THE Our Father, also called The Lord’s Prayer, is the prayer Jesus taught to his disciples to show them how to pray ¹ and relate appropriately to God.
Below is the prayer as taught by the Catholic Church:
The Lord’s Prayer
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
Significance of the Our Father
The Our Father prayer expresses all of the central teachings of Jesus. As such, it is the basis of all forms of Christian prayer. It outlines the core believes about God and His relationship to us, as well as to how we should behave and relate to God and other persons as Christ’s disciples.
Jesus has taught this prayer to show us the proper way in which we are to relate to God, which is why we are to use it as the basis for our prayers.
Prayer Structure
By studying the structure of the prayer, it is possible to see the profoundness of its message. We will also see its implications in ourselves and our lives.
The Lord’s Prayer has several sections, which we can use as the basic structure for carrying out our prayers with God, which I detail in the article How to Pray: Using the Lord’s Prayer.
Use of the Our Father
As mentioned above, we can use the Lord’s Prayer as the basis for our prayer with God. Also, due to its importance and divine origin, the prayer is often part of Catholic psalters in combination with other central prayers such as the Hail Mary and Glory Be. Examples of psalters using the Our Father are the Holy Rosary, the Angelus Prayer, and the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Note:
¹ As referenced in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.
