Living the Lord’s Prayer?

I did a pretty substantial amount of reading in Eugene Peterson’s newest book The Pastor: A Memoir (HarperOne, 2011) today, and as I was reading/listening and he was writing/talking, I realized something he was saying (I can’t remember where at the moment – but I think in chapter 11 “Holy Land” when he was working the night shift in Kalispell, MT right before going to college and he was reflecting on Psalm 108) – he was talking essentially about not just praying prayers but living them too or living out the prayer – and in reflecting on that I wondered if we fall shot just to pray one of the most significant prayers in the Bible: the Lord’s Prayer?  Instead of praying it, what if we lived it out, sort of in the line of the old Keith Green song Make my Life a Prayer to You?  I am positive this is not new and lots of people have probably already talked about this – but still – live out the Lord’s prayer?

Yup.  Line by Line.  To really live as he is our Father; in as such, to live a life that hollows God’s name in every way; to live in anticipation of the Kingdom and as much as possible in seeking his will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven (and not just in our own lives or or own little world) but in the lives of others as well; to live in dependency on him daily; to live graciously forgiving lives both seeking forgiveness and extending it; living in the strength of the Lord to resist temptation and to not be taken in by the evil one and so on.

Living out our prayers can be a challenge but I wonder if that is how it is intended to be – not just praying prayers (as we should and we must) but also living out the prayers.

What say you?