The Lord's Prayer

Opening

Say the prayer together in whatever wording the room knows it, then read Matthew 6:9–13 from the King James Version and note out loud, without comment, anywhere the two differ.

Discussion questions

1. The first three petitions are not about us at all. What difference does it make that they come first?
2. “Give us this day our daily bread” asks for one day's worth. Why might the prayer stop there?
3. Forgiveness is the one request that comes with a comparison attached — as we forgive our debtors. What is that asking of us?
4. Which line do you find hardest to pray honestly?
5. Jesus gives this prayer right after warning against “vain repetitions.” How do you keep a prayer you know by heart from becoming one?

Closing

Pray it once more together, slowly, leaving a beat between each line.

Answer key

For the leader. These answers are not included on the printed question sheet.

1. How does the prayer begin?
   Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name — “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” The prayer opens by naming who is addressed before asking for anything. (Matthew 6:9)
2. Where is God's will asked to be done?
   In earth, as it is in heaven — “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Heaven is the pattern and earth is the place the petition is about — the order matters. (Matthew 6:10)
3. What does the prayer ask for “this day”?
   Our daily bread — “Give us this day our daily bread.” The request is for one day's worth, which is the only place in the prayer where a timeframe is named. (Matthew 6:11)
4. In Matthew's wording, what does the prayer ask to be forgiven?
   Our debts — Matthew 6:12 says “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” “Trespasses” entered the familiar English wording through later prayer books, and Luke's parallel version at 11:4 says “sins.” (Matthew 6:12)
5. What immediately follows “lead us not into temptation”?
   but deliver us from evil — “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The closing “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory” comes next in the King James Version, but it is absent from the earliest manuscripts. (Matthew 6:13)