The Lord's Prayer: Hope for the Neighborhood

The Lord's Prayer is the third most popular prayer among Christians, the first two being, "Help me! Help me! Help me!" and "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Yet, there is an amazing lack of clarity as to what one is praying for. What does it mean to "Hallow Your Name"? And should "Your Kingdom Come," what would that be like? Any fun? Obviously,"Your Will Be Done" is pretty much the message of the entire Bible. But what kind of bread are we talking when we pray, "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread?" A Porsche costs lots of dough. Enough to make payments? "Forgive Us Our Trespasses", or is it, "Forgive Us Our Debts"? Which one? Why the difference? And what's this about "Lead Us Not Into Temptation"? God wants us to do God's will, yet God would tempt us not to do so? What kind of "Our Father In Heaven" would do such a thing? Flip Wilson's character "Geraldine" made more sense. She said, "The Devil made me do it!" In "Praying The Lord's Prayer: Hope For The Neighborhood," Dewey Johnson places this prayer in its biblical context, shows the reader how Jesus used wording from the Exodus with which his original audience was familiar, and explains what the six petitions mean. One needs to know what one is praying for because one just might get it. And The Lord's Prayer bestows benefits not just upon the one praying, but also upon the neighborhood.

Auteur

Dewey Johnson is a New Mexico storyteller who grew up in Roswell and lives in Albuquerque. His books include Summer of Champions, Down to Earth in Roswell, The P.I. and the Harvey Girls, The Lord's Prayer: Hope for the Neighborhood, and most recently When Sputnik Hit the Wall.