Abbey Baptist Church

A Place of Prayer, of Discovery, of Refuge,

1 Origin of Christian Worship | 2 The Liturgy of the Word | 3 The Liturgy of the Table | 4 The Liturgical Year | 5 The Lectionary | 6 Hymns and Psalms | 7 Opening Prayers | 8 Prayers for the Church and World | 9 Gifts and Offerings | 10 Prayers at the Table | 11 The Lord’s Prayer |12 Blessings and Dismissals | 13 Christian Baptism | 14 Christian Marriage and the Family | 15 Funerals | 

11 The Lord’s Prayer

 

11. The Lord's Prayer

Introduction

The Lord’s Prayer is the central prayer of the Church. This page talks about its place and two English language versions.

A community prayer

When Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them to pray, they were seeking what many groups of disciples looked for from their rabbis – a prayer that would be theirs as a community.

Luke (Lk 11.2-4) gives us a very brief form; Matthew’s version (Mt 6.9-13) is longer and closer to the version that we say in our worship together.

A prayer for the kingdom and God’s great future

The scholars nearly all agree that the prayer is a typically Jewish prayer for the coming of God’s kingdom. The only unusual feature is the prayer not to be brought to temptation (or ‘the time of trial’) – since no Jew would ever say that God led us into temptation (cf. Jas 1.13).

Whatever else we say about the prayer, it seems to have a double perspective – the prayer that God will act now and the prayer that God will act on ’the great day’. The ‘daily bread’ can refer to today’s bread and to the bread that is the bread of life. Similarly, the prayer to be delivered from evil can refer to everyday events and to a delivery from ‘the evil one’. Both are possible and probably both are intended.

Two English versions

Most of us are accustomed to saying a modified version of the traditional form of the Lord’s Prayer. However, an ecumenically agreed modern language form is available. They are laid out below. It ought to be noted that nearly all contemporary worship books published by the main churches in Britain now include both texts. The Roman Catholics have a different version that begins with the old text and ends with the new words; the Church of England’s modern language text keeps the old words in the middle of the prayer.

Our Father in heaven,                                                   Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be your name,                                                hallowed be thy name, 

your kingdom come,                                                     thy kingdom come,

your will be done,                                                          thy will be done,

on earth as in heaven.                                                  on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread;                                        Give us this day our daily bread;

Forgive us our sins,                                                        and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who sin against us.                           as we forgive those who trespass against us;

Save us from the time of trial                                        and lead us not into temptation,

and deliver us from evil.                                                but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,      For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,           

now and for ever. Amen.                                               For ever and ever. Amen.

Further Thinking

Why is this prayer precious to you?

Is it best to pray it in language that is more than three hundred years old when the rest of the service is in modern English?  Why you think as you do – beyond simple preference and taste.

The end of the prayer (about the kingdom, the power and the glory) is a later Church addition. How does it change the prayer Jesus gave? Does it take away some of the urgency?

Try praying it without the doxology. What was the effect? If none, what difference does the doxology make?

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