The Lord's Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer, taught in of the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew) and directly to the disciples (Luke), is a powerful prayer. In hoodoo, it can be used for most purposes--either alone, or along with an appropriate Psalm for the situation. Like all prayer, it must be said with focused intent and conviction.

At least one worker insisted that if someone works in hoodoo or conjure, the Lord's Prayer ought to committed to memory. Recorded here are two versions--both which I learned in my youth.

The Lord's Prayer (Our Father )
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
--Episcopalian version (learned by me sometime late 1960’s--70’s)
Our Father (the Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts
as we as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
--Catholic version (learned by me sometime around 1972)

As always, I am also providing the scripture:

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:9-17 (KJV)
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Luke 11:1-13 (KJV)

Though Matthew 6:12 used the term “debts,” and Luke 11:4 used the term “sins,” American English-speaking Christian prayer books tend to use the term “trespasses.” The older English versions of the Lord's Prayer did traditionally use the term “trespasses.” Likely due to Matthew 6:14-15, in which during a sermon Jesus specifically explained, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Some ecumenical English versions use the term “sins.”

As this prayer is filled with incredible purpose and meaning, I will briefly share these different version of this line.

Thus, different English versions do include:

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And forgive us our debts, as we as we forgive our debtors.
And forgive us our sins, as we ourselves forgive those indebted to us.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Two Gullah Prayers
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