The Lord’s Prayer is the model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples when they asked Him to teach them to pray.
Recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 and in shorter form in Luke 11:2-4, it begins with the Father’s name, kingdom, and will, then turns to the disciples’ daily needs, forgiveness, and protection.
It is both a pattern for all prayer and a summary of the life of dependence upon God.
Jesus gave it in the context of warning against empty, hypocritical, or pagan forms of prayer, calling His followers to sincere, trustful communion with their Father in heaven.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus cautioned His disciples not to pray like the hypocrites who love to be seen, nor like the Gentiles who heap up empty phrases. Instead, He said, “Pray then like this,” and gave the prayer that has been known ever since as the Lord’s Prayer. It opens with the address “Our Father in heaven,” establishing both intimacy and reverence. The first three petitions concern God’s glory: the hallowing of His name, the coming of His kingdom, and the doing of His will on earth as in heaven. The remaining petitions concern the disciples’ needs: daily bread, forgiveness of sins as they forgive others, and deliverance from temptation and evil. The prayer ends, in many manuscripts, with a doxology of praise. In Luke’s account the disciples had watched Jesus pray and asked Him to teach them; He responded with a similar pattern and then urged them to ask, seek, and knock with persistence. The Lord’s Prayer is therefore not a rigid formula to be repeated thoughtlessly, but a framework that shapes the priorities, humility, and confidence of all true prayer.
- The Lord’s Prayer is Jesus’ own pattern for how His disciples should pray.
- It begins with God’s concerns—His name, kingdom, and will—before turning to human needs.
- The address “Our Father” combines family intimacy with heavenly reverence.
- Daily dependence is expressed in the request for bread, forgiveness, and protection.
- Forgiveness received from God is inseparable from forgiveness extended to others.
- The prayer guards against both hypocrisy and empty repetition.
- It remains the foundational model for Christian prayer across the centuries.
- Address – “Our Father in heaven” — relationship and reverence together.
- First Petition – Hallowed be your name — the honor and holiness of God.
- Second Petition – Your kingdom come — the advance and final triumph of God’s reign.
- Third Petition – Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven — submission to God’s purpose.
- Fourth Petition – Give us this day our daily bread — dependence for ordinary provision.
- Fifth Petition – Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors — grace received and grace given.
- Sixth Petition – Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil — protection from trial and the evil one.
- Matthew 6:9-13 – “Pray then like this: ‘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 evil.’”
- Luke 11:1-4 – “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ And he said to them, ‘When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”’”
- Matthew 6:5-8 – Warning against hypocritical and pagan prayer; “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
- Matthew 6:14-15 – “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
- Luke 11:5-13 – The parable of the friend at midnight and the encouragement to ask, seek, and knock; the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask.
- John 17 – Jesus’ high-priestly prayer, the longest recorded prayer of Jesus, reflecting the same priorities of the Father’s glory and the disciples’ good.
- Romans 8:15 – “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”
- Galatians 4:6 – “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’”
- Psalm 103:13 – “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
- Isaiah 63:16 – “For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.”
- 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 – A doxology that parallels the traditional ending of the Lord’s Prayer: “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty… Yours is the kingdom, O Lord…”
- James 1:13 – “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3 – “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”
- Matthew 26:39, 42 – Jesus in Gethsemane prays, “My Father… not as I will, but as you will… your will be done.”
Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven…” The Lord’s Prayer is the pattern He gave—simple, profound, and complete. It begins with God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will, then turns to the daily needs of His children: bread, forgiveness, and protection. It is not a charm to be recited without thought, but a framework that shapes every true prayer. The Father who knows our needs before we ask still delights to hear us come. Therefore pray as Jesus taught. Begin with the Father’s glory. Ask for His kingdom and will. Depend on Him for today’s provision. Receive and extend forgiveness. Seek His keeping from temptation and evil. The same Father who taught us this prayer through His Son hears every sincere cry that rises according to its pattern. Our Father in heaven—hallowed be Your name.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.