“Rabbi, teach us to pray.”

and Jesus said, “This is how you are to pray…”

• 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;and forgive us our debts,as we forgive our debtors;and do not subject us to the final test,but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 9-13

But what are we saying?What are we asking for?

• The Lord’s Prayer summarizes the teachings of Jesus in the four Gospels. If we look closely at the prayer, we see seven petitions, or requests. – In the first three petitions, we praise God and ask

that God always be praised and glorified. – In the final four petitions, we express our needs

and our desire to be close to God.

The Beginning

• Our Father–A greeting: Jesus made God know

to us.• who art in heaven–God’s majesty and his presence in

our hearts and we look forward to being with him forever.

The Glory of GodPetitions 1-3

• hallowed be thy name– First petition: We ask that God’s name be made

holy• thy kingdom come– Second petition: We ask God to help us live in

hope of Jesus’ return• thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven– Third petition: We pray to God for the ability to

do His will.

Our NeedsPetitions 4-7

• give us this day our daily bread–Fourth petition: We ask God to

give us nourishment for living. BREAD is bodily nourishment, like food and shelter, as well as spiritual nourishment, including Eucharist—our Bread of Life

Our needs

• forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us–Fifth petition: We ask God first

to forgive us and then for the gift of mercy to forgive others

Our needs

• lead us not into temptation–Sixth petition: We ask the Father

to help us find the courage to fight sin and to avoid whatever causes us to want to sin

Our needs

•deliver us from evil–Seventh petition: We ask for God’s protection from the evil and harm that exist in the world.

AMEN

• Oddly, to get a scriptural answer to what “Amen” means, we go to a place where it is used not as the last word but the first word. Jesus would often start a solemn statement by saying "Verily" or "Truly". In John's gospel (eg Jhn 3:3) Jesus is recorded as using the word twice in succession, "Verily, verily, I say to you...". This is actually the word “Amen”.

• When we compare an instance of this in Mark, with the same statement in Luke, we find Mark has left the word un-translated (just as αμην “Amen”), but Luke has translated it using the word αληθος "Truly". (Mark 9:1, Lke 9:27).

• This shows us that the underlying meaning of the word “Amen” is truth and actuality. It is a solemn affirmation.

When we say, “Amen” we are saying before God, "Yes, I agree with that, I believe that to be true, I want that to be so".