I hope no one is offended by this. I know it was a gentle reminder to me about my prayers. I also know I was very thankful to the friend who sent this to me.

Father who art in heaven.

YES?

Don't interrupt me. I'm praying.

BUT -- YOU CALLED ME.

Called you? No, I didn't call you. I'm praying.
Our Father who art in heaven.

THERE -- YOU DID IT AGAIN!

Did what?

CALLED ME. YOU SAID, "OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN." WELL, 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 fulfilling a duty.

WELL, ALL RIGHT. GO ON.

Okay, Hallowed be Thy name...

HOLD IT RIGHT THERE. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?

By what?

HALLOWED

It means, it means ... good grief, I don't know what it means. How in the world 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. Thanks. 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? Why, 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. We're kinda in a mess down here you know.

YES, I KNOW; BUT, 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?

Now hold on just a minute! Stop picking on me! I'm just as good as some of the rest of those people at 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 ME. I'M PROUD OF YOU!

Look, Lord, if you don't mind, 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? 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 JUST MIGHT GET WHAT YOU ASK FOR. REMEMBER, YOU CALLED ME -- AND HERE I AM.
IT'S TOO LATE TO STOP NOW. KEEP PRAYING.

..pause...

WELL, GO ON.

I'm scared to.

SCARED? OF WHAT?

I know what you'll say.

TRY ME.

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

WHAT ABOUT CAROL?

See? I knew it! I knew you would bring her up! Why, Lord, she's told lies about me, spread stories. She never paid back the money 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 QUITE A LOAD CARRYING AROUND ALL THAT BITTERNESS AND RESENTMENT, ISN'T IT?

Yes, but I'll feel better as soon as I get even with her! Boy, have I got some plans for her. She'll wish she had never been born.

NO, YOU WON'T FEEL ANY BETTER. YOU'LL FEEL WORSE. REVENGE ISN'T SWEET. YOU KNOW HOW UNHAPPY YOU ARE -- WELL, I CAN CHANGE THAT.

You can? How?

FORGIVE CAROL. THEN, I'LL FORGIVE YOU; AND THE HATE AND SIN WILL BE CAROL'S PROBLEM -- NOT YOURS.
YOU WILL HAVE SETTLED THE PROBLEM AS FAR AS YOU ARE CONCERNED.

Oh, you know, you're right. You always are. And more than I want revenge, I want to be right with You..., (sigh). All right...all right...I forgive her.

THERE NOW! WONDERFUL! HOW DO YOU FEEL?

Hmmmm. Well, not bad. Not bad at all! In fact, I feel pretty great! You know, I don't think I'll go to bed uptight tonight. I haven't been getting much rest, you know.

YEAH, I KNOW. BUT, YOU'RE NOT THROUGH WITH YOUR PRAYER ARE YOU?
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?

YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

Yeah. I know.

OKAY. GO AHEAD. 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 to please you now. I've really made a mess of things. I want to truly follow you.
I can see now how great that would be. So, tell me ... how do I make you happy?
YOU JUST DID.

Offended...heck no!

I have seen this before and loved it.

I was one of those kids who learned the Lord's Prayer and said it my whole life not really knowing what the heck I was reciting!

It wasn't until I was in my 20's and took a class on the prayer and contemplated what I had been saying all those years. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="images/icons/shocked.gif" />

jawjaw...thanks for sharing. Hopefully others will see it for the first time and appreciate it.

I have never seen this and love it...am printing it out right now to share with others. I've prayed the prayer too and also in my 20s realized that saying "thy will be done" is powerful and frightening. Do we really want his will done in our lives knowing that his will is often very difficult to accept? I've written my own version and my own responses to the lord's prayer several times. I think I'll go thru my journals and find them....they might be enlightening. Thanks for sharing this!

Kathryn,
I have a question for you. You mentioned your journals. Do you keep them online? Or write them out. I have become "pencil/pen challenged." I think I have to put everything on the computer. That's fine and dandy, as long as I don't loose my computer to a crash, virsus, etc. I have been searching the net for a journal to buy. My question (see? I'm rambling again) is what do you recommend? I want something I can hand down to my children. Writing it out makes it more personal, to me anyway. Thanks!

JJ, I buy either spiral notebooks that have plastic covers (as opposed to paper) at the office supply store or when I want to treat myself to something special, I buy real journals at the book store. Barnes and Noble and Borders both sell a huge variety. Sometimes I'll buy one with inspirational quotes on the pages....but usually I just buy the ones with loads of blank, lined, white pages waiting to be filled. One of my favorite movies is "Julia" about lillian hellman. If you haven't seen it or it's been awhile, you should rent it. There is a great scene where she hurls her typewriter out the window. But I am a pen and paper girl. I don't put much on the computer for the reasons you stated. In fact, I finished a prayer journal about a year ago, and it was actually very good. I was typing from my written work onto the computer and was about half done when the hackbastards attacked and I lost it all. I do have it on a floppy somewhere but the point is, if I write it and hide away the journals in a safe dry place when I'm done....they will be there when I want to revisit. I also am trying to keep periodic journals for the kids so that I can pass them on to them when they are grown.

I do both..I type my journal entries into the computer, then periodically print them out and put them into a 3 ring notebook. This way, I can make more than one copy, one for each grandchild, and save one for myself. It's so much easier to edit and copy and paste on the computer, rather than crossing through and writing over in a journal. I guess I'm spoiled with my computer. LOL <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />

of course! Countrygirl, I should have thought of that. Write them daily on the puter...then print them out, put in journal. Best of both worlds.

Thanks girls...you keep my old brain from having to think too much. Can't stand the strain... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="images/icons/rolleyes.gif" />