If you were anything like me growing up in a family where you went to church weekly, you may recall being instructed to recite the Lord’s Prayer repeated ad nauseum. This practice often involved reciting it monotonously, devoid of genuine emphasis, heart or meaning. Jesus presented the Lord’s Prayer to his followers as a foundational guide for prayer, intended to be used as blueprint for your own prayers, rather than to be recited mechanically just so you could tick off another item on you daily todo list. It is essential to personalize the Lord’s Prayer to reflect the evolving circumstances of your life. As your life experiences and needs change, so should the words and emphasis of your prayers, ensuring they resonate meaningfully with where you currently stand in life. For example, repeating the lord’s prayer tells us to forgive those who trespass against us.. However, who are we naming when we recite these words? If you’re mindlessly droning on with your prayer, probably nobody. Instead, replace those words with the actual persons you’re forgiving. “I forgive John Smith for being passive aggressive at work today. I forgive the Uber driver for having an attitude problem.”
Asking our father to lead us not into temptation, is where you’d want to name specific weaknesses that you want help avoiding/defeating. Ask for divine help to be led away from the temptation to act selfishly or to cave into whatever your typical egotistical weaknesses are. Be sure to name those specific weaknesses in your prayers. An example, would be “Father, lead me away from the temptation to engage people in arguments”. For each person those temptations will be different. Maybe, you want more help being selfless and thoughtful towards others. You will receive that help.
The Original Lord’s Prayer:
- Our father (God / The Universe) who is in heaven… (Remember Jesus states that Heaven is present and accessible within all of us. Accessing it is a reawakening to our total unity and oneness with all our neighbors and our father.
- You are holy. Declare your reverence and worship for God/The Universe and its awesome infinite scale and power.
- Let Your kingdom Come – We humbly ask that you bring your heavenly plane of existence to our earthly plane. Please awaken all my neighbors and myself to the blissful state of heaven present within us all. May the physical plane of existence experienced by our bodies, mirror the absolute bliss that comes from experiencing heaven from having lived the life Christ guided us to live. Please help us awaken to the truth by way of the holy spirit and adherence to your will and guidance.
- We ask that the will of our father be fulfilled, reflected and manifested in everything we do and see in the physical plane of existence we call earth.
We relinquish our ego’s inclination for control and prioritize the will of our father, to be guided by the Holy Spirit instead. By mentally declaring our relinquishment of ego-driven desires, we entrust the divine spirit to guide our paths and decisions. This act extends to placing our future under the guidance of God and the Holy Spirit, offering solace and reassurance to all who seek spiritual alignment.
- Give us this day our daily bread
(Ask God to please blessed us with sustenance and provisions, and make it a point to express your gratitude)
- Forgive us for our sins (acting out of ego/selfishness) (Our Trespasses)
Forgive us for our actions driven by ego—such as retaliation, revenge, causing harm, and inflicting pain upon others. We seek forgiveness for instances when anger, a manifestation of our ego, guided our behavior. In seeking forgiveness, it is essential to reflect on specific instances where ego-driven actions, errors, and mistakes occurred. We ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in avoiding these pitfalls in the future, recognizing that such missteps often arise when our ego dominates our thoughts and actions.
- I forgive those who have injured me (my ego) in some way…
Sincerely Announce To Our Father and Holy Spirit within your mind:
‘I acknowledge and embrace our oneness with our Father, who is God/Love. I recognize that I am interconnected with my neighbors, and that we are all unified with our Father who is God/Love. I release any attachment to individuality and separation from both my neighbors and our loving Father. I invite the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts and future in all scenarios. My body is a vessel for the Holy Spirit’s eternal presence. I release attachments to ego, identity, and material possessions, relinquishing fear of death, knowing we are in fact eternal beings united with our Father. I submit wholly to His will, prioritizing His guidance over my own desires. I forgive all who have hurt my ego and seek the Holy Spirit’s help to overcome my ego’s weaknesses. I choose to prioritize peace over conflict in every circumstance, in harmony with the natural order of peace and love that exists in the Universe. I extend blessings to all I cross paths with, recognizing our inseparable unity as siblings in God. I choose to offer help and blessings to others for spiritual enrichment, reinforcing our interconnectedness beyond ego’s illusions. Discord and division defy the Universe’s natural order of peace and love. I ask the Holy Spirit to dissolve any selfishness and narcissism within me. I reject egocentricity, dedicating myself to serving the greater whole, united with our Father, God, the Universe.’
Amen
All thought is prayer, vibrations sent out to the greater universe and received by our Father. Be mindful of all thoughts exerted by your mind and keep them as positive as possible.
The Lord’s Prayer serves as a foundational guide for personal meditation and prayer, intended to be deeply meaningful and reflective rather than mechanically recited. One common misstep among Christians is mechanically repeating the prayer without assigning personal significance to each line. This approach diminishes its intended spiritual depth and purpose.
Rather than reciting it as a generic passage, each line of the Lord’s Prayer should be infused with personal meaning, focusing on specific individuals, concerns, and spiritual reflections during meditation. It should be viewed as a customizable template or roadmap for communicating with the universe and the Holy Spirit.
Some view the Lord’s Prayer as a ritualistic chant or magical incantation, but Jesus’ intention was for it to be a sincere declaration of spiritual alignment and intention. Repeating it multiple times or as a form of penance for sins is not aligned with Jesus’ teachings. Instead, the emphasis should be on the genuine reflection and personalization of each line according to one’s own spiritual journey and understanding.
Therefore, during prayer and meditation, it is beneficial to assign personal meaning to each phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, adapting the language to resonate more authentically with individual beliefs and experiences, while remaining faithful to its core message as imparted by Jesus to his apostles.
When taking the time out to exercise the prayer that Jesus taught his followers, use this to help augment your prayers. Once again, please keep in mind that ‘forgive our trespasses and those who trespass against us’ actually represents certain things and people you should keep in mind during your prayer and not be said as a blanket statement. Make the prayer as meaningful and specific as possible.
In life, you will inevitably face situations that challenge your capacity to forgive. These moments serve as profound tests of ego, requiring humility to set aside grievances and offer forgiveness to those who have caused hurt.
The universe continually presents opportunities to assess our attachment to ego. Whether it’s the sting of a passive-aggressive remark or feelings of entitlement when confronted with inconvenience, these are signals that our ego is asserting itself. Recognizing these moments as cues to forgive—whether immediately or during prayer and meditation later in the day—is crucial.
Forgiveness involves letting go of resentment towards those who have wounded our ego. It’s a gradual process that diminishes ego over time. During prayer, deliberately forgive individuals who have hurt you, irritated you, or with whom you’ve harbored grudges. Release attachments to resentment and grievances, actively naming specific people in your mind as you forgive them. This personalized approach to forgiveness holds more meaning than a generic, rote recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, as it addresses specific conflicts and allows genuine healing to begin.
Embracing ascended higher consciousness over ego consciousness entails swiftly letting go of hurt feelings and extending forgiveness to those who may have caused them. The sensation of wounded ego serves as both a prompt for forgiveness and a clear indicator that ego is prevailing over higher spiritual awareness.
When practicing forgiveness, it’s essential to engage in honest introspection. Reflect on whether you might be guilty of the same faults you’re attributing to others. This practice aligns with Jesus’ teachings on self-examination, exemplified in “Let Ye Who Is Without Sin Cast the First Stone.” Acknowledge any projections onto others, forgive them, and seek forgiveness from the Holy Spirit for your own shortcomings. Ask for guidance in overcoming those qualities or habits that you’ve identified in yourself and criticized in others. Heightened self-awareness through this process contributes to reducing reliance on ego consciousness.
- Lead us not into temptation Lead me away from <specific temptations> Specify your biggest weaknesses here. (Ask God to help prevent you from making egotistical mistakes, to help you prevent engaging in the habits that are weighing you down spiritually and preventing you from achieving higher consciousness. Ask the holy spirit to take the wheel, take control and help you avoid those pitfalls preventing you from achieving higher consciousness)
- Deliver us from evil Because our egos often contribute significantly to our suffering, it’s understandable why many regard it as a source of negativity. Request the guidance of the Holy Spirit to alleviate you from the influence of ego consciousness, which is at the root of our pain and hardships. Seek assistance in recognizing the mistakes and pitfalls influenced or provoked by your ego, including actions driven by anger or hate—such as hate speech, selfishness, and a lack of empathy and forgiveness. Operating from an ego-centered mindset frequently leads to selfish behavior, so strive to prioritize others’ needs ahead of your own whenever possible. Remember that we are interconnected; harming others ultimately harms oneself, reflecting back on you as well. Selfishness epitomizes the ego’s complete self-centeredness. Therefore, pray to the Holy Spirit for greater empathy, selflessness, and forgiveness, relinquishing any grudges or grievances toward others. In his teachings, Jesus alludes to “the evil one,” likely referencing our egos as the source of missteps, poor decisions, and suffering in life.
- For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever.
(God, you are literally everything and everything I see is yours. I surrender to the will of God/the universe by welcoming the holy spirit, as opposed to my ego thoughts)
Amen.
Specific things to ask the Holy Spirit to help during sporadic meditative moments of the day. Say them verbatim or your own words:
- Ask the holy spirit to help you purge all fears you have. You should be fearless when you rely completely on the universe and the holy spirit for guidance.
- Holy Spirit, as you relieve me of all fear, I put all my trust in God/The Universe. Help me overcome moments of self -doubt and ego’s lies.
- Ask the holy spirit to guide you into the future and insist that the holy spirit guide you and steer you in life. Ask that the best path be revealed to you. This will alleviate anxiety about the future. An overthinking mind/ego results in incredibly anxious thoughts. Likewise, an inability to let go of the past will often lead to depression. So genuinely forgive and forget. Leave the past behind, leave the future in the hands of the holy spirit. This will help you live and remain in the present moment.
- Holy Spirit, I relinquish my ego’s desire to control everything. Please guide my words, my decisions, and my path please. I defer and yield to God’s plan for me. Especially helpful when faced with a difficult choice, the choice should be made clear when you ask. You should receive confirmation of what decision you should be making in a subtle or not so subtle way.
- In peace, I ask the holy spirit to reveal to me the obstacles, weaknesses and habits that I need to overcome. Please give me the strength to overcome them.
- Holy Spirit, as I let go of all attachments, to this body, this ego/identity, this life. Please cleanse me of these attachments.
- Holy Spirit, please help me overcome selfishness, egocentrism, lack of empathy, arrogance.
- While I accept that Jesus’ destiny was for the express purpose of teaching us a path to spiritual awakening, his directions were not to worship him. We should adopt his teachings, and only invoke the Spirit of the Universe/God and surrender to the will of the Universe during meditations/prayers. Direct your thoughts and meditations to the holy spirit, not anyone else. That’s your direct connection to the universe.
- I forgive all those who give me an attitude, make passive aggressive statements, hostile remarks, or anything said to get under my skin.
- I bless and wish only the best for those who don’t hide their dislike or hate for me. I do not reciprocate their feelings or behavior towards me. Squash all conflict with kindness.
- I ask the Holy Spirit for your help resisting revenge, retaliation, anything out of spite.
- Holy Spirit, please help me be a more considerate, thoughtful, selfless person with the strength to not take bait to fight, engage in arguments, or retaliate.
- I ask the universe to forgive me when I have been self-centered and selfish. Help shed me any attachment to material things, money and forgive me for not helping others out as much as I should. Please help me overcome these habits and become more selfless, giving and thoughtful of others.
- In peace, I let go of attachments to any outcomes or how the universe will fulfill my request. I would like this for my life, and I defer to the will of the Universe in how it is fulfilled.
- I am thankful for the people in my life that genuinely care about me and put me before themselves. I ask the Holy Spirit to fill me with that same empathy and caring for others as well.
- In peace I relinquish all attachment to free will as I ask the spirit of the universe to lead the way and guide me to the best possible path. I surrender and yield to the will of the universe
- I am not superior to my brothers and sisters, I let go of any arrogance and ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse me of it. We are brothers and sisters equally one with the universe.
- Holy Spirit, I let go of idolization, excessive love and attachment to persons, musicians and material things. Please reveal these idolizations.
- Forgive me for my egotistical transgressions, arrogance, excessive pride, and moments of vanity, help me overcome these habits.
- In peace, I let go of any excessive and egotistical pride. All things I accomplish, is thanks to your grace and guidance.
- Father, forgive me for being judgmental religious folks who deviate from your stated path. I let go of all judgments of them and forgive them.
- I ask the Holy Spirit to heal me and release me from the habit of arguing and debating just to feed my ego by feeling right or superior.
- In peace, I let go of all fear of death and accept it as an inevitability. We are eternal and there is no death. I let go of all fear of death and attachment to this life. I will start a new life as another human incarnation of the universe.
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