“Our Father which art in heaven”: what each line of the Lord’s Prayer asks for

It is the most prayed prayer in the world. Children learn it before they can read, and congregations recite it in hundreds of languages. Yet the Lord’s Prayer is only a few lines long.

Jesus gave the prayer in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9 to 13), after warning against praying to be seen by others and using “vain repetitions”. In Luke 11, a shorter version comes after a disciple asks, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Our Father and thy kingdom

“Our Father which art in heaven” (6:9). The prayer begins with relationship. God is addressed as Father, and the word “our” reminds the one praying that they belong to a family of believers. “In heaven” reminds them of His greatness. To hallow means to treat as holy. The first request is not for ourselves but that God’s name be honoured, in our lives and in the world.

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (6:10). The one praying asks for God’s rule to be seen on earth, and submits their own will to His.

Bread, forgiveness and temptation

“Give us this day our daily bread” (6:11). The prayer turns to ordinary needs. The word “daily” echoes the manna in the wilderness, given one day at a time (Exodus 16). It teaches dependence on God for today, not years ahead. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (6:12). Sin is described as debt. The request for forgiveness is tied to forgiving others. Jesus adds straight after the prayer: “if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (6:15).

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (6:13). The one praying admits weakness and asks for protection from testing and from the evil one.

The doxology

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” This closing line appears in many later manuscripts and in the King James Version, but not in the earliest manuscripts, and some modern translations place it in a footnote. It has long been used in worship. Because the prayer is so familiar, it can be recited without thought. Try praying it slowly, pausing after each line to add your own words: praise, requests, names of people to forgive.

The disciples asked for a lesson in prayer. Jesus gave them words short enough to memorise and deep enough to last a lifetime.