Short answer
The Lord's Prayer is the prayer Jesus gave His disciples in Matthew 6:9–13 (a shorter form is in Luke 11:2–4). It has seven petitions in two halves: three about God (His name, kingdom, and will), and four about us (bread, forgiveness, temptation, deliverance). It is meant to be prayed word-for-word and used as a template for all our prayer.
The Scripture: Matthew 6:9–13
Pray then like this:
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Read it in full context in Matthew 6 or the parallel version in Luke 11.
What Is the Lord's Prayer?
The Lord's Prayer is Jesus' answer to His disciples' request, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). It is not the only prayer we should ever pray — but it is the prayer that shapes all our praying. Every petition is a doorway into a whole territory of conversation with God.
The Christian church has prayed it in worship since the first century. It is one of the earliest prayers written outside the New Testament (the Didache, ~AD 100, instructs believers to pray it three times a day). Two millennia later, it is still the family prayer of every Christian tradition.
Where Jesus Taught It
In Matthew, the prayer sits in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, right after Jesus warns against showy public prayer and empty-word repetition (6:5–8). His point: real prayer is honest talk with a Father who already knows what you need. The Lord's Prayer is what that honest talk looks like.
In Luke, the prayer comes after Jesus Himself is found praying (11:1). His disciples ask to be taught, and He gives them these words. Jesus prays; the disciples ask; He teaches. That is the order for us too.
Line by Line
Line 1 · Matthew 6:9a
"Our Father in heaven,"
Prayer begins by remembering who God is: Father — near, tender, personal — and in heaven — sovereign, holy, above all. 'Our' means you never pray alone; you pray as part of a family.
Practice: Before you ask, name Him. 'Father, You are my Father. I come as a child, not a stranger.'
Line 2 · Matthew 6:9b
"hallowed be your name."
'Hallowed' means treated as holy. The first request is not for anything for us — it is that God's name would be known, honored, and revered in the world and in our own hearts.
Practice: Ask that God's name would be honored today in your speech, in your work, and in the corners of your life you hide from others.
Line 3 · Matthew 6:10a
"Your kingdom come,"
Praying for God's reign to advance — over creation, over nations, and over the small kingdom of your own life. It is a prayer of surrender and of hope for Christ's return.
Practice: Where in your life are you still ruling instead of God? Name it and pray, 'Your kingdom come there.'
Line 4 · Matthew 6:10b
"your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
In heaven, God's will is done gladly and completely. This prayer asks that the same be true on earth — and in you. It is the prayer Jesus prayed in Gethsemane (Luke 22:42).
Practice: Bring your day's decisions and disappointments to God with an open hand: 'Your will, not mine.'
Line 5 · Matthew 6:11
"Give us this day our daily bread,"
A request for today's provision — physical and spiritual. 'Daily' echoes the manna in the wilderness: enough for today, and enough to teach you to trust Him again tomorrow.
Practice: Name the concrete things you need today — food, wisdom, energy, courage — and ask God for exactly enough.
Line 6 · Matthew 6:12
"and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."
Sin is a debt — a moral weight we owe and cannot pay. Jesus teaches us to bring it honestly and to forgive as we have been forgiven. The two cannot be separated (Matt. 6:14–15; Matt. 18:21–35).
Practice: Confess by name. Then ask: is there anyone I am refusing to forgive? Release them to God today.
Line 7 · Matthew 6:13
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
A humble admission that we cannot stand on our own. We ask God to keep us out of testing we cannot bear (1 Cor. 10:13) and to rescue us from the evil one whose schemes are real.
Practice: Name your specific temptations. Ask God to guard your steps today and to fight for you.
Line 8 · Matthew 6:13 (traditional ending)
"For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
A closing note of confidence: the answer to every request is grounded in who God is. Kingdom is His. Power is His. Glory is His. Forever.
Practice: End with worship, not with worry. 'Yours, forever. Amen.'
The Shape of the Prayer
The Lord's Prayer has two halves. The first is God-ward: His name, His kingdom, His will. The second is us-ward: our bread, our debts, our temptation and deliverance. Jesus does not begin with what we need. He begins with who God is.
That order is a gift. It reorients us before we ask. By the time we get to "give us bread," we already remember that our Father is holy, sovereign, and good. We are not begging a stranger. We are asking a Father whose kingdom we belong to.
How to Pray It Every Day
Three simple ways to use the Lord's Prayer in daily life:
- Pray it word-for-word as a morning anchor. Slowly. Out loud, if you can.
- Pray it as a template. After each line, pause and pray your own words into that theme — worship, then surrender, then requests, then confession, then guarding.
- Pray it at set times. The early church prayed it at morning, midday, and evening. Try one fixed time a day for a week and see what it does to your soul.
People Also Ask
What is the Lord's Prayer?
The Lord's Prayer is the prayer Jesus taught His disciples in response to their request, 'Lord, teach us to pray' (Luke 11:1). It appears in two forms — a longer version in Matthew 6:9–13 (part of the Sermon on the Mount) and a shorter version in Luke 11:2–4. Christians have prayed it in worship and private devotion for two thousand years.
Where in the Bible is the Lord's Prayer?
Matthew 6:9–13 gives the fuller form, embedded in Jesus' teaching on prayer, giving, and fasting. Luke 11:2–4 gives a shorter form, prayed after Jesus was found praying by Himself. The traditional closing doxology ('For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen') appears in later manuscripts of Matthew and is preserved in most Christian liturgy.
Should Christians pray the Lord's Prayer word-for-word or use it as a model?
Both. Jesus said 'pray then like this' (Matt. 6:9), inviting us to use it as a template. He also said 'when you pray, say' (Luke 11:2), which invites praying the words themselves. The historic church has done both: praying the Lord's Prayer directly in worship and daily prayer, and using its structure to shape all our prayer.
Why does Jesus tell us to say 'Our Father'?
'Our' teaches us that Christian prayer is never solo. Even when you pray alone, you pray as part of a family — with brothers and sisters across the world and across the centuries. 'Father' is the astonishing word Jesus gives us to use — the same word He used with the Father (Mark 14:36 uses 'Abba, Father'). Through Christ, we are adopted (Rom. 8:15) and can approach God as a beloved child approaches a good Father.
What does 'hallowed be your name' mean?
'Hallowed' means to be treated as holy. The first petition is not a request for us but a request for God — that His name (His character, His reputation) would be honored throughout creation and revered in our own hearts. Our first concern in prayer is not our needs; it is the glory of the God we are asking.
What does 'daily bread' mean?
'Daily bread' is a request for today's provision — physical and spiritual. The word echoes the manna in Exodus 16, given fresh each morning. Jesus is teaching us to trust God for today, not to hoard for a hundred tomorrows. It also reminds us that even 'ordinary' bread is a gift from His hand.
What does 'lead us not into temptation' mean?
God tempts no one (James 1:13), so the request is not 'don't tempt me.' It is a humble prayer: 'Father, don't let me walk into testing I cannot bear. Guard me from the evil one. Keep my heart in Yours.' It is a prayer of self-suspicion and God-confidence.
Is the doxology at the end of the Lord's Prayer in the Bible?
The traditional ending — 'For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen' — is not in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew, which is why some modern translations omit it. It has been included in Christian worship since very early centuries and echoes 1 Chronicles 29:11. It is a fitting biblical way to end the prayer, even if Jesus did not speak these exact words on the mountain.
The Prayer Itself
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Memory Verse
"Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."
Key Takeaways
- The Lord's Prayer is Jesus' answer to "teach us to pray" — a real prayer and a template for all prayer.
- It has two halves: three petitions about God, four about us.
- It begins with the Father's name and kingdom before it gets to our bread and debts — order matters.
- Pray it word-for-word, use it as a template, and let it anchor your day.
- You pray "Our" — never alone, always as part of God's family.