlightenment, that you lovingly give us, we are sure that your justice is always fulfilled and never fails; that the material prosperity of evil people is as fleeting as their bodily existence, and that your justice is awaiting for them, whereas to those who resignedly endure ordeal you will grant everlasting joy⁵. V. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Each transgression of your laws, my God, means a due we contract, which we will have to pay sooner or later. We beg you to forgive us our debts like we forgive our debtors, and we promise making every effort to prevent a new indebtedness. We know that, besides helping our needy neighbors, charity includes forgiveness. We also understand, my God, that you made charity a law. Therefore, by what right could we demand your indulgence whether we ourselves deny it to our debtors? Give us, dear God, the strength to cleanse all grudge from our soul. Prevent death from surprising us with revenge desire inside our hearts. If it pleases you taking us this very day from this world, ensure we may present ourselves to you purified of all hostility, following the Christ's example, whose last words were in favor of his executioners⁶. We know the persecutions we bear are part of our earthly challenges. So we accept them without complaint, just like all other kinds of apprenticeship, and we pray for those who, out of malice, wake us up and point the spiritual advancement door to us. You spoke through Jesus' lips, “Blessed are they who suffer for the sake of righteousness!” Thus, we should bless the hand which strikes and humiliates us, for body difficulty strengthens our souls, and our humility will lift us⁷. Blessed be your name, my God, for having taught us that we can change our destiny even after decease; that in future existences we will be allowed to repair our wrongs and complete the tasks we have left undone in the present life⁸. May all the apparent life anomalies be finally clarified. May light be shed upon past and future as a radiant sign of your supreme justice and boundless goodness. VI. Help us to overcome temptation⁹ and deliver us from evil. My God, give us the strength to resist the evil thoughts that spring up in our minds and attempt straying us from the righteous path. We know we are imperfect spirits that have incarnated on the Earth to evolve. We also understand that the evil first cause lies inside ourselves and that, by taking advantage of our bad tendencies, the malicious spirits tempt us in order to control us and use us. Our moral imperfections are doors we open to their influence, whereas they give up attempting against the evolved beings. Then we must direct our efforts toward our moral improvement. Without our persisting virtue practice and complete evil renunciation, our attempts to repel the manipulative spirits render useless because the evil we do attracts them like a magnet, whereas they tend to keep themselves far away from charitable people, because goodness displeases them¹⁰. God, uphold us in our moral weakness! Inspire us, through the voice of the good spirits and guardian angels, the willpower to fix our imperfections, so that we can prevent impure spirits from accessing our souls¹¹. Wickedness is not your work, my God, because the source of all goodness produces only the purest good. We ourselves create the evil by violating your laws and using selfishly the freedom you grant us. When we humans finally begin to fulfill your laws, wrong will vanish from the Earth, just as it has already disappeared from more advanced worlds. Evil is not a fatalistic need. It looks irresistible only to those who surrender to it. Therefore, dear God, we ask your assistance for us to resist temptation and defeat our bad trends. VII. So be it! My God! Help us to fulfill our projects if they are sage, and forgive us whenever we send you immature requests. We bow down before your infinite wisdom, because our ignorance prevents us from seeing the truth. May everything be done according to your will, and not ours, for you know better than us what is fit for our good. This prayer is for ourselves, for the suffering spirits, whether incarnate or discarnate, for our friends, for our enemies, for all those who ask help and specially for [person's name]. We ask for your mercy and blessings upon all¹². __________________________________________________ 1 - Book of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 9 through 13. 2 - See chapter 25. 3 - See chapter 5, item 4. 4 - See chapter 16, item 8. 5 - See chapter 5, items 7, 9, 12 and 18. 6 - See chapter 10. 7 - See chapter 12, item 4. 8 - See chapter 4. See also chapter 5, item 5. 9 - The often-found expression Lead us not into temptation suggests that God tempts us. This veiled blasphemy cannot be what Jesus meant. We prefer using Help us to overcome temptation because this phrase better aligns to the Christ's doctrine. (See Heaven and Hell, chapter 10, Demons.) 10 - See item 81. 11 - See item 11. 12 - Here thanks may be rendered and requests may be made in favor of others or ourselves. See prayers of items 26 and 27.
Next: Chapter 28 (part 3 of 34) Gospel According to Spiritism Index
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