I cannot say ‘Our’, if I live in a water tight spiritual compartment; if I think a special place in Heaven is reserved for my denomination.
I cannot say ‘Father’, if I do not demonstrate the relationship in my daily life.
I cannot say ‘Hallowed be Thy name’ if I, who am called by His name, am not holy.
I cannot say ‘Thy Kingdom come’, if I am not doing all in my power to hasten its coming.
I cannot say ‘Thy will be done’, if I am questioning, resentful of or disobedient to His will for me.
I cannot say ‘On earth as it is in Heaven’, if I am not prepared to devote my life here to His service.
I cannot say ‘Give us this day our daily bread’, if I am living on past experience.
I cannot say ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us’, if I harbour a grudge against anyone.
I cannot say ‘Lead us not into temptation’, if I deliberately place myself, or remain in a position where I am likely to be tempted.
I cannot say ‘Deliver us from evil’, if I am not prepared to fight it in the spiritual realm with the weapon of prayer.
I cannot say ‘Thine is the Kingdom’, if I do not accord the King the disciplined obedience of a loyal subject.
I cannot say ‘Thine is the power’, if I fear what men may do, or what my neighbour may think.
I cannot say ‘Thine is the glory’, if I am seeking glory for myself.
I cannot say, ‘For ever and ever’, if my horizon is bounded by the things of time.
I cannot say ‘Amen’, if I do not also add ‘Cost what it may’, for to say this prayer honestly will cost everything.