The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord's Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer Jesus taught His disciples, given in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:9-13 and in a shorter form in Luke 11, where a disciple asks Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

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. Amen.

The Scripture

“So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
— Matthew 6:9-13

Prayer points from Matthew 6:9-13

Our Father: thank God that you can come to Him as His child.
Hallowed be thy name: praise Him for who He is before you ask for anything.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done: hand Him your plans and ask for His will.
Give us this day our daily bread: ask for what you need today, just for today.
Forgive us our trespasses: confess your sins, and name anyone you need to forgive.
Lead us not into temptation: ask Him to guard you from the temptations you know you face.

Other forms of this prayer

With the closing doxology (Book of Common Prayer, 1979)

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.

About this verse

Jesus gave this prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, right after warning against babbling on with many words, and again in Luke, when one of His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. It is short on purpose. It begins with God: His name, His kingdom, His will. Only then does it ask for our needs: bread for today, forgiveness, and protection from temptation and evil. The traditional English wording, with thy and trespasses, has been prayed for centuries by Catholics and Protestants alike; Matthew’s own words speak of debts, and some churches say debts and debtors. The closing line, For thine is the kingdom, is found in some later manuscripts of Matthew but not the earliest. Protestant churches usually say it, and at Mass Catholics pray a form of it after the priest’s prayer, so this page gives both. This prayer is for every Christian, at any hour: it is the prayer Jesus Himself gave us.

When to pray this prayer

Every morning and evening, as Christians have for centuries
When you don’t know what to pray and need words to carry you
With children at bedtime, one line at a time
In church, together with the congregation
When you need to forgive someone
At a bedside, a funeral, or any moment beyond words

More prayers for traditional prayers

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