“All religion is of life; and the life of religion is to do good.” - Doctrine of Life §1
Kempton New Church

Week 1
Day 3

    Listen:

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name. —Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2

Our Father is the Lord Jesus Christ

Isaiah 9:6. Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.... And His name shall be called... God, the Mighty, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace.

John 1:1, 14. In the beginning was the Word... and the Word was God.... And the Word was made flesh....

John 1:18. No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has brought [Him] forth to view.

John 10:1, 9. He who does not enter by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. I am the door: by Me if any man enters in, he shall be saved.

John 14:6. No man comes to the Father but by Me.

John 14:8-11. Philip said, Show us the Father. Jesus says to him, He who sees Me sees the Father. How sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.

AC 8864:4. That the things which precede must reign in the things which follow, and thus in the series... is evident from everything which the Lord spoke, especially from His prayer, which is called “the Lord’s Prayer.” In this Prayer, all things follow on in such a series that they constitute as it were a column that grows larger from top to bottom, in the interiors of which are the things which precede in the series. What is first in it is inmost, and what follows in order adds itself to the inmost successively and thus grows. That which is inmost reigns universally in those things which are round about; that is, in each and all things; for from this is that which is essential to the existence of all things.

AR 839:5. ...[Evil spirits from Armageddon said,] “The words [of the Prayer] are clear, that one must pray to God the Father; and because Christ is our Savior, that we must pray to God the Father for the sake of the Son.” And they soon concluded in indignation that they would go to us and declare it face to face, saying also that they would pull our ears.

AR 839:6. [Angels replied,] “We are from the society of heaven which is called Michael, and we were sent to visit and inquire, whether you who are gathered together in this place have any religion or not; and we cannot know this otherwise than by questioning [you] about God. For the idea of God enters into the whole of religion, and by it conjunction is effected, and by conjunction salvation. We in heaven read [the Lord’s] Prayer daily, like men on earth; and we do not then think of God the Father, because He is invisible; but we think of Him in His Divine Human, because in this He is visible. And in His Divine Human He is called by you Christ, but by us the Lord; and thus, to us the Lord is the Father in heaven.

AR 839:7. "Moreover we instructed them from the Word, that the Lord came into the world, that He might glorify His Human, for the end that the angels of heaven and the men of the church might be united to God the Father through Him and in Him; for He taught that they who believe in Him are in Him, and He in them; which is as the church teaches, that they are in the body of Christ. Finally, we informed them that at this day a New Church is being established by the Lord, which is meant by “the New Jerusalem” in Revelation. In it there will be the worship of the Lord alone, as it is in heaven, and thus everything which is contained in the Lord’s Prayer from beginning to end will be fulfilled.

Invitation to the New Church 37. The whole of the Lord’s Prayer, from beginning to end, has respect to this time; that is, to the time when God the Father will be worshiped in the Human Form. This appears when this prayer is rightly explained.

Questions and Comments
  1. We can see how important it is to have a reasonably true idea of “our Father, who art in heaven,” at the beginning of the Prayer, since everything else in the Prayer depends on whom we are praying to.
  2. Do you say the Lord’s Prayer daily, as angels do in heaven? If not, when might be a good time in your day to say it? Charity 173 speaks of saying prayers “morning and evening, and at dinners and suppers.” Would it be useful to say the Prayer on your way to work?
  3. Is the Lord Jesus Christ visible to you? Is He God to you? Can you think of Him being with you all the time, with power to save you from your sins and bring you, little by little, into heaven?
  4. Why do you think the Lord taught us to pray, saying, “Our Father,” rather than, “O Lord”?
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