What contains the greatest wisdom imaginable?

The Lord's Prayer contains the greatest wisdom imaginable, but that wisdom has to be sought for by the minds of those who wish to love God.

OUR FATHER, WHICH ART IN HEAVEN—

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

Christ said—

Our Father, which art in Heaven—

To separate the mind of his hearers from the world and its many distractions, and to fix them on the Supreme Being whom they called Jehovah.

Hallowed be Thy Name is a mark of direct deference from the child to the Father who loves him; it brings into being, the sacredness, not only of His greatness, but also of the tie, which links them together. 

There is love; there is adoration, in that simple line, and yet the Our Father makes it impossible to separate the child from his Creator.

THY KINGDOM COME; THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH

Here, you get very close to things as they are. To the majority, it seems, sometimes, that evil reigns alone, and that God, in despair, has turned aside, but that is quite wrong from every aspect there could be.

Thy Kingdom come—

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven—

And those who are faithful will see the first sign of God's rule upon earth, of His will being carried out, stronger, more dominant than any obstacle that evil can erect. 

Many are being trained to contribute to this great privilege, which, for so many years, has been held in trust for humanity—those who wish to love and serve the Master will see His will being done upon earth, as it is in Heaven.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

You are so accustomed to think on lines of management and contrivance that you take this sentence in its literal sense.

The daily bread to which the Saviour referred was the food of the Spirit, which gives all power, all peace, all reassurance, whatever the day may bring, and whatever the strain may be upon the body, which covers up that which belongs to God. 

In praying for this spiritual manna, you are calling down upon yourself those most precious gifts of the Holy Spirit, and, in so doing, you are providing for the day in a material sense, as well because you are not forsaken. 

His Hand provides that which is necessary, and those who love the Master never go empty-handed, so far as the necessities of life are concerned. 

Note this statement now, and for always—those who love, and trust their Father, never go empty-handed, so far as the necessities of life are concerned. It is the broken faith that lets the evil in, and that is the tragedy of it all.

FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES,

AS WE FORGIVE THEM THAT TRESPASS AGAINST US

Our Father does not misunderstand you when you repeat these words. Is it likely that as much is expected of the child as is forthcoming from the Father? 

You are exhorted, for your own sake, to tear out of your heart and mind the bitter fangs of unforgiveness. 

Forgive us our trespasses—

All of us—

Again and again—

Have to make this petition to the Father—

His loving Heart never would, or could, shut you out. 

Over and over again, these spiritual battles go on in your heart and mind. The one side cries out to be free from the lesser, and yet, that lesser, at the time, appears to be the stronger, and anguish follows as a natural result.

In spite of the clamour of the physical mind, God hears the cry of the spirit within, and never ceases to help and encourage it to get free. 

Do not be disheartened over these battles. 

They seem so terribly destructive to you, as though, in a few short hours, they had the power to pull out the bricks of the foundation of your faith and to let the whole topple to the ground. 

So it seems to those who wish to do better. Yes; to those who do not wish to do better, the tragedy does not seem intense. 

Try and read between the lines, and strive still more earnestly to gather in some faint conception of the love and the compassion of the Father.

KEEP US FROM TEMPTATION

Here, you have an illustration of the faulty interpretation given to a word, or two, which enables them to convey an impression totally against the most elementary ideas of Christianity.

Keep us from temptation, and God came to earth, as Christ and man, to keep His child from temptation and into the safety and protection of holiness.

You have adapted this line to suit the requirements of the spirit within—no one who loves God can repeat with any meaning, Keep us from temptation.

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Here, you have the revelation of Christ, as Saviour of the world; Christ who has delivered you from evil, and Christ who is going to prove to suffering humanity that evil has got to give before the power of God.

FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, 

THE POWER AND THE GLORY

The word kingdom suggests a Ruler, and indeed God rules over all, and could you but see it, even in rebellious hearts, His rule is wonderfully strong, separating the spirit from the wilful mind—

Again and again, His love gets through, surprising even its owner by feelings and aspirations, for which he has no explanation at all. 

This has happened with even the frailest and vilest, even with those who have turned deliberately from good to evil—

Now and again, the love of God breaks through, and, in the compassion shown to an animal, or to one sunk in greater misery than yourself, so is the spirit demonstrated for all to see—

All who wish to find God in everything and everywhere.

For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory—

Let your mind rest on these words—on what they seek to convey, because therein is expressed the joys of Eternity—the perfect unity between man and his Creator, in those bright days, which will surely come, for it is ordained. 

Just as day pushes night aside, it shall be, and the Sun, in the Heavens, by its very strength and brightness, will banish all thought of what has been, because, in the present, is the power, and the glory, which is of God.

In saying the Lord's Prayer, or any other, these beautiful and familiar lines convey the spirit behind the words; behind the motive of your prayer lies the past experience of the soul, which counts enormously.

When you pray, the spirit within, which perhaps has had a terrible uphill fight, is seeking to express itself while you are only conscious of a tired mind, a sense of distance from Christ, and a feeling of separation from the veneration and holiness, which you think should be the setting of prayer. 

Remember this—

What the spirit has taken on lies behind the prayer, which is uttered, and because you wish to pray aright, prayer is right in the sight of God; because you wish to contact with holiness, you are able to draw near; because you wish to pray from your very heart, that prayer counts not only from the heart, but far, far deeper than that, from the great well of the Spirit.

Think it out—

God does not expect all His children to have uniform thought; He understands everything and everyone; prayer to Him is not a matter of words, but of the wish to rise, the longing to be free, and the effort that is put into the struggle to achieve this great and glorious end.

—Zodiac, The Christ Messenger