Praying the Lord's Prayer

In this post, I'd like to present and suggest something that has been very valuable and undoubtedly transformative for me, that is, praying the Lord's Prayer on behalf of someone else. I have done this for my family and others close to me for years now. See Matthew 6:9-13 for the source in Scripture. The last line is not found in Scripture, but there is nothing wrong with praying it.

Here is a traditional form of the Lord's Prayer:

Our Father, Who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Breakdown:

Our Father, Who art in heaven,
I don't include this line in my prayers. Maybe I should.

hallowed be thy Name.
I pray that the person will hallow God's name, will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, and will have no other gods before him/her.

Thy Kingdom come,
I pray that God's kingdom will come, first in the person him/herself, and secondly by and through the person. First, here one can pray for the status of the person before God, including body, soul, mind and strength and asking God to build up, purify and rectify the person. Next, pray that God's kingdom will be advanced and spread by the direct and indirect presence and activity of the person in the lives of others and in their activities in the world.

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
I pray that God's will be done for the person on earth as it is done in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,
I pray that God will give the person all he/she needs, things I know about and things I don't know about. Here one can make requests for specific known issues. Notice that this comes after the preceding requests, which deal with God's name and kingdom.

and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
I pray that God will forgive the person his/her sins, debts and trespasses and help the person do the same to others.

And lead us not into temptation,
I pray that God will not lead the person into temptation, but that the person will flee and turn from temptation and not entertain it.

but deliver us from evil.
I pray that God will deliver the person from Satan, from his accusations, lies and deceptions; that the person will resist the devil and see him flee. The Greek here would permit a translation of 'deliver us from the evil one.'

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Usually I say something like, "I pray this in the name of your son Jesus Christ in and through the Holy Spirit, because yours is the kingdom, power and glory, for ever and ever. Amen."

There you have it. It's just a suggestion, but doing this daily will not only help the person you pray for, but will also have an effect on you, an effect you probably need.

One more thing, it's not necessarily to "feel spiritual" to pray to God. Treat God with the respect he deserves, and he will understand your state and hear your prayers.