The Lord’s Prayer is included in the Service of Holy Communion. The connection between the Lord’s Prayer and communion appears at this point in the service in the existing liturgies. The Lord’s Prayer is the only prayer directly given by Jesus in the New Testament, in Matthew 6:9-13:
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
and Luke 11:2-4:
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
Jesus speaks these words in the Sermon on the Mount in response to false forms of piety practiced by many of the Pharisees. This is not just structural prayer – these are the specific words Jesus gives to his disciples when they speak to their heavenly Father. First-century Judaism had a tradition of memorized prayer, and the disciples would have been familiar with these words of Jesus in their cultural context.
Naturally, Christians have adopted these specific words in worship since the beginning of the church. An early church document recommended that believers should pray these words at least three times daily. It was also appropriate for both corporate worship and private prayer.
Martin Luther included the Lord’s Prayer as one of the key parts of his Small Catechism, which all catechumens were required to study. He takes each line of the Lord’s Prayer and provides explanations, and other Scriptures which provide context on his question/answer format for expounding on the text. For example:
The Introduction
Our Father who art in heaven.
Our Father in heaven.
What does this mean?
With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.
(from Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, p. 237, Concordia Publishing House, copyright 2017)
My congregation still uses the old King James’ version of the Lord’s Prayer, which is:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Some versions use the words “debt/debtor” instead of “trepasses/trespass”, both of which mean that we are asking God to forgive us our sins.
Some churches have moved to a more modern version of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Traditions, however, do die hard, and it’s a challenge to get a congregation who has prayed the older King James’ version for all of their lives (and of course, who have it memorized!) to make the switch. Whatever the version your congregation uses, the important thing to remember is that these words are a gift to us from our Lord Jesus Christ. If this is the only prayer you pray daily, you certainly won’t find a better one!
May grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love. Amen.
Lutheran Liturgy 