Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (Greek: Πάτερ ἡμῶν, Latin: Pater Noster), is a central Christian prayer that Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and a shorter form in the Gospel of Luke when "one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples'".^[1] Regarding the presence of the two versions, some have suggested that both were original, the Matthean version spoken by Jesus early in his ministry in Galilee, and the Lucan version one year later, "very likely in Judea".^[2]

Didache (at chapter VIII) reports a version which is closely similar to that of Matthew and also to the modern prayer. It ends with the Minor Doxology.^[3]

The first three of the seven petitions in Matthew address God; the other four are related to human needs and concerns. Matthew's account alone includes the "Your will be done" and the "Rescue us from the evil one" (or "Deliver us from evil") petitions. Both original Greek texts contain the adjective epiousion; while controversial, "daily" has been the most common English-language translation of this word.

Initial words on the topic from the Catechism of the Catholic Church teach that it "is truly the summary of the whole gospel".^[4] The prayer is used by most Christian denominations in their worship and with few exceptions, the liturgical form is the version from the gospel of Matthew. Protestants usually conclude the prayer with a doxology (in some versions, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen"), a later addition appearing in some manuscripts of Matthew. Although theological differences and various modes of worship divide Christians, according to Fuller Theological Seminary professor Clayton Schmit, "there is a sense of solidarity in knowing that Christians around the globe are praying together ... and these words always unite us."^[5]