In their podcast series Sermon on the Mount, the BibleProject team devoted several episodes to the Lord’s Prayer.  As part of their offering, they asked guest song-writers to set the prayer to song.  Many of their listeners followed suit, contributing some really wonderful original scores.  I felt inspired to do the same thing, but I settled on adapting a classic melody from Beethoven — adjusting the rhythm to make it more suitable for a tender, personal prayer. 

Although I tried to capture the spirit of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew, 6:19; Luke 11:2-4),  I took some significant liberties in the lyrics (e.g., referring to God as our Sustainer, suggesting that life and love are daily opportunities, omitting references to temptation and evil).  As such, I didn’t feel right labeling it as the Lord’s Prayer.  Nevertheless, the lyrics did feel right — for what they were.

I used Lilypond and Frescobaldi to generate the music score.  I formatted the output so that it would render better on a cell phone.  That way, it is a portable prayer/song.  It can be sung out loud, in your head, or a little of both.  Feel free to linger more on words that resonate with you or otherwise adjust the rhythm and tempo.  

After about a year of singing this prayer-hymn in slightly different ways, I have found one particular way that feels the most genuine — namely, singing most of the words very slowly, gently, softly, and reflectively.  I sometimes add a slight, temporary crescendo (volume increase) and animato (liveliness) at “For the life and love right before us” (that line sometimes chokes me up) and then ease out of it over the next line — but only when it comes naturally.  Either way, I hope that this prayer-hymn strikes a chord with you, as it has with me.