Lord's Prayer

The disciples asked Jesus how to pray, and he gave them a short pattern. It begins with “Our Father which art in heaven” and moves through honoring God’s name, asking for his kingdom, and then for daily bread, forgiveness and rescue from evil. Matthew places it inside the Sermon on the Mount, while Luke gives a shorter form when someone asks to be taught. The wording differs a little between the two, and Christians have said it in worship for many generations. Read it slowly, one line at a time; each petition is brief enough to become the start of your own prayer.

8 verses

Matthew

Matthew 6:9

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Matthew 6:10

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

Matthew 6:11

Give us this day our daily bread.

Matthew 6:12

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Matthew 6:13

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Luke

Luke 11:2

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

Luke 11:3

Give us day by day our daily bread.

Luke 11:4

And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

The name given to the only form of prayer Christ taught his disciples (Matt. 6:9-13). The closing doxology of the prayer is omitted by Luke (11:2-4), also in the R.V. of Matt. 6:13. This prayer contains no allusion to the atonement of Christ, nor to the offices of the Holy Spirit. “All Christian prayer is based on the Lord’s Prayer, but its spirit is also guided by that of His prayer in Gethsemane and of the prayer recorded John 17. The Lord’s Prayer is the comprehensive type of the simplest and most universal prayer.”

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples. (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4) "In this prayer our Lord shows his disciples how an infinite variety of wants and requests can be compressed into a few humble petitions. It embodies every possible desire of a praying heart, a whole world of spiritual requirements; yet all in the most simple, condensed and humble form, resembling, in this respect, a pearl on which the light of heaven plays." --Lange. "This prayer contains four great general sentiments, which constitute the very soul of religion, --sentiments which are the germs of all holy deeds in all worlds. (1) Filial reverence : God is addressed not as the great unknown, not as the unsearchable governor, but as a father, the most intelligible, attractive and transforming name. It is a form of address almost unknown to the old covenant, now an then hinted at as reminding the children of their rebellion. (Isaiah 1:2); Mali 1:6 Or mentioned as a last resource of the orphan and desolate creature, (Isaiah 63:16) but never brought out in its fullness, as indeed it could not be, till he was come by whom we have received the adoption of sons." --Alford. (2) "Divine loyalty : “Thy kingdom come.” (3) Conscious dependence : “Give us this day,” etc. (4) Unbounded confidence : “For thine is the power,” etc." --Dr. Thomas’ Genius of the Gospels. The doxology, "For thine is the kingdom" etc., is wanting in many manuscripts. It is omitted in the Revised Version; but it nevertheless has the authority of some manuscripts, and is truly biblical, almost every word being found in (1 Chronicles 29:11) and is a true and fitting ending for prayer.