The Pun
The Prayer
The model prayer of Matthew 6:9-13 has an amazing shrinking power:
“Our Father in heaven" It makes us children. “Hallowed be your name" It relegates us to the relatively ordinary. “Your kingdom come" It designates us as subservient citizens. “Your will be done" It ranks our plans secondary. “Give us this day our daily bread" It makes us deeply dependent. “Forgive us our debts" It insinuates our complete poverty and “Lead us not into temptation" It confesses our proclivity for wandering.
And we live in this smallness.
There is:
No deliverance from evil that negates the need to pray against temptation, No escape from temptation that negates our need for forgiveness, No forgiveness of debt that negates our need for continual sustenance, No supply of bread that negates our need for God's superior planning, No accomplishment of His will that negates the need to bow the knee before the King, No allegiance to the Kingdom that negates the enveloping wonder of His glory, And no hallowed exepreince of His glory that negates the wonderfully small position we take as His children.
“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name"