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What is the Lord's Prayer? (the "Our Father" of Matthew 6)

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Short answer

The Lord's Prayer is the model prayer Jesus gave His followers in the Sermon on the Mount, introduced with "Pray like this" (Matthew 6:9, WEB). Its best-known form is Matthew 6:9–Matthew 6:13:

  • "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9, BSB), worship first.
  • "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10, BSB), God's purposes before our own.
  • "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11, BSB), daily needs.
  • "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12, BSB), forgiveness, received and given.
  • "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13, BSB), protection.

Jesus gives it right after warning against empty, showy repetition (Matthew 6:7), so it is a pattern to shape prayer, not a magic formula. A shorter version appears in Luke, prompted by the disciples' request "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1, BSB; Luke 11:2).

Question

What is the Lord's Prayer? (the "Our Father" Jesus taught in Matthew 6)

Analysis

Its shape: God first, then us

The prayer moves in a deliberate order. The first three lines are about God, His name, His kingdom, His will (Matthew 6:9; Matthew 6:10). Only then does it turn to our needs, bread, forgiveness, and deliverance (Matthew 6:11–Matthew 6:13). That order is itself the lesson: prayer begins with who God is before it reaches what we want. Calling God "Our Father" also sets the tone, intimate and trusting, yet reverent ("hallowed be your name").

The line about forgiveness

Matthew 6:12 ties the forgiveness we ask for to the forgiveness we give, and Jesus underlines it immediately after the prayer: "if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matthew 6:14, BSB; Matthew 6:15). This is the one petition He circles back to explain.

A textual note on the ending

Many are familiar with the closing line, "For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen." (WEB). This doxology is not in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew, which is why some Bibles include it (of those we host, the WEB and KJV do) and others end at "deliver us from the evil one" (BSB, ASV). It reflects an early worship tradition; nothing in the prayer's meaning turns on it.

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • Matthew 6:9bsb

    So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

  • Matthew 6:13bsb

    And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

  • Matthew 6:10bsb

    Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

  • Matthew 6:11bsb

    Give us this day our daily bread.

  • Matthew 6:12bsb

    And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

  • Matthew 6:7bsb

    And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.

  • Luke 11:1bsb

    One day in a place where Jesus had just finished praying, one of His disciples requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

  • Luke 11:2bsb

    So Jesus told them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.

  • Matthew 6:14bsb

    For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

  • Matthew 6:15bsb

    But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

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What is the Lord's Prayer? (the "Our Father" of Matthew 6) · Bubble Bible