I decided to start off my study of the Lord’s Prayer from scratch. So I am approaching this prayer as best I can as if for the first time. I am trying to understand the prayer’s deepest meanings without preconceptions.

To help me do that, I have decided approach it as if I know nothing about it and am learning it for the first time. So I have been looking up even the most familiar words of the prayer in the dictionary so that I can get a fresh perspective, and hopefully get a clearer idea of what Jesus wanted us to know.

I used my Mom's old 2nd Edition Websters (1927) but I've inserted links to two different online dictionaries and an online Bible (below) for your convenience (check out the Websters 1913 definitions; they're especially interesting). It still pays to look these words up yourself though - and look for the meanings that inspire you or give you new insights. That has really helped me understand the Prayer in a fresh new light.

Lastly, I’m working with the Lord's Prayer as found in the King James Version of the Bible. I know this may not be the most current or even most correct translation to use. But it was the one Mrs. Eddy had at hand the most (though she had other translations available, she didn’t have the wealth of versions we have now) so I thought I should start there also. Note that her spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer is included (in italics) below.

As you think about the Prayer's deep spiritual meaning, I think you’ll find new inspiration and insights as you consider the many dimensions of the definitions of so many of the familiar words of the prayer. I know I certainly have.

NOTE: Mrs. Eddy understood God as “The great I Am; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence” (S&H p 587:) She considered these terms synonymous.

"Our Father which art in heaven,
Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious

"Hallowed be Thy name.
Adorable One.

"Thy kingdom come.
Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.

"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Enable us to know,--as in heaven, so on earth,--God is omnipotent, supreme.

"Give us this day our daily bread.
Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections.

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And Love is reflected in love.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

"For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All."