…Jesus talked about prayer often in the Gospels. He also prayed in many different ways. One moment was of particular importance, though, and that is when His Apostles asked Him to teach them how to pray. The result was the Lord’s Prayer. But have you ever really taken a close look at it line by line?
The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father or the Pater Noster was taught to us by Jesus Himself. In the Gospels it comes about in some different ways, either as included in the Sermon on the Mount, or just told by Jesus after the Apostles asked Him how to pray. Nevertheless, it is THE prayer for Christians around the world.
Most of us say it without really considering the meaning of each line, but there is a lot more in this prayer than meets the eye.
We are going to lean on several theologians, and also St. Cyprian of Carthage here, an early Church Father, for reference in explaining the prayer in the depth, as he wrote perhaps the most authoritative study of the prayer in the early days of the Church.
The prayer consists of an opening line “invocation” of God… addressing God, and then followed by 7 “petitions” of God… “asking” God for certain things.
We will cover the prayer itself, and leave out the ending “For Thine is…” which is just a “doxology” add-on and is pretty self-explanatory.
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.Amen.
Let’s go line by line, to better understand the prayer given to us by Jesus Christ Himself.
“Our Father who art in heaven,”
Remember this is Jesus praying to the Father, and then teaching others directly how to pray. The word used by Jesus for “father” is “Abba”. This is not the formal “father”, but the informal and familiar, so it would be “daddy” or “pappa”. Jesus is the only begotten son of God, but He teaches us to use this term as well. That is because we are joined to Jesus through baptism, thus creating that intimacy. John also reminds us: He came to His own home, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who received Him, who believe in His name, He gave the power to become children of God. So, as “children of God” we call him pappa.
After the address to the Father or “Pappa”, it states “who art in heaven”, St. Cyprian discusses this line as it relates to how His followers just started to live in heaven:
We should live like the temples of God we are, so that it can be seen that God lives in us. No act of ours should be unworthy of the spirit. Now that we have begun to live in heaven and in spirit, all our thoughts and actions should be heavenly and spiritual; for, as the Lord God himself has said: Those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be despised. And the blessed Apostle wrote in his letter: You are not your own; you were bought with a great price. So glorify and bear God in your body.
St. Cyprian of Carthage
The first line, then, emphasizes a very real state that we relate to God: He is both more intimately in the very beings that we can possibly know, and also “in heaven” or outward to extremes that we can’t conceivably understand. The opening line beautifully acknowledges this “greatness” of God’s “being” in relation to us.
“hallowed be thy name”
If you read enough scripture, you will begin to understand how important names are. Quite often you see key figures in the Bible like Paul or Abraham have a name change after an important event. Invoking the name of God was also something far more serious than it is today where we use language casually. If you mentioned God, you better be meaning it for the right reasons. But this line goes further than that. With that in mind, this line is a petition by the one speaking, that says that we are putting God first above everything else. Let’s call it a reminder to ourselves, with the help of God, to always put Him first in our lives. We are quite simply asking God for the strength to be in “right praise” with Him.
“thy kingdom come,”
The next two lines should be considered very seriously when we say it. Starting with “thy kingdom come.” we are asking for God to come into our lives and reign over every aspect of it. It can be a scary thought to give up worshipping things of this world, as we tend to do, but here we state that we desire exactly that.
“thy will be done”
How many people really believe in the intention of this line when we say it? In our modern secular world of worship of the individual and free choice in all things, this line runs directly opposed. We are asking the Father, much like Jesus did before His crucifixion, that “not my, but Your (the father) will be done”. If you say this line and mean it, you have undergone a true conversion.
“on earth as it is in heaven.”
Everything we do at Mass is to align our earthly mission as the Church, with heaven. By asking that we “bring down” heaven into our worship, it is no small matter. Again, it can be a little scary when you think about it and are not sufficiently in “right praise”. We are asking to be moved out of our own will and to give in to the domain of heaven.
“Give us this day our daily bread”
The word here used for “daily bread” when translated from Greek was “epiousios” This description of daily bread in Greek is only used in two places in all of Greek literature… in two of the Gospels. It means “supersubstantial bread.” What Catholics here are asking for is nothing less than the real presence of Jesus Christ… the Eucharist. When we say this line we are wrapping up a few petitions to ask God to have us enter into the “Theo-Drama,” putting him as king of everything in our life and then asking for the daily sustenance of the Eucharist. We have the Greek on this, so know that we are certainly not just asking for having a good normal meal each and every day.
Christ has warned of this: If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood you will have no life in you. We pray for our daily bread, Christ, to be given to us. With His help, we who live and abide in Him will never be separated from His body and His grace.
St. Cyprian of Carthage
“and forgive us our trespasses,”
Simply, the forgiveness of sins is fundamental to Christianity. We are addicts, addicted to sin, living in a state of original sin, but God’s mercy is infinite. We just need to keep asking for forgiveness.
“as we forgive those who trespass against us;”
We can’t be forgiven our sins if we don’t forgive others who have sinned against us. Here we are petitioning God for the grace to perform that forgiveness. This act of continually forgiving others that have sinned against us is not optional, it is mandatory that so that we can be forgiven. Here we ask for the strength to do just that.
“and lead us not into temptation,”
Although seemingly straightforward, not being led into temptation could seem as if we are asking God not to do something, but rather it is about keeping ourselves humble, knowing that we are weak, and not letting temptation turn into something that can overpower us. St. Cyprian stated it well:
Now power is given against us in two modes: either for punishment when we sin, or for glory when we are proved… But when we ask that we may not come into temptation, we are reminded of our infirmity and weakness in that we thus ask, lest any should insolently vaunt himself, lest any should proudly and arrogantly assume anything to himself, lest any should take to himself the glory either of confession or of suffering as his own, when the Lord Himself, teaching humility, said, Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak; Mark 14:38 so that while a humble and submissive confession comes first, and all is attributed to God, whatever is sought for suppliantly with fear and honour of God, may be granted by His own loving-kindness.
St. Cyprian of Carthage
“but deliver us from evil”
In Greek, this actually says “Save us from the Evil One” which is more striking. The Devil is a person, not an abstraction. We are in a constant struggle and always need help from God in this struggle. As individuals, we are weak, but with the help of God, we can defeat the Devil. Think about how this line is the conclusion to the prayer that Jesus Christ gave us directly.
Next up… reciting the repetitive Holy Rosary can be one of the most powerful forms of prayer that you can do. But just don’t knock out the prayers one by one, it is important to know each part of this sacred practice.
Next Topic >> The Rosary
Synopsis
Saying the Lord’s Prayer and having an understanding of what is being said can be two different things. This prayer that comes directly from Jesus has incredibly powerful elements and some complicated translation issues. Every Catholic should at one time in their life take a very close look at what they are praying in the words that came directly from God.
Suggested Reading
“The Lord’s Prayer” by Romano Guardini
“Understanding “Our Father”: Biblical Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer” by Scott Hahn
Top Image
Leonardo’s depiction of the Last Supper, which is an event described in all four of the Gospels, is known as the work (books in the Christian New Testament). Christ gathered his disciples for dinner the night before one of them would betray him. He also told them what was going to happen and washed their feet (a gesture symbolizing that all were equal under the eyes of the Lord). Christ gave the disciples specific instructions on how to eat and drink going forward in his memory as they shared a meal and beverage together. It was the first time the Eucharist, a tradition that is still followed, was celebrated.
The Last Supper, specifically, shows the following few seconds in this event after Christ revealed that one disciple would betray him.