The Lord's Prayer

1. Prayer is an Intimate Conversation with God

Go find a quiet place where you can relax, Jesus seems to say. Unclench your fists. Breathe deeply. Let your heart rate decrease. Know that you’re already bathed in the Father’s love, and ask simply for what you need, in the assurance that the One to whom you’re speaking is already cupping His ear in your direction. That’s what prayer should be.

Rejecting ostentation. Jesus rejects showy, performative prayer, emphasizing instead a simple, heartfelt connection with God. Prayer isn't about impressing God or others with elaborate language or flawless recitations. It's about approaching God with honesty and vulnerability, trusting in His attentiveness and love.

God's attentiveness. God isn't a distant, demanding deity who needs to be cajoled or manipulated. He is "your Father," already favorably disposed toward you, eager to hear your prayers. This familial relationship transforms prayer from a performance into an intimate conversation.

Childlike confidence. We can abandon anxious efforts to pacify or convince God, trading them for a homely, familial style of prayer. Like children approaching their parents, we can ask for what we need with the assurance that we are heard and loved.

2. "Our Father": Embracing Divine Intimacy and Shared Sonship

The first words of the Lord’s Prayer, then—“Our Father in heaven”—are remarkable because Jesus calls God “Father,” expressing a breathtaking intimacy with the One who had rescued Israel from Egypt.

Unprecedented intimacy. Jesus' use of "Father" reveals an unparalleled closeness with God, a relationship He invites us to share. This intimacy transcends the Old Testament's more reserved use of the father metaphor.

Shared sonship. The plural possessive pronoun "our" beckons us to join Jesus, entering into and emulating His relationship with God. We become tagalongs, taking advantage of the closeness Jesus enjoys with His Father.

Heavenly Father. The phrase "in heaven" reminds us that God is not a creaturely father, limited by time and space. He is a heavenly Father, transcending our categories while remaining near and available.

3. "Hallowed Be Thy Name": A Call to Reverence and Protection

To pray for God’s name to be hallowed is to ask God to preserve and display this mysteriously radiant reality.

God's elusive name. Unlike the vivid personalities of ancient Greek and Roman gods, Israel's God seems elusive, beyond our comprehension. Yet, He discloses His personal name, "I AM WHO I AM," signifying His transcendence and immanence.

Protecting God's reputation. Throughout the Old Testament, God is concerned that His name not be misunderstood, acting to preserve His reputation among the nations. This concern culminates in God giving His name to Jesus, an unimaginable gift.

Reverence in action. To "hallow" God's name is to honor and make it uncommon, preserving and displaying its radiant reality. This reverence manifests in costly actions that uphold God's reputation and emphasize His love.

4. "Thy Kingdom Come": Yearning for God's Healing Reign on Earth

“Your kingdom come” means “Father, make Your healing reign more and more tangible and visible in our world. Let Your rule assert itself ever more concretely in the places where sickness and evil still seem to have the upper hand.”

God's reign as liberation. Jesus' message of God's reign spells liberation, not coercion, for Israel. God taking up His crown means the dawning of a new era of deliverance, not domination.

Signs of God's kingship. Jesus points to signs of God's kingship bursting onto the scene, such as people being delivered from oppression and healing and restoration occurring. These are tangible previews of God's reign.

Already, but not yet. God's rule is breaking into the world in Jesus' ministry, but not in a way that can be readily identified by the unaided human eye. We discern it by faith, longing for an end that isn't yet public and universal.

5. "Thy Will Be Done": Aligning with Divine Purpose Amidst Suffering

When we pray, “Your will be done, on earth as in heaven,” we are aware of how God’s will is not being done in our world.

Confronting contradiction. The third petition forces us to confront the mismatch between God's perfect love and the horrors of our world. We ask God to overcome this contradiction, making life on earth increasingly resemble the peaceable and joyous life of heaven.

Petitionary prayer. We set ourselves against what seems "normal," imagining a different world where cancer, AIDS, and other evils are profoundly abnormal. We hold onto the conviction that God will even now begin to change the world.

Jesus' example. Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane demonstrates that God's will being done on earth requires the vanquishing of sin and death. The way to God's will lies through Jesus' suffering, not its avoidance.

6. "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread": Recognizing Dependence on God

When Jesus teaches us to pray “Give us today our daily bread,” He is first of all training us to see ourselves in a certain way in relation to God.

Childlike dependence. Jesus insists that we must become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven, recognizing our utter dependence on God. We are like beggars, reliant on divine grace for sustenance.

Continual provision. We rely on God's provision each moment of our lives, not just at the beginning. It is not enough for God to kick-start the process of sustaining human beings and then sit back.

Jesus as daily bread. Jesus Himself is the daily bread we pray for, offering His life for human consumption. In the Eucharist, He puts Himself in our hands, assuring us of God's provision and love.

7. "Forgive Us Our Sins": Embracing Humility and Extending Grace

By having a confession of sins as part of the church’s regular liturgy, the Episcopal Church is indeed making the assumption that everyone attending church that morning needs to make that confession.

Regular confession. Jesus encourages His disciples to regularly say, "Forgive us our sins," acknowledging our ongoing need for mercy and pardon. This practice challenges the notion that we can rise above the need for forgiveness.

Deeper view of sin. The Lord's Prayer refers to something deeper, wider, more pervasive, and intractable than individual peccadilloes. It encompasses what we have done and what we have left undone.

God's forgiveness. God's forgiveness is not conditioned by our actions but is freely given. We are made capable of forgiving others through God's having first forgiven us.

8. "Lead Us Not into Temptation": Seeking Strength in Times of Trial

Whatever temptations God permits us to endure, we may be confident that they are never punitive.

God's testing. The Bible features stories in which God applies pressure on His people to refine their faith and obedience. This testing is central to God's relationship with Israel in the Old Testament.

The Spirit's role. The Spirit of God doesn't prevent Jesus from facing temptation but leads Him toward it. However, God is not the one doing the tempting; that is the devil's business.

Jesus' victory. We will be saved from the time of ultimate trial because Jesus has already experienced those horrors in our place. Because Jesus was not saved from temptation, we are.

9. "Deliver Us from Evil": Acknowledging Spiritual Warfare and Divine Rescue

Jesus taught His followers to pray for deliverance from the evil—that is, the one who is evil, the ancient adversary of God, who, in the words of John Chrysostom, “wages against us an implacable war.”

Personal evil. We need to be rescued not just from our own wayward hearts but also from the malevolence of a personal being bent on our suffering. Evil has a definite physiognomy.

Biblical perspective. The Bible speaks of evil not simply as pervasive but as personal, from the serpent in Genesis to the devil in Revelation. Jesus constantly contended against a mighty and wily foe.

God's deliverance. God has already delivered us from the Evil One through Jesus' death and resurrection. We are asking to be able to see, enjoy, and live in accord with this truth, which is still largely unseen in the present.

10. "For Thine is the Kingdom": Acknowledging God's Eternal Sovereignty

All of Jesus’ life was oriented toward one goal: bringing human beings into a restored relationship with God so that they can behold God’s glory forever, bathed in His radiant light and reflecting His worthiness back to Him in praise and adoration.

Focus on God. The final doxology shifts our attention from our needs to God's might and majesty. We attend to God's splendor, recognizing that He transcends our limits and frustrations.

God's eternal reign. God's kingly reign is for our benefit, and all His power is marshaled for the purpose of doing us good. But something more is in view: God's kingdom, power, and glory simply are, now and through eternity.

Praise in the future. There is coming a time when we will have no more need to ask God for anything. All that will remain is to praise God, enjoying His benevolent reign, rejoicing in His power, and seeing His glory.

Last updated: March 2, 2025