Jesus teaches us how to pray

Many Christians regularly pray the Lord’s Prayer or Our Father, and many churches include Jesus’ prayer in Sunday services, daily mass, or other times of worship. Throughout the week, however, and throughout the year, we can use this beautiful prayer “as is” or as an outline for whoever or whatever God brings to mind as we pray each phrase or line.

The prayer most often memorized or recited comes from the Gospel of Matthew, but Luke recorded the following version:

Luke 11:2-4 – a prayer of Jesus
from the King James Version of the Bible

And (Jesus) said unto them,
When ye pray, say,

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
as in heaven, so in earth.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins;
for we also forgive every one
that is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.

From the Book of KJV Prayers - actual prayers from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) collected by Mary Sayler

 

Luke 11:2-4 – a prayer of Jesus
paraphrased into contemporary English

Father in heaven,
may Your Name
be kept holy among us.

Bring us into Your kingdom. 

Give us bread for the day.

Forgive us
as we forgive those who
have wronged us.

Keep us from temptation.

Deliver us
from a time of hard trials.

From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of the Bible collected from a variety of translations researched on Bible Gateway then paraphrased into everyday English by Mary Sayler

Amen!

Have a blessed New Year!

 

© 2021-2022, Mary Sayler

 

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Bible Prayers: forgive us

Almost every church family prays the Matthew 6 version of the “Lord’s Prayer” aka “Our Father” with regularity, unity and only one notable difference. i.e., When we get to verse 12, some say, “Forgive us our sins,” while others pray, “Forgive us our trespasses” – a word that doesn’t appear in the prayer itself but in the next two verses.

I like that word choice, however, because, from childhood on, I’ve seen “No Trespassing” signs and understood what they meant. Conversely, the idea of a debt wasn’t clear until much later, and, even now, “sin” is an abstract word that’s hard to envision, difficult to clarify, and open to interpretation.

As prayers for the Book of Bible Prayers came together, they remained in the order they appear in most translations. Then, each of those prayers was paraphrased into every day language with one exception – the Matthew 6 version of Jesus’ prayer as recorded in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible:

Matthew 6:9-13 – a prayer of Jesus

“Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done in earth,

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever. Amen.”   

In King James' day, a "debt" may have been a particularly big deal as people sometimes wound up in debtors prison! 

Besides the beautifully poetic and powerful lines in Matthew 6, a lesser known version of the Lord’s Prayer has been paraphrased below as it appears in the prayer book but can be easily found in your favorite translation of the Gospel of Luke:

Luke 11:2-4 – a prayer of Jesus

Father in heaven,

may Your Name

be kept holy among us.

Bring us into Your kingdom.

Give us bread for the day.

Forgive us

as we forgive those who

have wronged us.

Keep us from temptation.

Deliver us

from a time of hard trials.

Amen!

MarySayler, ©2019

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Praying the Lord’s Prayer for the Nations

Our Father Who Is in Heaven,
Most Blessed and Sacred is Your Name.

May Your Kingdom come
to the United States and all
continents – to reign over us
with justice, mercy, and love,
and may Your Will prevail
on earth as it does in Heaven.

Lord, give us this day
the sustenance we need
for mental, physical, and spiritual
well-being, but also for our
social and emotional health.

Forgive us for getting out of bounds!
And thank You for giving us what we need
to forgive each person – past or present
and each group – past or present,
who has ever intruded against us.

Lead us not into temptation
to do wrong or cause harm
or give in to fears and disbelief,
but deliver us from evil,
apathy, and cruelties of all kinds.

For Yours is the Kingdom we want!
Yours is the power we need.
Yours is the glory we worship
and adore in the Name
of Christ Jesus our Lord.

prayer-a-phrase by Mary Harwell Sayler, © 2015

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Praising Our Father with The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father,
Our
Father in Heaven,
holy, holy, holy is Your Name.

Oh, how I want
Your Kingdom to come
and Your Will to be done
in my life, in my home,
in my church,
in The Church
on the earth
as it is in Heaven.

Thank You for giving us
Your Word each day –
our bread,
the Bread of Life.

And thank You
for giving us Your forgiveness
and helping us choose
to forgive others
for trespassing against us.

We thank and praise You, Lord,
that we can trust You
to never
lead us into temptation
but always
deliver us from evil
and all kinds of ills.

We praise You, praise You
for Your Kingdom life in us
and Your Holy Spirit power.

May all we are
and all we do
be for Your praise
and glory
forever and ever
in Jesus’ Name,
amen.


©2015, Mary Harwell Sayler

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The Lord’s Prayer after the resurrection

Our Lord Jesus
Who’s now in Heaven,
Holy is Your Name
in Which we pray.

Let Your Kingdom come!
Let Your will be done
on earth
as happens in Heaven.

Give us this day
Your living Bread,
and forgive us
our trespasses
as we forgive those
who cross
the line with us.

Lead us not into
terrible trials,
but deliver us from evil,
for the Kingdom of God
is Yours!

And the power of God
is Yours.

And the glory
of God is Yours –
now
and forever –

in You,
in us.

May we all be One in Jesus’ Name.

©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler.


The Holy Scriptures for this prayer-a-phrased prayer-poem by Mary Sayler resulted from resources she found on Bible Gateway.

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Praying with Jesus

Jesus taught us how to pray, saying:

When you’re praying, do not use meaningless phrases as others do when they think they’ll be heard because of their many words. Do not act like that for your Father knows what you need before you ask. Pray then like this:

Our Father in heaven, Holy is Your name.
May Your kingdom come and Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us for intruding on others
as we forgive those who intrude upon us.
And do not bring us into times of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For You have the kingdom,
and You have the power,
and You are the glory forever. Amen.

If you forgive people for wronging you, our heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive their wrongs, how can things be right with you and our Father?

©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, prayer-a-phrase of today’s Daily Bible Reading in Matthew 6:7-15

Note from Mary:

Most church denominations and most Christians know a traditional version of the Lord's Prayer or Our Father. Although we might not interrupt some scriptures in the same way, this prayer holds us together as One Body of Christ, united, as we pray all around the world in all time zones, day and night, without ceasing in the Name and power of our Lord Jesus Christ:

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,
for ever. Amen.



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