We offer alternative versions of the Lord’s prayer to help us to gain understand and depth behind the traditional words that many of us say without thinking about their meaning. We have Rainbow Cathedral bookmarks with different versions of the Lord’s prayer. If you would like to receive one, email me therevjane @ juno.com with your address and bookmark in the subject line and we will mail one to you.
Indwelling God,
infused throughout all existence,
we honor you with many names.
Your realm is within the human heart.
We accept life for all that it can be,
on earth as throughout all creation.
May we continue to draw sustenance from this earth,
and may we receive forgiveness equal to our own.
May we ever move from separation toward union,
to live in grace, with love in our hearts,
forever and ever. Amen. Fred F. Keip
Our Father-Mother, who lives in and beyond all of creation, may your name be made holy. May your commonwealth thrive, may your justice be done, may your loving compassion reign in every season. Give us today the bread we need; and forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors; in every trial strengthen us, in the midst of evil deliver us. For yours is the dominion, and the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen.
O God, you love us like a good parent, and are present in every aspect of our existence. May your nature become known and respected by all. May your joy, peace, wholeness and justice be the reality for everyone as we live by the Jesus Way. Give us all that we really need to live every day for you. And forgive us our failures as we forgive others for their failures. Keep us from doing those things which are not of you, and cause us always to be centered on your love. For you are the true reality in this our now, and in all our future. In the Jesus Way we pray. Amen. (David Sorril)
God, lover of us all, most holy one. Help us to respond to you. To create what you want for us here on earth. Give us today enough for our needs. Forgive our weak and deliberate offences, just as we must forgive others when they hurt us. Help us to resist evil and to do what is good. For we are yours, endowed with your power to make your world whole. Amen.
Eternal Spirit, Father and Mother of us all, Holy is your name. Let justice and mercy fill all Creation and let us recognize that every thought and thing belongs to you. Feed us with the bread we need for today. Forgive our sin as we forgive those who sin against us. Stand with us in trial and temptation. Free us from the grip of all that is evil. For you alone are creating our universe, now and forever. Amen.
God, heart of the world: revealed through every aspect of creation: understood through our awareness. May we honour the holiness of creation and act accordingly so that your love is reflected in the way we live. May we always be thankful for the food we eat and the friends we have. May we forgive those who transgress against us and be forgiven for our own. In the freedom of love may we live as your heartbeat and not be compromised by hesitation. Through our freedom, may your justice be seen and heard and experienced forever and ever. Amen. (Sherri J. Weinberg)
Loving God, within and around us, we revere you. We seek to live life as you would want us to do; with love and respect for all people and all things in the universe. May we find each day sufficient for our needs, and find forgiveness when we do wrong, just as we forgive those who do wrong to us. In times of trouble, may we centre our lives in you. For your being is love, which comes with strength and with beauty, throughout eternity. Amen. (Margaret Rolfe)
God, who cares for us,
The wonder of whose presence fills us with awe.
Let kindness, justice and love shine in our world.
Let your secrets be known here as they are in heaven.
Give us the food and the hope we need for today.
Forgive us our wrongdoing
as we forgive the wrongs done to us.
Protect us from pride and from despair
and from the fear and hate which can swallow us up.
In you is truth, meaning, glory and power,
while worlds come and go.
Amen. (MFurlong/nwi)
Eternal Spirit
Earth-Maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all. Loving God, in whom is heaven.
The hallowing of your name echoes through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the earth!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and forever. New Zealand Prayer Book
Good caring presence within us, around us, and above us; Hold us in a sense of mystery and wonder.
Let the fullness of your goodness be within us and around us. Let all the world know your ways of caring and generosity. May we find we have all we needto meet each day without undue anxiety.
Overlook our many stupidities, and help us to release everyone from their stupidities. May we know we are accepted. Strengthen us that we will reach out to the best, always with the faith to rise above the ugly realities of our existence. And we celebrate the gifts you have given us: the rich kingdom of life’s possibilities, the power to do good and the triumphs of good, and the moments when we have seen
the glory and wonder of everything. You are life’s richness.You are life’s power. You are life’s ultimate meaning. Always. And for everyone. And for ever more. Amen. (FMacnab/fwb)
O presence and power within us, Being and Life of all.
How we are filled, how we overflow with infinite love and gladness!
We shall this day sow grace and peace, and show mercy to all, and gentle loving-kindness.
And we shall be not so self-serving, but a constant source of giving.
For ours is the essence, and the wholeness, and the fullness forever (PALaughlin/4r)
O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos
you create all that moves in light.
Hear the one Sound that created all others,
in this way the Name is hallowed in silence.
Your rule springs into existence as our arms reach out to embrace all creation. Let all wills move together
in your vortex, as stars and planets swirl through the sky.
Grant what we need each day in bread and insight:
subsistence for the call of growing life.
Lighten our load of secret debts as
we relieve others of their need to repay.
Keep us from hoarding false wealth,
and from the inner shame of
help not given in time (MFox/ormw)
Dear One,
closer to us than our own hearts,
farther from us than the most distant star,
you are beyond naming.
May your powerful presence become obvious
not only in the undeniable glory of the sky,
but also in the seemingly base
and common processes of the earth.
Give us what we need, day by day,
to keep body and soul together, because
clever as you have made us,
we still owe our existence to you.
We recognize that to be reconciled with you,
we must live peaceably and justly with other human beings,
putting hate and bitterness behind us.
We are torn between our faith in your goodness
and our awareness of the evil in your creation,
so deliver us from the temptation to despair.
Yours alone is the universe and all its majesty and beauty.
So it is. Amen. (JBurklo, 2010)
