The Lord's Prayer Is Misunderstood
According to the Bible, God only sees us as one of these, nothing in-between:
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Sins forgiven daily = Righteous
Flooded with God's blessings!
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Sins not forgiven daily = "Wicked" and "evildoer"
No matter how nice a person you are!! Living in a world in random motion.
Matthew 7:18-23
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, ... I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 6:33
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Forget what you want to ask God. When you learn the proper relationship with God and how to get your sins forgiven daily, you will be blasted with more blessings from God than you can imagine! And will truly be saved.
Content
1. The Daily Bread of Life
2. Must Forgive Others - The Lord's Prayer Comes with a Non-negotiable Condition
3. Your Kingdom Come
4. Lead Us Not Into Temptations
5. The Complete Lord's Prayer Explanation Summary
6. Did Jesus Give Us the Pattern to Pray? Or Use His Words?
7. The Overlooked Commandment
8. How Does the Lord's Prayer Fit with the Catholic Eucharist?
9. Closing Notes
10. Bible references supporting this clarification of the "daily Bread of life"
Summary
Churches, theologians, and internet sources went in all kinds of wrong directions misinterpreting the Lord's Prayer. The most essential part of God's new covenant has been ignored and destroyed over the years by completely missing the meaning! In this page I provide strong biblical references showing how precious every word in this prayer is.
Examples of missed meanings:
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The "daily Bread" - is Jesus Himself - the spiritual Bread of life that God gives us by faith, for the forgiveness of our sins.
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"Your kingdom come" - means "give us the Holy Spirit". Luke 18:17 “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
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"As we forgive those who trespass against us" - God strictly means it; it is not negotiable! If we don't forgive everyone, He won't forgive us!
The Lord's prayer involves all 3 Persons of the Trinity, and is essential for our proper daily relationship with God as He intended, and our spiritual sustenance - We ask God the Father, to send the Holy Spirit to reside in us, and to give us the Bread of life, Jesus Himself, for the forgiveness of our sins.
1. The Daily Bread of Life
Jesus said that His sacrifice on the cross turned into a "Bread of life" that we need daily, by faith, in order to become forgiven of our sins and remain righteous in the eyes of God, receive His blessings, and truly be saved.
Question: Why did Jesus tell us to pray His prayer for the forgiveness of our sins daily? If we're covered by the blood, saved by grace, born again, and predestined, nothing else to do, why did He say to ask the Father for the forgiveness of our sins every day?
Answer: Our sins are only forgiven on a daily basis and when asked properly as Jesus commanded. Covered by the blood, saved by grace, and predestined, are only true if we've been praying the Lord's Prayer daily.
No blanket forgiveness for life! Yes, Jesus paid the price once and for all, which meant no more sacrifices needed. But asking God for forgiveness of sins is still required daily, according to Jesus.
1 John 2:4
“The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and yet doesn’t keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
The Lord's prayer, from the Bible:
Matthew 6:9-13
Jesus said: This then, is how you should pray:
Our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Three main problems with Christians and churches today:
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Most think the "bread" is our earthly needs. It's not! The "Bread" is the spiritual Bread of life, for the forgiveness of sins. John 6:32 Jesus: "...my Father gives you the true Bread from heaven."
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Most are not praying the Lord's Prayer "daily" as Jesus commanded, "Give us this day our daily bread". The Bible says God renews us day by day. And He also desires to hear from us daily, and properly. If you think Jesus gave us the pattern to pray, see Section 6 below.
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Protestants think this page is a Catholic thing and doesn't concern them. I want to cry! So many are lost! Protestant theologians explained this as, "Jesus meant it only for the Jews". But they missed this verse from Jesus, Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, ... and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. "Go to all nations and teach them to obey everything I commanded you!" But Protestant churches cannot obey this verse. Because to pray the Lord's Prayer daily would be contradicting to their "do nothing" theology!!
This part is 1 sentence, not 2:
“Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
There was no punctuation in the original Aramaic Bible version. Verse-numbering and punctuation were added later. And in this case, they were done based on the "bread" = earthly needs.
The forgiveness of sins is the result of receiving the Bread for that day!!!
The Bread is Jesus Himself - the spiritual Bread of life that God gives:
John 6:33-35:
33 For the Bread of God is the Bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this Bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the Bread of life..."
If you're not praying this prayer with the Bread meaning the spiritual Bread of life for the forgiveness of sins, then you're just asking God for lunch! And you remain in your sins!
Jesus, God Himself in the flesh, comes to earth and walks among us, the grandest event in the history of humankind, and He teaches us how to pray for food?!! As in we didn't know how to ask God for food; He had to show us?!! And then most people ignored it as, "Jesus is showing us how to be humble and just ask for the basic necessities of life..." So most people and churches are not praying this prayer! Even the Catholic church, although they recite it in their mass, would not acknowledge "the bread" = "the Bread of life". Obviously because, it makes it a DIY version of their Eucharist. Which would belittle their bishops' and priests' roles - if people can receive the Bread of life at home by directly praying to God, then they won't come to church and donate! See Section 8 below on how the Lord's Prayer relates to the Eucharist.
The Lord's Prayer daily is one of Jesus' commands. John 14:15: If you love me, keep my commands.
Jesus word-smithed the words in the Lord's Prayer perfectly. Which is consistent with what God did throughout history:
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After the fall God was the One that taught Adam and Eve how to present a sacrifice fitting to Him so He could forgive their sins.
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God was the One that crafted the Leviticus law to Moses that had to be executed precisely for the daily forgiveness of sins.
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And finally God was the One that word-smithed the Lord’s Prayer for the daily forgiveness of sins.
So how Exactly do we Receive this "Bread of life"?
It is not actual bread to chew on, it is a spiritual Bread, that we receive by faith, representing the physical suffering and death of Jesus' on the cross on our behalf. It is this part: "substitutionary death on our behalf" that mandates eating the "Bread of life" daily in order to be forgiven and receive the Holy Spirit daily - John 6:53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. We eat this Bread by faith when we genuinely pray the Lord's Prayer and mean it correctly - when we mean it in our hearts that the Bread is indeed the "Bread of life", for our forgiveness. This will "renew us day by day" 2 Corinthians 4:16. Which is the same way God commanded the Jewish priests, in the old covenant, to eat the sacrifice daily for the forgiveness of the people's sins. See my page Christianity & Judaism - A Parallel.
**For Catholics, see Section 8 below on how the Lord's Prayer relates to the Eucharist.
"The Bread is Both Earthly Needs & Spiritual Needs"?
NO IT IS NOT. Trying to include more meanings into it, as in, one of them will hit it right, shows lack of knowledge of God! Only one meaning - the Bread is the body of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus always used the word "Bread" to mean His flesh. He would never instruct us to pray for earthly bread. Examples, in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:31-33: “...don’t worry about earthly needs, but seek God first…”. And in John 6:26-27: "... Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you...". Also see all the Biblical references below, in this section.
2. Must Forgive Others - Those who Don't Forgive Others Are Not Forgiven = "Evildoers"!!
Pay attention "by-faith-aloners", "Catholic confessions-penalty prayers", and Calvinists, Jesus did not just casually tell us to pray His prayer, he went on stressing that if we don't forgive others then God would not forgive us. The prayer specifically says to forgive others, then Jesus re-stressed it in this verse:
Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive other people when they trespass against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Notes: If we don't forgive others we remain as "evildoers" in the eyes of God - there is no such thing as "I'm not that bad".
We must forgive others in order to receive forgiveness and God's blessings!! God singled-out this one common human behavior as a non-negotiable condition. Did Jesus mean this for the Jews only? Obviously not! How many people do you know that truly forgive everybody? And how many therefore are forgiven by God and have the Holy Spirit? Every day we're not forgiven, we distance ourselves from God. And when we distance ourselves from God, we will not receive His blessings. The longer we go without forgiveness, the worse it gets.
Then Jesus further kept stressing "forgiving others" by dedicating a whole parable to it, in Matthew 18:21-35!
And also in this reference where Jesus was telling His disciples why they could not perform a certain miracle:
Mark 11:24-25
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
No wonder there is no peace on earth! All we have today is Christianity people's way, not God's way!!
Why would anyone want to pray to Mary and other dead people? Why is this prayer not preached in churches today? Why do we ignore Jesus, OUR GOD, and not pray it daily?
3. Your Kingdom Come
"Your Kingdom Come" means "Give us the Holy Spirit"
Luke 17:21 Jesus: "...the kingdom of God is within you."
Luke 18:17 “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
In this verse, Jesus used the term "kingdom of God" with 2 distinct meanings: (1) Something we receive - the Holy Spirit, and (2) a place to enter.
God gives us the Holy Spirit on a daily basis! Before you frown at this because your church does not explain it this way, take a moment to look at the strong Bible references I provide here.
Jesus explained it a few verses after His prayer in Luke:
Luke 11:13
Jesus said: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
Notes: This, "...your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" is a clear reference to the "your kingdom come" in the Lord's Prayer a few verses before; Jesus in this verse was continuing His explanation of His Prayer in Luke 11:2-4. So, God is giving the Holy Spirit, “to those who ask Him”. This is how we become filled with the Holy Spirit; it's daily!! And only when we ask!!! No wonder no one is filled with the Holy Spirit anymore!
2 Corinthians 4:16 Paul said: …our inner Person is being renewed day by day.
Notes: "Our inner Person" is the Holy Spirit!! We receive Him day by day!! How? By praying to God and asking for Him, daily!
This also correlates with the "deliver us from evil" part at the end, which makes the entirety of the Lord's Prayer as saying - don't let evil find room in us, but instead fill us with the Holy Spirit. God chose to do this on a "daily" basis.
Jesus explained the term "Kingdom of God" in several different situations, contexts, and parables. So yes, it is not a simple term with a simple meaning. Jesus gave several parables explaining it. One of those meanings was always when He Himself was there - He would say, "the Kingdom of God has come near." So, the Kingdom of God can also be used to mean any of the 3 persons of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, either in unison or individually. Example in this verse when He sent the 72, filled with the Holy Spirit, to perform miracles and drive out demons:
Luke 10:8-9
“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.'
The Holy Spirit - one of His roles as revealed to us, is to reside in bodies as a representation of God within us. Jesus used this exact meaning of "Kingdom of God" = "the Holy Spirit" within us, here:
Luke 17:20-21
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.
So receiving the kingdom of God, is equivalent to entering it. Jesus said don't look for it, the kingdom of God is within us. When we're truly filled with the Holy Spirit, it feels as if we're in heaven! For those who never experienced this, they don't understand what I'm saying.
2 Corinthians 5:5
...God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
4. Lead Us Not Into Temptations
We ask You not to test us with temptation, which may cause us to ignore the Holy Spirit and allow worldly spirits in instead.
God may choose to test us, by "leading us into temptation". Our life on earth is test ground for God. He started testing people all the way back at Adam and Eve times. He put the tree there and led them into temptation. The devil in a snake form tempted them, and they failed; fell into his trap.
How do I know this is the meaning of this sentence? I diligently study the Bible. God even led His own Son into temptation. The strongest biblical evidence to the meaning of this term is here:
Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
If you read the rest of Matthew chapter 4, you'll see the devil luring Jesus into all kinds of earthly temptations for agreeing to worshiping him. Very similar to the Adam and Eve story. This was God, "the Spirit", "leading Jesus into temptation!" - So "a Holy God does not lead people into temptation?" Think again, He does. If He did it to His own Son, He'll do it to you. Jesus did not fall in the devil's trap, but we likely would! So pray that God does not lead you into temptation.
Sure God already knows the results. He leads people into temptation to show them what He already knows. There are two cases for this:
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The case of Jesus - The Spirit led Jesus to temptation. Why would God do this? Jesus is a part of Him! God did it to show us, that Jesus did not fail. And that Jesus is indeed the sinless Messiah; the perfect first born sacrifice for our sins.
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The case of the rest of people on earth - We, being not Jesus, will always fail. Although God already knows the results, He may choose to lead us into temptation to show us that we failed. This also saves Him any arguing we may try to do at judgement day. This is why He selectively leads some into temptation, because He already knows the ending. But obviously according to Jesus, we may be able to change His mind when we ask Him not to.
For true Christians, "temptation" = the temptation to leave God and join the world and its ungodly ways.
All people sin. This doesn't mean true Christians are constantly led into temptation by God. God is not majorly concerned with our sins of the flesh because as long as we stay with Him, He can forgive us those. He is most concerned about us leaving Him, example, eventually becoming Atheist. If we start slowly wandering into the evil ways of this world - riches and worries of life, and the social media influence of today, a person can deteriorate into leaving God eventually. This is the major concern of God. He gives us a 100-year lifespan to choose to converge on Him, not diverge away.
Jesus used the term "fall into temptation" in another place, which helps us understand the meaning better.
Matthew 26:40-41
Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” He asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation...”
Obviously, Jesus here did not instruct Peter to guard from temptation of sins of the flesh. He asked him to keep praying to remain 100% focused on God in this crucial hour Jesus was going through. However, they did fall into temptation later; Peter for example giving into the worldly scene around him, denied Jesus 3 times shortly after!
5. The Complete Lord's Prayer Explanation Summary
Our Father who are in heaven:
Getting God's attention with a respectful parental term of endearment.
Hollowed be Your Name:
May Your name always be Holy and respected.
Your Kingdom come:
Give us the Holy Spirit to reside within us. (Interpretation unknown to most)
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven:
We submit to your will.
Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our sins:
Give us our daily "Bread of Life" for the forgiveness of sins, so we "wash our robes" and become "righteous." (Interpretation unknown to most)
As we forgive those who trespass against us:
Acknowledging that unless we forgive others, we would not be forgiven. Meaning we would not become "righteous" for that day and would not receive the Holy Spirit. (Interpretation unknown to most)
Lead us not into temptation:
We ask You not to test us with temptation, which may cause us to ignore the Holy Spirit and allow worldly spirits in instead.
But deliver us from evil:
Keep evil away from us. Don't let it find room in us, or grab hold within us, but instead fill us with the Holy Spirit.
6. Jesus Gave Us the Pattern to Pray? Or Use His Words?
6.1 You say "Jesus Gave Us the Pattern to Pray"
And thinking, "Surely God did not want us to recite these exact same words every day?" And you want to use your own wording? Yes you can use your own words, but why?
When you fully understand the meaning of each word, you wouldn't want to say it any other way!
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As you can see in the summary above, the prayer is loaded with precious meanings directed to God. Every word in this prayer is perfectly word-smithed by Jesus, so that "He remains in us and we remain in Him". Without these exact prayer-words we'd be leaves on the Vine that wither and die (spiritually), as Jesus explained in His parable. We need to learn that Christianity is not "be creative" and "anything goes". God demands respect. He commanded to pray this prayer. You ignore it and get creative, shows arrogance - makes you the opposite of the humble person God is interested in.
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Which of the words do you want to modify? Or find synonyms for and say differently? Or which part of the prayer do you want to omit today?
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You see, you cannot receive God's Kingdom (the Holy Spirit) for today, unless your sins have been forgiven through the Bread of life?
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And you will not be forgiven of your sins and receive God's blessings, unless you forgive others!
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How do YOU prefer to say it? Anything you answer this question with, will make you an arrogant person not genuinely seeking God. But rather seeking to look sophisticated and different, so people admire you. The focus is on God, not on you! And God loves the prayer exactly as it is.
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We need not think of this prayer as a legal requirement, as in the law of Moses. It is rather a "pure love" prayer, and "proper worship" directed to our heavenly Father. It is the minimum we should do, springing from within as a true believer, to obey Jesus' commands.
6.2 The Lord's Prayer prayed once a day is not a repetitive "babbling on" prayer. Look at what Jesus said:
Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Those who tell you it is repetitive and against Bible teaching are still trying to defend their church!! This format of the Lord’s Prayer once a day, is 100% consistent with the Bible teaching and God’s previous plan for the Jews, which was sacrifices daily, that they also had to eat for the forgiveness of their sins. For thousands of years, every day, God had them repeat this same process daily. For what? For the forgiveness of their sins. And they did it! Without complaining!! And now, for us, Jesus' sacrifice is final; no more daily sacrifices, instead we have the same daily prayer.
Jesus said in the Bible (not me), that His sacrifice turned into a Bread of life that we ask for daily. Then how did the people of today receive this amazing news? They don't want it! I keep getting emails from people complaining about it!! - "Do I have to keep saying the same words every day?!" and "Are you basing your whole website on the Lord's Prayer? Really?" Listen to me. God in the Bible is basing His whole redemption plan on the Lord's Prayer!! and I clarify accordingly!! I hear His words and I explain them, to those who have ears that hear.
Regardless of whether we use King James Bible version that says, "...in this manner you should pray...", or NIV Bible version that says, "... this is how you should pray...", the "daily" requirement to pray is still Jesus command. He said "daily", you want to change it to "monthly" because King James said "in this manner"???!!! Who is even preaching to pray Christ's prayer in this manner today. It is completely ignored!!! No one is even close to praying it in this manner. This is Christ's prayer, are we Christians??!!
7. The Overlooked Commandment
God in His infinite wisdom did not give us a simple fully explained Bible written in precise chronology etc. Instead, He purposely kept it vague - Jesus spoke in parables giving hints of what He meant without giving the full message. Old Testament prophets embedded crucial messages within long chapters of prophesying. Example Isaiah would include 2 sentences about the Messiah in a completely unrelated paragraph (example, they pierced His hands). God chose to make us work for it:
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
And Jesus gave us enough hints to interpret the Lord's Prayer properly!! We must forget the years of church brainwashing. Set that aside for a moment and look close at all the undisputable Bible references I provided here. Your church did not go there because it contradicts their theology!! Act wisely before you send yourself to hell.
Jesus commanded us to pray this prayer daily as God's new covenant. It does not matter when He did it or to whom He gave it. THIS IS GOD! telling us what to do to be reconciled to Him on a daily basis, and truly be saved!!
8. How Does the Lord's Prayer Fit with the Catholic Eucharist?
The Eucharist is not required for forgiveness of sins, it is a commemorating activity. The Lord's Prayer daily, is required for forgiveness of sins.
Our God, after getting us out of the physical-based Moses law, would never re-introduce another "physical" requirement of "chewing on actual bread" to forgive our sins. No! It is a spiritual Bread of life that we eat by faith when we genuinely pray the Lord's Prayer daily, and mean it correctly.
The term "Eucharist" does not exist in the English Bible. It is a Greek word that simply means, "thanksgiving". But the Catholic church used "Eucharist" (instead of thanksgiving) to sound sophisticated and mysterious.
Luke 22:14-19
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
What is the Eucharist? It is based on the above Bible reference. Jesus meant it as a commemorating event for generations to come. He specifically said, "...do this in remembrance of me." It is to be similar to Passover and Christmas. It is not THE required steps for forgiveness of sins! But the Catholic church misunderstood as always, like they did with the Purgatory and "Mary mother of God" doctrines.
How do I know the Eucharist is not the requirement for sin-cleansing? 3 reasons:
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Because what Jesus said at the last supper was only meant as a commemorating event, "do this in remembrance of Me..." God's new covenant is 100% faith-based - He would not re-introduce a physical requirement, Moses-law-style!! As in, you must find a priest to give you bread to chew on to become saved!!
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Because it is not in line with the Lord's Prayer - Jesus instructed us to ask for the Bread of life for forgiveness of sins daily, spiritually by faith. And daily is the method consistent with God's previous covenant. And consistent with other scripture from Paul, example renewed day by day.
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Because God's condition for forgiveness is, you have to forgive others to have your sins forgiven. Not the penalty the priest gives you at confessions - of reciting Hail Mary 20 times. The Lord's Prayer words are the key to daily renewal, sin-forgiveness, and receiving the Holy Spirit.
What was the related scripture from Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34? It was a Lord's-supper-commemorating activity by the early church. Paul repeated what Jesus said "do this in remembrance of Me". Then Paul further explained that those individuals "participating in an unworthy manner became sick or even died. Because it became a judgement on them." In other words, these individuals did not forgive/love others, and yet still participated in this Jesus-commemorating activity.
Today it is much worse than Paul's time. Catholic/Orthodox people today are still not forgiving others but expecting to be blessed by receiving the Eucharist at church on Sunday, because they fulfilled the penalty of reciting Hail Mary 20 times, as instructed by the priest at "confessions" prior to participating. This is completely unbiblical and strongly contrary to the Lord's Prayer!
Commemorating the last supper as Jesus asked, is a Holy event that we should all do. Although Paul seemed to do it with the early church on Sundays to keep them focused on the newly learned Gospel, Jesus did not give any guidance on how often. I believe a commemorating activity can be yearly - at Easter celebration, is the perfect time for it. And we can do it in our own gatherings as explained in How to Be True Christians, just as Jesus did with His disciples. Someone in the group can read the Luke 22:14-19 scripture, break bread and divide among the rest and have a cup of red wine with it, in remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice. But it is to be understood as such, not the requirement for sin-cleansing.
The Catholic church confused people about this whole subject, monopolized the Bread of life, and made it a requirement to come to church to receive it through their "mysterious" Eucharist, to boost donations. But Jesus offered it freely in His prayer! The proper way to receive the spiritual Bread of life is daily; DAILY is the exact frequency Jesus commanded. You don't need to chew on anything to be saved. More on this in Why Didn't Paul Preach the Lord's Prayer?
9. Closing Notes
This is a pivotal change in the way the Lord's Prayer has been taught. It now takes on a whole different meaning - we spiritually receive the Bread of life when we ask for it daily, so He remains in us and we remain in Him John 15:5, renewed day by day 2Corinthians 4:16, and we all share the one loaf 1Corinthians 10:17. With this understanding putting us back on track with God, so many other verses in the New Testament fit perfectly. All we have to do is say this prayer in our hearts once a day, then we will spiritually receive the "daily Bread of life", be blessed in our life on earth, and saved to eternal life. It is spiritual sustenance.
Churches went down all kinds of wrong paths and missed this most important command from Jesus. They chose instead to pray to Mary, do-nothing "by faith alone", or God already mysteriously picked people!! Hundreds of years of false teaching on the Lord's Prayer subject. Hundreds of years of telling people anything and everything except pray the Lord's Prayer daily. How could we have possibly missed this? Christian theology colleges and hundreds of years of studying and preaching in churches. But no one saw this? The Bible references shown below, are not hard to find. What are people studying in those Seminary colleges, and in Catholic theology schools? This prayer is the very heart of God's redemption plan through Jesus!!
Are you thinking "this interpretation of the Lord's Prayer can't possibly be right; could it possibly be that churches and millions of people have missed this truth for hundreds of years?" Yes, it is very possible. Don't look at people around you; look at God in the Bible. It is not about how many intelligent people were involved. The question is, who had wisdom from God? Here is a nice, related story about Elijah in this link on my website. And also consider this reference:
Matthew 7:13-4
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Notes: What is the "narrow gate that leads to life"? It means only a small percentage of people are truly seeking God, and will make it into heaven. Are you in that number? Don't be angry with me for pointing this out. All I'm doing is poke everybody to look again. Herd mentality is the "wide gate", it is not the way to God.
10. Bible references supporting this clarification of the "daily Bread of life"
“Bread” = "Bread of life" = "Jesus Himself"
1 Corinthians 10:17
Paul said: …there is one loaf… we all share the one loaf.
2 Corinthians 4:16
Paul said: …our inner person is being renewed day by day.
Notes: Paul did not reference the Lord's Prayer verbatim because the New Testament was not written yet in his days, but he alluded to it in these 2 verses above.
I reluctantly highlighted the above verses from Paul; I know some would not accept it unless Paul said it. So sad that people allowed their protestant church to brainwash them like this. Don't they know that Jesus is God and Paul is His apostle? And not the other way around?!!
John 6:57
Jesus: …the one who “feeds” on me…
Notes: Using the term “feeds” implying continual. As in [… give us this day our daily Bread…]
John 6:32-33, John 6:51
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” “For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
Notes: "The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh", the world, not just to His Jewish disciples!
John 15:5
Jesus said: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
Notes: The branch is continually nourished by the Vine. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. Without the Lord’s Prayer daily, a branch will wither and die.
Luke 11:13
Jesus said: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
Notes: Jesus said this right after he taught them His prayer, in Luke 11:2-4.
John 6:26-27
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Notes: Jesus said this after they had been looking for Him all day because they were hungry, then found Him. Another big evidence that the "earthly bread", is not it in the Lord's prayer.
John 6
(The entire second half of Chapter 6 from John is all about this. And this was before His death on the cross. Example verses here):
"51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me."
Notes: The Jews did not get it then. Jesus knowing they did not get it, kept drilling it in with more of actual eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood throughout the chapter. And today you'd think we got it! But most churches and people still don't understand it. At best some churches just call it: "basically He died for our sins..." or some other high-level statement like that to shut those who keep asking. But no one knew to link it to the "daily Bread" in the Lord's prayer! You see, God requires that we eat the sacrifice in order to be forgiven - see my page on Christianity & Judaism - A parallel. Jesus said, "real flesh" and "real blood", meaning representing His physical suffering and death, which then became "the Bread of life" that we eat when we pray the Lord's Prayer and mean it correctly. Which is our daily spiritual requirement that provides our continuous feeding on Him (John 6:57). And keeping Him in us, and us in Him (John 15:4). And no this does not mean go to the nearest Catholic church to chew on their Eucharist bread; it is spiritual - we receive the Bread when we genuinely pray the Lord's Prayer in our hearts. As Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 11, churches can do a commemoration of the Lord's last supper, not to be viewed as the way to forgiveness of sins. The Lord's Prayer daily renewal is the way.
If you can't understand what Jesus said in John chapter 6, and you can't follow this explanation of it, then you're not capable of true Christian faith. This is so big, a crucial Biblical scripture that now has become correctly interpreted, not to be taken lightly.
The above references in John and Luke were all before Jesus' death on the cross. So, Jesus before the cross was clearly already using the term "Bread" to mean His body in all these references, and therefore also in His Prayer.
10.1 Other Supporting Notes
If you examine the original Aramaic version of this prayer, you’ll find two important facts:
1. No punctuation. Punctuation was added later in the translation. And in this case, the translators thinking that the bread is earthly food, did not capture the right meaning and made an error by adding a period between “…daily Bread” and “and forgive us…” There should be no punctuation there. Not because I said so, but because of all the Bible references above that support this.
2. There are different words that people use for "sin" (e.g., debts, trespasses), but "sin" is the word that should be used when referring to God. We trespass against humans, but we “sin” against God! "Trespasses" and "debts" are soft words that lessen the significance of the offense, but when it comes to God, it is a deadly offense; proper word for it is “sins”. Jesus used the word “sins” throughout the scripture, not “trespasses” (example in John 9:41). So it’s not “… forgive us our trespasses…” It is “… forgive us our sins…”
(Continued from above sections.) Other Confusions about the Daily Bread
Some say, "Jesus gave them this prayer before He died on the cross. So the "bread" couldn't possibly be His body at that point." Well, look closer. John Chapter 6, for example, the 2nd half of that chapter is all about Jesus telling people that they needed to eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to be saved. And that was Jesus before He died. There is no before and after for God; He is "I Am". Sits outside of time.
And others say, "what's the difference? as long as we pray the prayer." There is a huge difference! Our spiritual communication with God is about what we mean. The words are meaningless unless we mean what they are in our hearts. Then others may say, "He didn't mean for us to use those exact words." Why would we change them? They look perfect to me; that prayer is perfectly complete in every way. I wouldn't change anything in it. If you put your human touch on it, you would certainly destroy it! And I hear some saying, "this prayer was given to the Jews; because Jesus and His disciples were Jews." True, but that was Christianity creation in progress. All of Jesus Christ's teachings are the basis for today's Christianity. See my page on Jesus for Jews & Paul for Gentiles?.
Related Readings:
Christianity & Judaism - A Parallel