To understand the background of this prayer, it would help to share some of my story.

I was raised as a Lutheran in a family that regularly went to church, so like many of you, I have prayed the Lord's Prayer thousands of times. And - like many of you I imagine - most of the time I recited it out of habit, giving little thought to the meaning of the words I was speaking, to say nothing of the theology behind the prayer or how those phrases came to be.

Despite being blessed with an intelligent family, a good education, and what I'd label as a "progressive" spirituality, I have to admit that try as I might, for most of my life, I've been unable to shirk the image of God as a bearded old man up in the heavens (ala Monthy Python and the Holy Grail.)

That began to change when life circumstances led me to join Al-Anon. I kept hearing - and started to wrestle with - the phrase "Higher Power." Higher Power? What was that? Why didn't we just say "God?"  It seemed rather "New-Ageish" to me.

But as I worked my program and discussed this issue with others, I have to admit that gradually, I got comfortable with the term. Once I began to think of my Higher Power as something "greater than myself," it was easier for me to equate those two words with an image and understanding of God.
 
I began to notice, however, how awkward I felt each week when my Al-Anon group closed our meetings with the Lord's Prayer. Now that I'd become comfortable with "Higher Power," it seemed incongruous to suddenly be reciting a prayer that referred to God in the "old" way.

So I decided to do something about it. I decided to write a "12 step" version of the Lord's Prayer that used the same term for God that we use in our program. I also took the opportunity to update the theology and language of the prayer to more closely match how I think most of us in the 12 Step programs think of our Higher Power:

Loving
Compassionate
Active
Involved
Forgiving
Grace-filled
Ever-Present

If you find yourself wanting to change a word here or there, I encourage you to do so. Make the prayer your own! If this helps you to actually think about a prayer you've said thousands of times, and especially if it results in a prayer which produces a more direct connection to your Higher Power, then this process has truly served a purpose.

Kevin S.
Minneapolis, MN
Feb 2010