THE LORDS PRAYER
With Martin Luthers explanation from The Small Catechism
Introduction
Our Father in heaven.
What does this mean?
Here God would have us believe that He
Is truly our Father and that we
Are truly his children who confidently pray
To God our loving parent any time of day.
The First Petition
Hallowed be your name.
What does this mean?
Gods name is holy, but
still we pray
That in all we do we may keep it that way.
When does this happen?
Gods name is hallowed whenever his word
In its truth and purity is heard,
And we as Gods children live it faithfully.
Help us to do this, our Father heavenly!
But if anyone should happen to have lived or taught
Contrary to Gods word, as not they ought,
Then Gods name is dishonored unworthily.
Keep us from this, our Father heavenly!
Your kingdom come.
What does this mean?
Gods kingdom comes, this is true,
Even if we dont pray or if we do.
But we ask for Gods kingdom in this prayer,
So when it comes, well have a share.
When does this happen?
Gods kingdom comes when God gives us the
Spirit,
So we believe Gods Word whenever we hear it.
All this happens by Gods great grace
Which helps us run this lifes good race.
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
What does this mean?
Gods will is done, this is true,
Even if we dont pray or if we do.
But we ask that it be done in this prayer,
So when its done among us, well have a share.
When does this happen?
Gods will is done whenever He
Defeats and hinders any evil treachery
Which the devil, world, self would have us do
To scorn Gods name and stop His kingdom too.
Gods will is done when our faith is strengthened,
And were kept in Gods Word as our life is lengthened.
Gods will is good and always gracious,
Both here on earth and in heavenly places.
Give us today our daily bread.
What does this mean?
God gives bread to sinners, this is true,
Even if we dont pray or if we do.
But we ask for daily bread when we say this prayer,
We thank God for it and remember to share.
What is meant by "daily bread"?
Daily bread includes all thats needed for
this life,
Such as food and clothing, faithful husband or wife,
Good weather, job, home, peace, friends who are true,
Loving famly, health, respect, good government too.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
What does this mean?
We ask in this prayer for forgiveness when we
plead,
Lest God hold our sins against us and fail to give us heed.
And we pray that God would give us by grace
Everything we need for the daily race,
Even though we sin every single day
And deserve only trouble to come our way.
So to those who sin against us, we on our part
Will gladly do good and forgive from our heart.
Save us from the time of trial.
What does this mean?
God never tempts anyone to sin,
But the devil, world, self would have us give in
To pride, false belief, and sins like despair,
So we ask God to keep us from such in this prayer.
And though we have trials and are tempted to sin,
We pray that by Gods grace, final victory wed win.
And deliver us from evil.
What does this mean?
When we pray this petition were asking a
lot:
That God would save us from every evil plot
To body or soul, so that at our last hour
We be taken from here to Gods heavenly power.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
What does "Amen" mean?
Amen means, "yes, it shall be so."
We say Amen because we know
That such petitions are no bother.
In fact, theyre pleasing to our heavenly Father.
For God himself has commanded us to pray
And say the Lords Prayer in this very way.
So have no fear,
God will hear,
And what Gods promised
Will surely come upon us.
Luthers explanation adapted by Mark Vitalis Hoffman, ©1996. Expressed permission is hereby granted to freely download and print these materials for personal use only. If you wish to use any of these materials for a group or other purposes, please contact me (orders@crossmarks.com) for permissions. In all cases, include my copyright notice and email address with any versions of the material.