as so often, dear nick writes something that gets me going.

our Messiah taught us how to pray.
one of the few things truly beneficial in my schooltime was the daily repetition of this Prayer.
as nick points out in a general way, this we did mindlessly by rote, which was not useful.
but it did hardwire it into my brain.

and so now, knowing what i know, it is the only prayer i pray daily.
if i may unpack it, maybe i can show you why.

the Prayer has a four-fold structure, repeated.
it contains within itself everything of importance, including the Great Commandment, in which we look to the Father, and to our fellows.

a short preamble, to help in understanding.

now i've previously also talked of the soul having four areas, and linked them to the lands the israelites journeyed on their way, which is a reflection of the Way we are to travel.
and so you know what i'm going to say next, yup, this four-fold structure reflects the Way too.
the best way to indicate what's going on is to link in the seven-fold Spirit that grows in those four areas of the soul, and because the names of jacob's first four sons by leah are the most concise description, i link them too.
the menorah's depiction of 3 pairs of arms and a stem is the manner of linking the Spirit to the areas of the soul.
so the first area, reuben - see, or egypt, or the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.
the second area, simeon - hear, or the wilderness, or the Spirit of counsel and strength/might.
the third area, levi - attach, or israel, or the Spirit of wisdom and understanding.
the fourth area, judah - praise, or jerusalem, or the Spirit of the LORD.

right now let's look at the Prayer itself.
i'm just going to type out of memory.

Our Father, Who art in heaven

hallowed be Thy Name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
give us this day our bread for being (more accurate)

and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil

so be it.

the Prayer is in a top down format, as is the description given in isaiah of the seven-fold Spirit, from 'up' there to 'down' here, as it were.
fittingly, as the Prayer is an instruction.
however, we down here work our way up, so let me explain it in that order, it makes easier sense.

we should understand that the spiritual meaning of bread is knowledge, for man does not live on bread alone, but by...?
yup, the daily bread for being, for existence, that we're asking for is really a daily dose of the Word. we need it. knowledge of the Father.
we need to SEE Him. once we see Him, He calls us out, of egypt.

the Will of the Father is expressed in the counsel He gives us, nothing less than the Torah itself. the Law.
we're asking for help in following that counsel.
to HEAR it, and respond rightly. so we can get through the wilderness to that promised land.

the Kingdom that we yearn for is one of righteousness, where justice reigns supreme, which to me is pretty much the definition of wisdom, think of solomon's possession of it, reflected most famously in his judgment over that baby.
we want to ATTACH ourselves to it, to be wise israelites in the established Kingdom of righteousness and justice that is israel.

read 1 kings 8:29.
His Name set apart, hallowed.
where our only correct desire should be PRAISE, in the city of jerusalem that is (to be) the Temple where His Name resides.

now that i've shown the first half, let me work top down.

we praise our Father why? in expectation of His promised mercy, His forgiveness of our trespasses.
(the stem has no counterpart. a short answer is because after the seventh day comes the eighth, the first day of the next week which is the new creation, the expected end of this one therefore...)

and now we get to the only thing where we are actually getting actively 'involved' in the Prayer.
because we commit, in fact we attach, the degree of mercy we'd like to receive to the degree of mercy we show to our fellows of their trespasses against us.
in His righteousness and justice, our Father sent our Messiah to engender mercy for us.
(understand what applying true wisdom entails, and you wanna pray for anything else, pray for that understanding)

and we ask not to be distracted from hearing His counsel by temptations, because even though we are assured we will not be tempted more than we can bear, we can still fall over things that we CAN bear. we're asking for the strength that following His counsel gives, so we don't get lead down that path to the left or the right.

and your understanding of Who you should fear should be based on having eaten enough bread to know how He responds to evil.
you really want to be delivered from it in all ways.

now when i say the Prayer, each line i 'say' in my head, i reflect on this understanding of it's meaning.
it is not mindless at all.
sometimes i spend an inordinately long time just to say these few lines, as the implications rebound in my mind.
there is no day that the Prayer is the same.

it's a Prayer for our souls, for the growth of our spirits.
and we should never think we don't need reminding in all areas.
the LORD's Prayer.