Prayer — "Our Father" · The essentials of Christianity

In a minute

Prayer is the heartbeat of Christian life: talking and listening to God. Christians pray alone and together, aloud and in silence, in words passed down for centuries and in their own words. The Bible tells them to "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17, WEBBE).

The best-known Christian prayer is the one Jesus himself taught when his disciples asked, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1, WEBBE). It is called the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father, and it is said by Christians of every church, in almost every language on earth, every day.

The Lord's Prayer

As written in Matthew's Gospel:

"Pray like this: 'Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.'" (Matthew 6:9–13, WEBBE)

The version many people in Britain learned at school is the traditional form from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:

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 trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, 1662, Morning Prayer. The closing words "For thine is the kingdom…" are found in some ancient manuscripts of Matthew and in the early Christian handbook the Didache; Catholics say them at Mass as a separate response.)

Line by line

"Our Father" — not "my" Father: Christians pray as one family.
"Hallowed be thy name" — may God be honoured as holy.
"Thy kingdom come" — may God's loving rule come on earth.
"Thy will be done" — trust, the same words Jesus prayed in Gethsemane.
"Our daily bread" — what we need for today, and enough for everyone.
"Forgive us… as we forgive" — the only line with a condition attached.
"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" — protection in trial.

What it is and how it's lived

Kinds of prayer

Christians often speak of four kinds of prayer, sometimes remembered as ACTS:

Adoration — praising God for who he is.
Confession — saying sorry.
Thanksgiving — saying thank you.
Supplication — asking, for oneself and for others (intercession).

When and how

Daily prayer. Many Christians pray morning and evening, and say grace before meals. Anglicans have Morning and Evening Prayer; Catholic clergy and many lay people pray the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) at set times; monks and nuns pray through the day and night.
Postures. Christians pray kneeling, standing, sitting, with hands together or raised. Many Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican Christians make the sign of the cross. Orthodox Christians often stand and bow.
Aids to prayer. Catholics may pray the rosary, a string of beads for meditating on the life of Christ with Mary. Orthodox Christians use a knotted prayer rope for the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Christians light candles as a sign of prayer, and Orthodox Christians pray before icons.
Silence and the Bible. Many pray by slowly reading Scripture (lectio divina), or simply sitting in silence before God. "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10, WEBBE)
Spontaneous prayer. Many Protestant, Pentecostal and charismatic Christians pray in their own words, aloud, in groups.

Its inner meaning

Christians believe prayer is not about informing God, who already knows, or about changing God's mind like a vending machine. It is about relationship: being with God, opening the heart, and being changed. Jesus taught: "But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret" (Matthew 6:6, WEBBE).

Prayer is also for others. Christians pray for the sick, for those who grieve, for their neighbours, for the world's leaders and for their enemies, as Jesus told them to.

Key texts

"Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus towards you." (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, WEBBE)

"In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." (Philippians 4:6, WEBBE)

"Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there." (Mark 1:35, WEBBE)

"Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28, WEBBE)

From the Christian tradition

Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century French monastery cook, taught that he felt as close to God among the pots and pans of the kitchen as at the altar (paraphrased; The Practice of the Presence of God).
St Thérèse of Lisieux described prayer as a surge of the heart, a simple look turned towards heaven (paraphrased; Story of a Soul, Manuscript C).

Common misunderstandings, answered gently

"Christians pray to statues and pictures." Christians pray to God. Catholic and Orthodox Christians use statues and icons as windows or reminders, and may ask saints to pray for them, as one might ask a friend; they do not worship them.
"Prayer is just asking for things." Asking is part of prayer, but praise, thanks, confession, listening and silence matter as much.
"Unanswered prayer means God isn't listening." Christians believe God hears every prayer, but answers are not always "yes"; Jesus himself prayed "not what I desire, but what you desire" (Mark 14:36, WEBBE).

Across the churches

All Christians share the Lord's Prayer. Catholic and Orthodox Christians ask Mary and the saints to pray for them, for example in the Hail Mary; most Protestants pray to God alone, without asking the saints. Orthodox prayer is shaped by the Divine Liturgy and the icons; Quakers often gather in shared silence until someone is moved to speak.

Reflection

If you could pray only one line of the Lord's Prayer today, which would it be, and why?

In the other traditions

Judaism: Jews pray three set services a day (Shacharit, Mincha, Ma'ariv), at whose heart is the Amidah, the standing prayer, and say the Shema morning and evening; many Jewish prayers begin Baruch atah Adonai, "Blessed are You, LORD".
Islam: Muslims pray salah five times a day facing the Ka'bah in Makkah, reciting al-Fatihah, the opening chapter of the Qur'an, in every unit of prayer, and also make personal prayer, du'a.

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