When we understand the Our Father even just briefly we realize that life is a relationship between our true Father and his children. We must relate to God in everything we do, so that his name, will, and kingdom may be on earth as it is in heaven. In calling his name holy and desiring that his name be held in holiness on this earth as it is in heaven, we realize it is he who is God, not us. His name is the name above all other names. It is we who need his help, not the other way around. When we place our full trust in him and treat him with great respect and with adoration, it is only then that his will and kingdom can come into our lives. We have to let go of control. We have to remember we are just children.
This prayer is also focused on others, all God’s children. We don’t say “My Father”, but “Our Father”. We don’t say “Give me this day my daily bread” but “Give us this day our daily bread”. The Our Father makes it clear that life is more than just God and I. This prayer is about our relationship with God and everyone else, the Church. When we pray this prayer we are even praying for those children of God who have wronged us, and we say that we will forgive them just as God forgives us when we wrong him. When we pray this prayer with true intention and attention, God’s life and grace affect our lives in a very powerful way. We become capable of living life forgiving our very killers like Jesus did on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Lastly we ask God not to allow us to be led into temptation and the traps of the evil one: “deliver us from evil”. May we all truly live this prayer out in our lives at Mass and every day when we pray it.