The Lord's Prayer

Introduction

When the disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples,” the Lord Jesus gave them a prayer that has never left the lips of the Church since. It is short. It is ordered. It is the prayer under which every Christian household has learned to speak to God as Father.

Biblical context

The Lord’s Prayer is given in two settings. In Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) it stands inside the Sermon on the Mount, given as a pattern — “After this manner therefore pray ye” — against the empty repetitions of the heathen. In Luke 11:2-4 (KJV) it is given in answer to the disciples’ own question in a place where he had been praying.

The prayer is Trinitarian in shape: addressed to the Father, taught by the Son, prayed in the Spirit who says Abba, Father (Romans 8:15).

KJV passages

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV)

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.

Luke 11:2-4 (KJV)

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.

Meaning

• Our Father which art in heaven — the whole prayer rests here. We do not approach as strangers; we approach as children in the Son.
• Hallowed be thy name — may your name be treated as holy in us and around us.
• Thy kingdom come · Thy will be done — the household’s single great petition: that God’s reign break into this house and this day.
• Give us this day our daily bread — the Lord who fed Israel manna will feed us today.
• Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors — forgiveness given and forgiveness received are one movement.
• Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil — the child asks the Father to keep him.
• For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. — the doxology that returns everything to God.

Family reflection

The prayer is short because a household must be able to pray it together every day, in any state, at any table.

Notice the ordering: praise before request, God’s kingdom before our bread, forgiveness before deliverance. The Lord Jesus teaches the household how to organise its wants.

Notice the plurals: “our Father, our bread, our debts, forgive us, deliver us.” The Christian prays as a member of a family; the household is already in the grammar.

Children application

Teach children the Lord’s Prayer in the King James Version, one line at a time, until the whole prayer stays in the heart.

For a very small child, three lines are enough at first: “Our Father which art in heaven · Hallowed be thy name · Give us this day our daily bread.” A child who knows these three lines has the whole prayer already in seed.

Pray it at the table before meals; at bedtime before sleep; and on Sunday together as a household.

Prayer practice

The household may pray the Lord’s Prayer:

• at rising, before the day begins;
• at the table, before every meal;
• at the close of family devotions;
• at bedtime, with the children;
• at every gathering of Christians — it is the prayer that unites every branch of the Church.

Pray it slowly. Rush no line. Let the seven petitions land.

Christian tradition

• Prayed in every Christian tradition — Roman, Byzantine, Anglican, Reformed, Baptist, and countless others — without exception.
• Included in the Didache (c. 100 AD) as the prayer for the household three times a day.
• Expounded by Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, Chrysostom, and Aquinas among many.
• The doxology (“For thine is the kingdom…”) appears in most KJV manuscripts of Matthew 6 and is prayed by the Church universally.

Related Atlas links

• Matthew 6 — the chapter of the prayer
• Matthew 5 — the Beatitudes (opening of the Sermon on the Mount)
• The Beatitudes
• The Sermon on the Mount (if built)
• Christ Jesus

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Pray (Chapel) — the Lord’s Prayer is the household’s morning and evening prayer.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — pray it at every meal and at every family devotion.
• Kids (Kids Kingdom) — the first prayer the household teaches its children.
• Read — Matthew — read Matthew 6 in full to see the prayer in its setting.
• Sing (Choir Room) — hymns that echo the Lord’s Prayer (e.g. “Our Father, who art in heaven”).

Further reading

Matthew 6:5-15 (KJV) — the whole teaching of the Lord Jesus on prayer.

Luke 11:1-13 (KJV) — the parallel giving of the prayer.

Tertullian, On Prayer (c. 200 AD).

The Westminster Larger Catechism, Questions 186–196 on the Lord’s Prayer.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Matthew 6
• Matthew 5
• Christ Jesus
• Formation cluster peers:
  • The Ten Commandments
  • The Beatitudes
  • The Whole Armour of God
  • The Fruit of the Spirit
  • The Great Commission
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas’s main room.