The power of the Lord's Prayer: an explanation for adults and children

How prayer came to be

Jesus Christ himself conveyed the words of this prayer to people. Reading it, a person feels his connection with the Lord. All baptized people should know it by heart and begin every morning with these great words.

Jesus transmitted the prayer in Aramaic, and then it was translated into all the languages of the world. It has great power and effectiveness in every language.

Text of the prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one: for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Matthew 6)

This text is written in Church Slavonic. You can learn it in Russian. Both Orthodox and Church Slavonic prayers have equal power.

Many Christians would like to understand its meaning in order to pronounce the text consciously. An exact decoding of each word is offered:

Father or Father. This is how we turn to our Creator. By uttering even this one word, we drive fear out of our hearts, because fatherly love for us reigns in it. Having addressed ourselves as “Father,” we seem to continue: I am Your child: Your son or Your daughter. At this moment, the Lord, as our parent, imbues us with a feeling of parental care. And we, in turn, promise God to obey him, like our own father and mother.
Our. By calling the Lord ours, we realize that we, together with our sisters and brothers, are like one family. We are not alone.
Who art in Heaven is translated: “Who is in Heaven.” With these words we emphasize that our appeal is directed to the Father who always dwells in the angelic world. We do not see Him, but we know that He exists.
Hallowed be Thy Name. The word “holy” comes from the word “taken.” That is, He is special, not like everyone else, isolated from the general environment. Hallowed be Thy Name - we pronounce it lightly and reverently, thereby expressing the desire for the whole world to give special honor to God. In some translations, this expression is interpreted as follows: “let Your name stand out.”
Thy kingdom come. By pronouncing this phrase, we ask the Lord to reign peace in our hearts with mercy and love. Christ said that the Kingdom of God is within us. If He is inside us, then sin will not have to reign there, quiet joy and love will take root in our hearts. We also express the hope that after God’s Judgment there will be no death, but only the Kingdom of the Creator.
Thy will be done as it is in Heaven and on earth. So we ask that God’s good will be fulfilled everywhere. So that it is fulfilled on Earth just as it is fulfilled by angels in the Kingdom invisible to us. We ask that God's will be everywhere. Only the Lord knows what we need. We want to always be subject to the will of God.
Give us this day our daily bread. Urgent means “daily or everyday.” By saying this phrase, we ask for bread only for one day, that is, for today. And bread is the most necessary food for the body. We thus show that we do not care about tomorrow, that is, we do not ask for fame and wealth, but only for the food that will help us live one day. Bread or food gives life to the body, and Heavenly Bread allows our soul to unite with the Lord and receive eternal life.
And forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors. Debts are our sins. After baptism we receive forgiveness of sins. But at the same time, we ask God not to forgive our sins if we ourselves have not forgiven someone who sinned against us. For example, we did bad deeds and did not have time to cover them up with good ones, then we ask you to forgive us these debts.
And do not lead us into temptation. So we ask the Lord not to give us trials. For example, illness is a test of our strength and patience. But if we ask God not to test us, then we make a promise that we will also not tempt Him by testing His patience.
But deliver us from evil. Among the evil ones, we mean not only people, but also Satan with all his minions, as well as our dishonest actions, words, even thoughts!

Hallowed be your name

Here is how the famous Orthodox preacher, Metropolitan Anthony (Sourozhsky) wrote about this: “Holy” - on the one hand, from the word “holy”, on the other - speaks of radiance. Now I don't confuse both words, but when we talk about a shrine, we talk about something that is full of light. “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12); you were sent as light into this world (Matt. 5:14). And it would be so easy to understand the meaning of these words if we just approached them. Namely: imagine what the reaction of each of us would be if the name of the person we most loved was used in a dirty joke or in some disparaging way; what indignation there would be in us and, moreover, what unbearable pain there would be, that the name of my mother is used like that, the name of my Motherland is used like that, the name of what is a shrine for me is used like that. This is the whole simplicity of this petition. If God were not the most beloved for us (we cannot boast that we love God more than our parents, relatives, children), but if we loved Him at least some, we would be unbearable that the name of God should be pronounced in a context not worthy of Him... We meet this in history.

I can give you two examples. In Siberia in the old days there was a tribe (whether there is one now, I don’t know) that did not have a word for God, because they believed that He could not be named, that He was too holy a Being to be given an earthly name. And they were right, because only God incarnate could receive the earthly name Jesus. And when they wanted to designate God in a conversation, they paused and raised their hand to the sky, indicating that they were talking “about Him,” but they did not give Him a name.

Second: there is a wonderful passage in the writings of Maimonides, a Jewish writer of the 12th century, about the name of God. He says that in the ancient Jewish tradition the name and the creature coincided. The real name is not a nickname, like Peter, Ivan, or a surname, but a real name - the very name that God pronounced when He called each of us from oblivion - coincides with a person or with a given creature, and therefore one cannot pronounce the name of God even in public worship, because not everyone can bear this burden or bow properly before this shrine. And Maimonides says that when the people gathered in the temple, when the prayers rose, when the singing of psalms sounded and thundered in the temple, the High Priest, who alone knew how to pronounce these four letters of the name of God (YHWH - they could be read only if you knew which vowels give life to this word, and only the High Priest knew this then), he bent down and quietly pronounced this name, and it, says Maimonides, like blood, ran through all this prayer, and the prayer, which was like a dead body, suddenly came to life and ascended to God.

This is the feeling that is dictated by the Jewish sense of the name of God and which we can understand from these examples; This is what the name of a dear person is. But having learned what it means to cherish and protect the name of a loved one, we can accordingly learn - and learn throughout our lives - to treat the name of God with precisely such a feeling that it is sacred and that we can say “God”, say “Jesus”, say “Lord” this is not just a nickname to say: this is a prayerful invocation that speaks about Him, just as the name of a loved one speaks about him - you cannot talk about him.

Therefore, this is what we are called to: in the full sense of the word, only the Lord Jesus Christ could pronounce the name of God with perfect purity of heart, mind, lips, will, flesh, and His entire being. We can pronounce these words in Christ, carefully, with trembling, without using too lightly such words that make demons tremble and which we revere... After all, it’s scary to think that at “the name of Jesus every knee bows” (Phil. 2:10) except us, Christian believers. John Chrysostom says somewhere that when we pronounce the name of the Savior Christ, demons leave us in horror, and we pronounce it without horror... How creepy it is and what responsibility we take on ourselves, knowing this name, because we know the name Father and we know him through the Only Begotten Son, and we know the earthly name for God: Jesus, “God saves.” We can pronounce these words, and such words are enough to make the whole world tremble - except us... “Hallowed be it” teaches us: take care of it as a shrine, it is more than an icon, it is more than the name of a loved one. We will not allow the icon to be desecrated, but we speak about God with such ease.”

Let's add from ourselves. Many of us in everyday speech often exclaim: “Oh, Lord!”, “Oh, God!” “Oh my God!”, “Lord Jesus!” Let's think, do we always say this to the point? Are we not trembling the name of God, which should be holy?

Explanation to children

In order for children to find the path to God from an early age, an accessible explanation for each word of the prayer is necessary. First you need to explain to the child why it is called the Lord's Prayer. Because Jesus Christ himself gave it to his Disciples.

It must be said that this Christian prayer is the most powerful, which will help from all fears and troubles. Anyone who knows it by heart, loves it, will be a real Christian.

Our Father, who art in heaven. You can explain to a child that the Father is the Father, who is in Heaven. He is our Heavenly Father.
Hallowed be your name. Let Your Name be glorified.
In the following lines the words will be incomprehensible: Like - like, Heaven - in Heaven. That is, the will of God will be both on Nebushka and on Earth, where we live now.
The phrase: Give us this day our daily bread should be explained like this: we need food only for today. Tomorrow we must read the prayer again so that bread will be given to us the next day.
And forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors. Leave means forgive; our debts are our sins; and our debt is to forgive those people who have sinned against us, that is, we forgive them.
And do not lead us into temptation. Do not let us fall into sin and other temptations.
But deliver us from evil. Do not let the cunning and evil spirit entangle us.
For Yours is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Yako - it is; ever-always; Forever and ever - forever; Amen - the absolute truth.

What the last phrase means can be explained to a child like this: to God belongs the kingdom, and the power, and the glory of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and it will always be so.

A personal example is always important for children, both in reading prayers and in reverent attitude towards the Almighty. If they see their parents praying every day, then this strong Orthodox prayer will sink into their souls.

How and when to read the Lord's Prayer

How to read the great prayer to ordinary people? This only prayer, which Christ gave to all people on Earth, must be read thoughtfully, pronouncing each word clearly. You should not read at a run, in a hurry, without pronouncing the phrases.

In order for God to protect you all day long, so that you are protected from troubles, you need to read it 12 or 15 times in the morning. But before you start reading, you need to forgive everyone, then mentally ask for forgiveness from those who were offended.

You can even record this prayer at home via your computer. Then all the evil spirits will leave your house, and dashing people will avoid it. If there are often quarrels in the house, children do not listen, some misfortunes happen, and the inhabitants of the house often get sick, then prayer will help to establish peace and tranquility in the family.

A person who reads this prayer mentally or out loud experiences peace and tranquility in his soul. He forgives and loves all people. Negative thoughts sent by demons disappear somewhere. Strength increases in the body, energy begins to surge.

As soon as a person stops praying, demons immediately begin to send negative thoughts and push him to do bad deeds. Therefore, do not be lazy to read “Our Father.” Strong prayer is given to a person to help him from everything negative in life.

The man was given 2 more strong prayers. This is the Jesus Prayer and the Holy Spirit to the “Heavenly King.” By reading these prayers, a person unnoticed and corrects himself. He no longer wants to do bad things to people, he doesn’t want to stoop to drunkenness and foul language. They are able to stop quarrels, conflicts and fights. These prayers are a great help to people from all evil.

Communicate from the moment of pregnancy

The child must be slowly, lovingly introduced into communion with the Lord. You need to start accustoming him to this when he is still in his mother’s womb. A mother expecting a baby can sit in front of the icons and ask: “Lord, help!”, “Lord, bless my child!” These will be the baby's first prayer lessons. The same applies to the expectant mother’s communion: the baby feels the effect of grace.

A newborn can be brought to the icons and prayed next to him. Growing up, he will see holy images, his mother whispering something in front of him. And these will also be lessons in prayer. One day the parents will see that the baby is standing in front of the icons and saying something of his own. Maybe he doesn’t yet understand what exactly needs to be said, but for him prayer becomes a natural component of life. Of course, the role of the mother in this matter is very important. I’ll say right away: don’t demand the impossible from yourself! Children are a lot of work, and if there are two or three of them, even more so. There is no need to reproach yourself for not reading the rule or not making the required number of bows during Lent. Prayer is something completely different: it is a conversation between a person and his Creator, Who loves him, an attempt to express our love for Him. The human soul thirsts for prayer, and so does the soul of a child. From a very early age, he will absorb everything that you teach him through your actions, through your life.

Salvation from any troubles and misfortunes

If you read “Our Father” 40 times a day, then a person will be protected from any disaster, storm, human aggression, accident and even inevitable death, as was the case more than once during the war.

It was noticed that after reading this prayer 40 times, all bad people disappeared from the environment. And many of them seemed to improve, becoming kinder to this person.

There are many examples of how this prayer saved people from death in war. Those soldiers who, even in terrible conditions, whispered holy words, remained alive in the most brutal battles.

Many people note how pronouncing words forty times heals mental and physical ailments. Why is this happening? By reading strong words 40 times, a person gains peace of mind. Discontent, anger, despondency, and aggression leave his heart.

Following a change in mental state, various diseases are cured. Treatment occurs in the mind, so not only the head is healed, but also the body. Gradually, the mind is “re-educated”, freeing itself from negative thoughts. Healing practice touches the deep layers of consciousness, changing a person for the better.

“People hardly pray”

At the end of our article I would like to cite an excerpt from the wonderful short book of Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov): “Our Father. The Lord's Prayer."

“The reason for the daring attempt to write an interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer was an accidental circumstance. One person, even of a non-Orthodox confession (but deeply sympathetic to Holy Orthodoxy), observing the modern “Christian” society of different confessions, came to a sad and horrifying fact: people almost do not pray! The whole world is entangled in insoluble questions of various kinds. Everyone is worried and expecting even worse disasters. Everyone is looking for world node resolutions. And they almost do not pray to God for help in such great disasters... Moreover, believers of different directions, even those who profess themselves openly Christians, still seek solutions to painful questions in the same ways as non-believers of different levels, that is, with the mind, politics, war, agreements, and not prayer to the Wise. Even worse, while declaring themselves believers, people in their constant daily life either do not pray at all, or limit themselves to visiting their parish churches on certain holidays (if they still do so).

Some time has come for “empty” faith! Even if they “talk” about God, they do not pray to Him, as if He does not exist in general, and for them in particular. If before they repeated the words of the Apostle James: “Faith without works is dead,” now we have to add: “Faith without prayer is dead.” Prayer disappears from life. And such devastation of the soul led this person into a painful, terrible state: if they don’t pray, then things are bad! Looking for some kind of spiritual outlet that would correspond to the ordinary rules of an ordinary individual, this person decided to publish a book about prayer. To do this, it settled on the Lord's Prayer. The reasons are clear. Firstly, the authority of this prayer is exceptional: it was given to the world by God Himself, our Savior Jesus Christ. This means you need to pray. Secondly, this prayer is the most common among Christians. Thirdly, it is common to different Churches. And fourthly - and this is the most important thing - in this prayer the Lord pointed out to humanity the content of our prayers - how and what to pray for. No one will dare to object on this issue, for the God-Man Himself gave such and not another prayer. This is how one should pray...”

Prepared by Alexander OKONISHNIKOV, “WORD OF HONEST”
Click to support “WORD OF HONEST”

The healing power of the Lord's Prayer

What does miraculous prayer help with? If you want to cleanse your soul and body from various ailments, then slowly, pronouncing and grasping the meaning of each word, read the text. Soon you will feel help coming to you from the Almighty.

Let us list those ailments for which people actually received healing.

Oncology is considered an incurable disease, but patients recovered by reading the text 14 times daily. It is necessary to read for 18-40 days, moving your hands clockwise over the tumor, raising your hands 35 centimeters above the tumor.
If you recite it 12 times daily, rolling it out with a chicken egg for the bad month during this lunar phase, then the cancerous tumor will disappear. Then these eggs must be burned.
It will remove the evil eye if you read it three times in the morning every day.
Reading over a non-healing wound helps to heal quickly and not fester.
By reading over the patient 12 times, crossing him with a cross from top to bottom, you can drive out demons and werewolves. The patient should lie on his back.
When entering a new apartment or house, in order to burn information about the previous owners, clean things and furniture, you need to say the text 5 times in each room.
Heals the mentally ill. It is necessary to say the text 12 times when there is no moon in the sky. In this case, the words of the prayer should be placed on the top of the patient’s head and stand behind him.
For sore joints, tie a sheet of paper with text written downwards to the joint.
For enuresis over a wet bed, say 5 times.
Reading for 2 hours a day helps cure stuttering.
Read on vodka 35 times and give it to a patient with alcoholism to drink. Choose a time for the debilitated moon.
Read 9 times over red wine and drink 3 sips per day. Helps in the treatment of kidneys, heart, bladder, liver.

Time for reading in case of illness (read three times):

for gastrointestinal diseases after 17-00;
teeth - 14-16-00;
kidneys 16-00-17-00;
head diseases - 12-00-17-00.

Reading the text 5 times, sweeping them out with three larch branches will help drive insects out of the house.

How to Summon Success

By reading the prayer and believing in success, you will definitely achieve what you have in mind. But you can make your own amulet for good luck. He will protect and help in all good deeds.

The amulet with the text “Our Father” should be made in this way:

Take a small sheet of white paper.
Sprinkle it with holy water.
Wrap your cross in paper, squeeze it in your hands, while saying “Our Father” three times.
Then, using a red pen, write the text of this powerful prayer on that piece of paper.
Roll the leaf several times and always carry it with you. Such a talisman will protect you from all misfortunes and lead to success.

You have heard more than once what miracles happen to those who pray with faith. It saves some from an accident, helps others pass exams, and still others are healed from serious illnesses.

Dear friends, believe that the power of the Lord’s Prayer will help you too. Say it daily, with faith and love, then God will hear you!

Alive in Help

The prayer “Alive in Help” is Psalm 90. Most often, protective prayer is used in a dangerous situation, when a threat arises. The main point is that hope in God has irresistible power, helps, protects and saves. If a person lives by faith and hope in God, he will find in him a protector from all evils and misfortunes in life.

Prayer text

Living in the help of the Most High, he will settle in the shelter of the Heavenly God. Says the Lord: Thou art my Protector and my Refuge, my God, and I trust in Him. For He will deliver you from the snare of the trap, and from rebellious words, His splash will overshadow you, and under His wing you hope: His truth will surround you with weapons.

Do not be afraid from the fear of the night, from the arrow that flies during the day, from the thing that passes in darkness, from the cloak, and from the demon at noon. Thousands will fall from your country, and darkness will be at your right hand, but it will not come close to you, otherwise you will look at your eyes, and you will see the reward of sinners.

For You, O Lord, are my hope, You have made the Most High your refuge. Evil will not come to you, and wound will not approach your body, as His Angel commanded you to keep you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their arms, but not when you dash your foot on a stone, step on an asp and a basilisk, and cross a lion and a serpent. For I have trusted in Me, and I will deliver, and I will cover, and because I have known My name. He will call to Me, and I will hear him: I am with him in sorrow, I will overcome him, and I will glorify him, I will fill him with long days, and I will show him My salvation.