Lecture: The Structure of the Lord's Prayer http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/StrPry_index.

html

Home Books Lectures Articles Sponsored by: Purchase TextAds

Rudolf Steiner Archive Support
Help Out Links ChronoList Search We rely on your donations, and they are tax-deductible.

[Prev] [Next] [Top] [Search] [Index] [Home] [Map] Version 2.5.0

[ Lecture: 4th February, 1907 | Karlsruhe | GA0097 ] [ Read Me First! ] [ Make Corrections | Help ]

The Structure of the Lord's Prayer

A Lecture By
Rudolf Steiner
Karlsruhe, 4th February, 1907
GA 97

Translated by A. H. Parker from a shorthand report

unrevised by the lecturer. The original text is included
in the volume of the Complete Edition of the works of
Rudolf Steiner, entitled: Dar christliche Mysterium.
(No. 97 in the Bibliographical Survey, 1961). This
volume contains the texts and notes of thirty-one
lectures, also of answers to questions, given by Rudolf
Steiner in different places between 9th February, 1906
and 17th March, 1907.

This English edition of the following lecture is

published by permission of the Rudolf Steiner
Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach, Switzerland. This book, and related volumes, are
available for purchase from:
Copyright © 1971
This e.Text edition is provided with the cooperation of: Amazon.com, or,
search for related titles available for
The Rudolf Steiner Press
purchase at Amazon.com!

[ Note | Lecture ]

Thanks to an anonymous donation, this lecture has been made available.

PREFATORY NOTE

The following lecture was given by Rudolf Steiner to an audience familiar to some extent with the contents of
other lectures on different aspects of Christianity. In should be remembered that in his autobiography, The
Course of My Life, he emphasizes the d istinction between his written works on the one hand and, on the
other, reports of lectures which were given as oral communications and were not originally intended for
print.

Readers are reminded that the following lecture is printed here for the first time in English and must not
be confused with another which has been available for some years on the same subject but with a different
title, given by Rudolf Steiner in Berlin a few weeks earlier.

A brief list of publications in English translation of other lectures and of a fundamental book on the
subject of Christianity will be found at the end of the text, together with a summarized plan of the Complete
Edition of the works of Rudolf Steiner in the original German.

1 of 7 8/17/08 8:53 PM
Lecture: The Structure of the Lord's Prayer http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/StrPry_index.html

THE STRUCTURE OF THE LORD'S PRAYER

ALL the formulae of a devotional or petitionary character, wise saws, aphorism and the like will be found at all
times to contain much that touches upon the hidden mysteries of existence. But we must realize that all the
different religions practiced prayer, but differed in one particular aspect in that some practiced prayer more in the
form of so-called meditation, whilst Christianity and a few other religions practiced true prayer in the sense we
know it to-day. On the whole, meditation is characteristic of the oriental religions. Meditation implies identification
with some specific spiritual theme or object so that the meditator finds union with the divine Ground through this
spiritual theme or object with which he is identified. Let us be quite clear that there are religions which, for
example, prescribe for their members exercises in meditation, definite formulae of a devotional character on
which they concentrate their mind, and as they concentrate upon these formulae they feel that divine spiritual life
permeates their soul and that the individual, at this moment, is merged with the divine Ground. These formulae,
however, belong to the mental realm. Fundamentally Christian prayer is no different except that its content is
associated more with the emotional nature and feeling part of man. The Christian merges with the all-pervasive
divine Being more through his emotions and feelings.

One should not imagine however that Christian prayer was always understood in this sense, nor indeed should
it be understood in the manner in which it is frequently understood to-day. Now there exists an original, archetypal
Christian prayer in which Christ Jesus Himself has indicated in the clearest possible way what attitude of mind the
Christian should adopt towards prayer. And the injunction of this original prayer is simply this: “Oh my Father, if it
be possible let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou willt.” Now let us look closely at these
final words. We are first of all faced with a definite request — Christ asks to be spared the cup of suffering; but at the
same time we are asked to surrender to the Divine Will: “Not as I will but as Thou willt.” This frame of mind which,
when we pray, allows the Divine Will to pervade us, wills nothing for itself, but allows the Godhead to will in us, this
frame of mind, this attitude of surrender must form the undercurrent, the key-note of prayer, if prayer is to reflect
the Christian spirit.

So long as this spirit of humility prevails it is clear that it is impossible to practice petitionary prayer. And there
are additional reasons why it is impossible to pray to God for the gratification of one's desires: one person would
pray for rain, another for sunshine and both would be motivated by self interest. Or take the case where two armies
are facing each other. Before the battle is joined each side prays for victory. But it is obviously impossible to grant
both requests. But if the spirit in which one asks is, “Not my will but Thine be done”, then the petition is irrelevant
— one surrenders to the divine Will. If I wish to make a particular request I leave it to the divine Being to decide
whether my request should be granted or not.

This is the predominant spirit of Christian prayer and it is this spirit that gave birth to that universal,
all-embracing prayer of Christian tradition, the Lord's Prayer, which according to Christian tradition was taught by
Christ Himself. This prayer must, in fact, be reckoned amongst the most profound of all prayers. To-day we cannot
really measure the full depth and dimensions of the Lord's Prayer as revealed by the original language in which it
was taught. But the thought-content is so powerful that it could lose nothing of its effectiveness in translation into
any language.

When we turn to the prayers of other peoples, we find, wherever religions have reached their high-point,
prayers such as I have described to you. But when the various religions declined, these prayers inevitably lost
something of their true character. They have become magical formulae, instruments of idolatry, and in the epoch
when Christ Jesus taught His followers to pray, many of these magic formulae — all of which had their particular
significance in their place of origin — were in common use. These magic formulae were always associated with
worldly desires, with personal demands of a self-interested nature. Jesus taught that petitionary prayer, asking for
oneself, was contrary to the Christian idea of prayer. Such prayers were secular in intention. When the Christian
prays he should withdraw into his inner chamber, into the inner recesses of the soul where he can unite with the
divine, spiritual Being. We must realize that in each of us dwells a spark of the Divine, that we partake of the Divine
nature. But it would be wrong to assume that the creature is therefore commensurate with the Creator. When we say
that man partakes of the Divine this does not imply that man himself is divine. A drop of water from the ocean is of
the same element as the ocean, but is certainly not the ocean. So too the human soul is a drop from the ocean of the
Godhead, but it is not God. Just as the drop can unite with its own element when returned to the ocean, so, as a drop
from the Godhead, the soul unites spiritually in prayer or meditation with its God. This union of the soul with its
God is called by Christ entering into the inner chamber.

2 of 7 8/17/08 8:53 PM
Lecture: The Structure of the Lord's Prayer http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/StrPry_index.html

Now that we have described the nature of Christian prayer and what is demanded of the Christian in prayer we
shall be able to turn our attention to the content of the Lord's Prayer itself. I stated that the Lord's Prayer is the most
all-embracing prayer. Therefore, in order to understand the Lord's Prayer, it is necessary to begin by widening the
scope of our enquiries; we shall need to make many a detour in order to grasp its full meaning. We must study the
being of man from a certain angle. As you know, we follow the traditional method which spiritual investigation has
practiced over thousands of years. Let us briefly recall the nature of man's being.

First there is the physical body. Its substances and forces are identical with the mineral kingdom and the whole
of inorganic nature. This physical body however is not, as the materialist imagines, simply an object in space, but it
is also the lowest member of the human being. The next member is the etheric or life-body which man shares in
common with the plants and animals, for every plant, animal or human being must call upon the chemical and
physical substances so that they are galvanized into life, since of themselves they would remain inert. The third
member is the astral body, the bearer of joy and sorrow, of impulses, desires and passions and the normal
impressions of daily life. All these are the province of the astral body. Man shares this astral body only with the
animal kingdom for the animal also is subject to joy and sorrow, impulses, desires and passions. To sum up,
therefore: man shares the physical body in common with inorganic nature, the etheric with all that grows and
propagates, with the entire plant kingdom, and the astral body with the animal kingdom. In addition there is a
fourth member of his being which raises him above these kingdoms of nature and makes him the crown of Creation.

Such is the conclusion we arrive at after a little reflection. Now there is a name which differs from all others, the
“ I ”, which can only refer to oneself. To everyone else I am a “thou”, and everyone else is a “thou” to me. As a name
for the identity of the individual, the “ I ” can only arise within the soul itself; it cannot be experienced from without.
The great religions have always been aware of this and therefore they said: when the soul recognizes itself as an “ I ”,
then the God in man begins to speak, the God who speaks through the soul. The name “ I ” cannot be experienced
from without, it must be experienced within the soul itself. This is the fourth principle or member of the human
being.

The occult science of the Hebrews called this “ I ” the ineffable name of God. “Jahve” signifies simply “I am”.
Wherever interpretations may be given by external scholarship, it really meant “I am”, namely, the fourth
principle of the human being. Man consists of these four principles and we call them the four principles of man's
lower nature.

Now if we wish to understand the being of man as a whole, we must look back into the history of human
evolution. We can trace in retrospect the many and diverse peoples who precede us: the old Teutonic and Central
European civilization, the Greco-Latin and Chaldean peoples, the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and
Hebrews, the Persian peoples, even as far back as the Indian people from whom our present civilization stemmed.
And in their turn the Indian people could look back to their forebears who dwelt in Atlantis, the continent which
now forms the ocean-bed between Europe and America. Atlantis was destroyed by a series of deluges and vanished
beneath the waters. The memory of this catastrophe has survived in the myths and legends of all peoples as the
story of the Flood.

But even this civilization is not the oldest on earth. We can look back to still earlier times when man inhabited a
continent that was situated approximately between the present Indo-China, Australia and Africa — ancient
Lemuria, a continent of immemorial antiquity where totally different conditions from those of to-day prevailed.
Usually we are not sufficiently aware of the vast and sweeping changes on earth in the course of human evolution.
Now at this time the lower principles in man were already in eminence, and this continent was inhabited by beings
consisting of the four principles, physical body, etheric body, astral body and the ego-nature. These beings were
more highly organized than the highest animals of to-day, but had not reached the human stage. They were
animal-men, yet different from the existing animals of our time. The latter are degenerate descendants which have
evolved from these animal-men as a result of retardation and degeneration. The Lemurian beings, therefore, living
at that time underwent a quite specific modification.

At that time they were ready to receive a certain force, the force of our higher soul to-day. There took place what
we may describe as the union of the lower human nature with the human soul. Up to this time this human soul
rested in the bosom of.the Godhead, was an integral part of the Godhead Himself. Above therefore, in the realm of
the spiritual, we have the divine-spiritual Being; below, the human envelopes consisting of four principles which
had evolved so far that they were able to receive “drops” of this Godhead. We can illustrate what took place at that
time by the following analogy. Picture a glass full of water. Let us imagine a number of sponges each containing a
drop of this water. The drops which had previously formed an integral part of the water are now distributed
amongst the sponges. This is a simple illustration which serves to show how the process of ensoulment took place at

3 of 7 8/17/08 8:53 PM
Lecture: The Structure of the Lord's Prayer http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/StrPry_index.html

that time. Hitherto the soul had been one with the divine First Cause, just as the drop had been one with the water.
These physical human envelopes behaved exactly as the sponges. These spiritual “drops”, separated from the
common divine substance, became individualized. When they became souls they were like drops within the
envelopes and from that moment actively began to fashion man as a physical and spiritual being such as he is
to-day. These souls incarnated for the first time in the Lemurian epoch, then passed through innumerable
incarnations and developed their physical body to its present stage. Thus parts of the Godhead were united with the
lower principles of man's being. With each embodiment these souls progressively evolved, with each embodiment
they became more perfect in order to attain a higher stage of being in the future.

This part of the higher nature which at that time was united with the lower nature and transformed it, and in the
process of this transformation raised itself to a higher level, we call the higher principle of man's being: Spirit Self
(Manas), Life Spirit (Buddhi), and Spirit Man (Atma). These are the aspects of the divine Essence by means of
which man transforms in gradual stages his lower nature into the higher nature. By means of the force working
within Manas he transforms his astral body, through the force of Buddhi he transforms his etheric body and
through that of Atma the physical body. Therefore in order to attain the goal of his evolution he must transfigure
and spiritualize these three bodies. Formerly, man consisted of the four lower principles — physical body, etheric
body, astral body and ego, to which was added at that time the germ of higher development which in reality is an
emanation of the highest spiritual principle, namely the higher Triad, the divine Essence, the spiritual potentiality
of man. Now we can look at this higher aspect of human nature from two standpoints: on the one hand as the higher
nature of man which he is to evolve in the course of evolution, or on the other, as an aspect of the divine Being from
which he has emerged, as the Divine aspect in man. Christ takes the second point of view first. We shall follow the
same course and enquire into the nature of these higher forces in human nature. We shall start from the highest
principle, the force of Atma working within man.

I would now like to characterize for you the true nature and essence of this higher principle of human nature
rather than to offer you some kind of superficial definition. That which becomes the force of Atma is, in so far as it is
a force emanating from the Godhead, of a volitional nature. If you pause to reflect upon your own power of volition,
upon your will power, then you have a pale copy, a pale reflection of that which proceeds from the force of Atma,
from the Godhead. Will is the power or force which is least developed to-day. The will, however, has the potentiality
to grow increasingly in strength until a time will come when it reaches its maximum potentiality, when it will be
able to attain its goal, which the religions call the “Great Sacrifice”.

Now imagine you are looking into a mirror. Your reflection is a faithful copy of your physiognomy, imitates your
every gesture, resembles you in every respect, but it is a lifeless image of yourself. You stand before the mirror as a
living being and are faced with your lifeless image, which resembles you in every detail, but is without the living
reality, the essential self. Imagine that your will had developed to the point when it was able to make the decision to
sacrifice your own existence, your own being, or to surrender it to your reflected image. You would then be in a
position to sacrifice yourself wholly in order to endow your reflected image with your own life. Of such a will we say:
it emanates, it pours out its own nature. What Christianity terms “the divine Will of the Father” is the highest
expression of the will.

Today, therefore, the human will is the least developed member of the soul forces. It is however in the process
of developing such strength that it is able to consummate the “Great Sacrifice”. Volitional nature, in so far as it is an
outpouring of Divinity, is the true nature of that which can develop as the power of Atma.

Let us now consider from the Christian standpoint the second principle of man's higher nature, Buddhi or Life
Spirit, as an outpouring of the Godhead. You will have no difficulty in understanding this if you do not concentrate
on the force radiating from itself in order to lend life to the reflected image, but upon the reflected image itself. The
reflected image is an exact repetition of the original entity. It is the same — and yet not the same — when you apply
this idea to the entire universe, showing how the divine Will as a center is reflected in all directions.

Imagine a hollow globe whose inner walls are reflecting surfaces. A center of illumination inside this globe is
reflected in myriad sequins on the walls: everywhere the universal Will in endless multiplicity, everywhere
reflected images, single aspects of the Godhead.

Consider the Cosmos in this way — the Universe as a reflection of the infinite Divine Will. The Divine Will is not
present in any single being, but expresses itself in infinite diversity. The reflection of the Godhead — where the
Godhead occupies the central position and yet at the same time by virtue of the “Great Sacrifice” pours life into
every reflected image of Himself — is called in Christian terminology “the Kingdom”. And this expression, “the
Kingdom”, is identical with the Buddhi in man. When we contemplate the creative and productive principle in the
Universe, the principle that issues from the Divine First Cause, then the next higher principle associated with Atma

4 of 7 8/17/08 8:53 PM
Lecture: The Structure of the Lord's Prayer http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/StrPry_index.html

is Buddhi, a vital spark of this creative principle. In the form of “Kingdom”, Buddhi is universal and cosmic.

Let us now turn our attention to the individual aspects of the “Kingdom”. So far we have only considered it as a
whole. Let us now look into the separate entities. How do we distinguish between them? By what is called in
Christian terminology “the Name”. Each separate entity is invested with a name and thus we distinguish
respectively the manifold, and the particular. By “the Name” the Christian understands what is often called the
“representation”, that which is characteristic of an object. Just as the individual is distinguished from his neighbor
by the name, so too the name is felt to reflect at the same time a part of the divine Being. The Christian responds to
this name in the right way when he realizes that every member of “the Kingdom” is an outpouring of the Divine, that
every morsel of bread he consumes is an outpouring, a mirror and a part of the Godhead. The Christian must realize
that this is true of the smallest things. In human nature man owes it to the individual Spirit Self that he becomes an
individual over against the others. What in “the Kingdom” is “the Name”, man possesses in his individual Spirit
Self or Manas through the fact that he is a special part of the Godhead, that he has his own particular name, the
name which in the individual passes from incarnation to incarnation.

Thus this threefold nature is seen to be a manifestation of the Supreme Being and from this point of view Atma
is “the Will” of the Godhead, Buddhi or Life Spirit “the Kingdom”, and Manas or Spirit Self “the Name”.

Let us now look at the four lower principles of human nature, starting from the lowest, the physical body. This
body is composed of the same substance and forces as external nature, substances and forces which the body
continually transforms. It is only through the processes of anabolism and catabolism in the physical organism of
man that life is maintained. He can only continue to exist because he is continually renewed by the transformation
of these physical substances. He is an integral part of the whole of physical nature. A finger cannot preserve its
identity if severed — it withers the moment it is separated from the body; it keeps its identity because it is an
integral part of the whole organism; in the same way the physical body cannot preserve its identity if detached from
the Earth. Thus man only preserves his identity when he is intimately related to the elements of the Earth. It is only
through the metabolic processes that his fundamental being is maintained. Such is the nature of the physical body.

The second principle is the etheric or life-body. We must realize that it is this body which activates the physical
substances and forces. It is not only the bearer of growth and propagation and of biological phenomena in general,
but also of all those qualities in man which are of a more permanent nature than the transient impulses, desires and
passions. In what respect does it differ from the astral body? If you wish to understand wherein this difference lies
then you need only look back to the time when you were only eight years old. Think of all that you have learnt since
that time, of the vast store of concepts, ideas and lessons won from those experiences which have enriched your life.
Then think how painfully slow are the changes in your etheric body. Think how choleric you were as a child and ask
yourself if you are not still prone to fits of anger on frequent occasions. Think of how your tendencies or your
temperament have largely remained unchanged. They have not changed so much as your personal experiences.
All that we experience, all that we learn from experience can be compared to the minute hand of a clock and the
changes in character, temperament and habits to the hour hand. This difference then is explained by the fact that
the astral body is the bearer of the former, whilst the etheric body is the bearer of the latter. A change in your habits
implies a change in your etheric body. The lessons learned from experience imply a change in the astral body.

The training of the student in true occultism does not depend on what he outwardly learns; all spiritual training
modifies the etheric body. Therefore you have done more for your real occult development if you have succeeded
in transforming a single deep-rooted trait than if you have acquired unlimited external knowledge. Accordingly we
distinguish exoterically, that for which the etheric body is the vehicle, and esoterically, what the etheric body
needs. The etheric body is also the vehicle of the faculty of memory, but not of memory as conscious recollection.
Any strengthening of the memory, for example, is associated with a transformation of the etheric body; any
weakening of the memory implies a change in the etheric body, a change in the power to remember. And there is
an additional factor of vital importance. Man lives to-day on two levels. He is a member of a family, of a clan, a
nation and so on, and he also possesses certain characteristics which he shares in common with others and which
bind him to that relationship. The characteristics of the Frenchman are quite different from those of the German
and these again are different from those of the Englishman. They all share certain characteristics of their descent.
At the same time every man has his own individual characteristics through which he transcends the limitations of
his nation and through which he establishes his particular identity. One is a member of a community by virtue of
certain qualities or characteristics of the etheric body. It is these characteristics which determine one's
membership of a nation, a race and especially of a community. That which makes it possible to transcend the
limitations of this community originates in the astral body. The astral body determines man's individual
tendencies.

Therefore it is important for man's life in the community that his etheric body should harmonize with the

5 of 7 8/17/08 8:53 PM
Lecture: The Structure of the Lord's Prayer http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/StrPry_index.html

etheric bodies of those with whom he has to associate. If he cannot make this adjustment it is impossible for him to
live with them: difficulties arise and he is rejected by the community, he becomes an outcast. The task of man's
etheric body therefore is to adjust itself to the etheric bodies of others. The astral body determines man's individual
tendencies; it must live in such a way that the individual does not commit personal sins. Personal sins are the
consequences of errors on the part of the astral body, are in effect defects of the astral body. Failure to achieve
harmony with the community is the consequence of defects of the etheric body. In the esoteric teachings of
Christianity the correct term for the defects of the etheric body was “debt”, that which disturbs harmonious
relationship with others. A defect of the astral body, a defect which stems from individuation was called in Christian
esotericism “succumbing to temptation”. It is the impulses, passions and desires of the astral body which lead man
into temptation. The astral body errs through its own inner defects. In this way Christian esotericism distinguished
between “debt” and yielding to temptation.

Let us now turn to the fourth principle of the human being, the ego. We have already described the physical
body which is continuously recreated by means of metabolic processes, the etheric body which may be burdened
with “debt”, and the astral body which may succumb to temptation. The fourth principle, the ego, is the primal
source of selfishness, of egoism. It is through the efforts and operation of the ego that what was a unity in the
Godhead is now diffused among the many. The defection from the divine unity into individualized existence is the
work of the ego. Hence Christian teaching attributed to the ego the real origin of self-seeking and egoism. So long as
the separate entities were united in the Godhead, conflict could not exist among them. Conflict could only arise
when they became individualized, i.e. separate egos. The mutual development through conflict, which is
tantamount to egoism, is called in Christianity the transgression of the ego, and Christian tradition indicates very
precisely the moment when this soul became incarnated in the body through the Fall into sin, the eating of the
apple in Paradise. The real “sin” or transgression of the ego is designated by the term “evil”. Evil therefore is the
defect or transgression of the fourth lower principle. Only the ego can succumb to evil, which arose through the
eating of the apple. In Latin, “malum” means both evil and apple.

To sum up: the physical body and the physical elements of the environment are of the same nature. The
physical body is sustained by the processes of metabolism, the continuous interchange of forces and substances.
The etheric body is that which holds the balance between the different members of the community and may incur
“debt”. Finally we have the astral body which must not fall into sin and the ego which must not become the victim of
egoism, of evil. This lower Quaternary unites with the higher Triad, the divine Essence,
ATMA BUDDHI MANAS
(Will) (Kingdom) (Name)

Now think of prayer as a union of man, who has withdrawn into his inner chamber, with the Godhead itself. In
the original teaching of Christianity the soul is portrayed as divine, as a drop from the ocean of the Godhead. And
the soul in its separateness must pray to be reunited with the immanent and transcendent Godhead. The origin of
the divinity in man is given the name of the Father. And the goal of the soul's destiny, where the soul will be united
with the Father is Devachan or heaven.

And now let us recall the nature of the primal or archetypal prayer. It is an appeal by the alienated soul to be
united with the divine Fatherhood.

The purpose of this prayer was to beseech God for the consummation of the three higher principles, to pray that
the Will, the highest manifestation of the Divine may be realized in man; that the second higher principle, the
Kingdom, shall take possession of the soul; and that the third higher principle, the Name, shall be felt as holy. This
prayer therefore would refer to the three higher principles of the divine in man. In respect of the four lower
principles he would ask: may my physical body be granted the substances necessary to sustain it; may the etheric
body strike a balance between its own debt and the debt of others; may man live in harmony with his neighbor. May
the astral body not fall into temptation and may the ego not succumb to evil, the true outcome of what we ordinarily
mean by egoism.

You should pray for union with the Father in the words of a primal or archetypal prayer. And you should pray
in such a way that, as you pray, you meditate upon the single principles of your sevenfold being.

“Our Father which art in Heaven.” First you invoke the Father, then you prefer your petitions which are related
to the three higher principles:

“Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

6 of 7 8/17/08 8:53 PM
Lecture: The Structure of the Lord's Prayer http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/StrPry_index.html

Then follow the four petitions which refer to the four lower principles:

“Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses (our debts) as we forgive them that trespass
against us (as we forgive our debtors).”

This implies reconciliation with our fellow men.

“Lead us not into temptation” — refers to the astral body, and “Deliver us from evil”, i.e. from all manifestation
of egoism or self-interest — to the ego.

Thus the meaning of the evolution of the seven-principled being of man is incorporated in the seven petitions
of the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer as a Christian prayer, is offered to Christians from out of a deep
understanding of the being of man and it incorporates the sum of theosophic teaching concerning the nature of
man. Prayers that are not of merely transient effect, but which possess the soul and rejoice the heart for thousands
of years, are the fruit of deepest wisdom. Such a prayer could never have arisen through an arbitrary collocation of
beautiful or sublime words. It is only because these words have been drawn from the deep well of wisdom that they
possess the power to influence the soul of man for thousands of years.

To maintain that the simple-minded have no understanding of this wisdom is not a valid objection. They have
no need of understanding, for the power of the Lord's Prayer stems from this wisdom and is effective even when
there is no understanding of the wisdom content. It is important to have a right understanding of this. When we look
at a plant we are captivated by its beauty. And the most simple minded will also be captivated though he may know
nothing perhaps of the divine wisdom concealed in the plant. And the same is true of prayers that answer our
deepest needs. One need know nothing of the wisdom they embody and yet such prayers possess none the less the
power, the wisdom, the exaltation and the sanctity of prayer. If a prayer is born of the highest wisdom, it is not
essential that we know of this wisdom. What is of importance is that we experience personally the power of that
wisdom.

Only in our present epoch is it possible once more to throw light upon what Christ Jesus contributed to prayer
and to discover afresh the power He has infused into it, especially the Lord's Prayer. And because this prayer has
issued from the fountain head of wisdom concerning man himself and his sevenfold being it not only exercises a
powerful and lasting influence upon the most untutored mind, but is all the more edifying for those who are able to
discover its deeper meaning. And at the same time it loses nothing of that power which if has always exercised, a
power that overwhelms yet exalts, for the whole of theosophy, of divine wisdom, is found in the Lord's Prayer.

Christ often spoke to the multitude in parables. When He was alone with His disciples He expounded the
parables to them. From this wisdom-filled exegesis of the parables the disciples were to derive that power through
which they could become His messengers and could learn how Christ Himself had attained that magic power
through which His mission is destined to continue acting upon mankind for thousands of years.

In this way we come to understand the meaning of the Lord's Prayer.

[Prev] [Next] [Top] [Search] [Index] [Home] [Map] [ Make Corrections | Help ]

Miracle Prayer Package Pray To Receive Jesus Lord’s teaching on prayer

each of these prayers has caused miracles in Jesus Christ Loves You. Here is a Prayer That All about the Lord’s Prayer How does Jesus
the lives of millions. Can Change Your Life want us to pray?
www.tybro.com www.Jesus2020.com www.bjnewlife.org

Ads by Google Christian Store Prayer Beads Catholic Encyclopedia Healing Prayers

Last Modified: 01-Aug-2008 The Rudolf Steiner Archive is maintained by: Page accessed 3139 times.
The e.Librarian: elibrarian@elib.com

7 of 7 8/17/08 8:53 PM