The Our Father – Model of

Perfect Prayer

Important Points• “The Lord’s Prayer” –

Jesus Christ, the Lord, taught it to his disciples

• Perfect Prayer – sums up the Gospel

• Abba = “daddy”

Our Father…

We are praying to God, our loving, heavenly Father

•“Our Father” VS. “My Father”:– We are members of a community– Refers to the Communion of Saints

Who art in heaven…

God is in heaven with Mary, His angels and all the Saints

…hallowed be thy name…

‘Holy is His name’ – God’s name is special and powerful, to be said with great respect

•Hallowed = holy or sacred•This part refers to the

2nd Commandment

Thy kingdom come…We are asking Jesus to bring His kingdom of light and love to earth

…thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We are asking Him to help all people live on earth as they would in heaven, honoring him.

Give us this day our daily bread...

Lord, give us what we NEED for this day.

•“Hidden” meaning of “our daily bread” = The Eucharist, bread from heaven

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

We ask God to forgive our sins and for His grace to help us to forgive those who have hurt us.

•For us to be forgiven – we must forgive those who sin against us

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

We are asking God to strengthen us to do the right thing, rescuing & protecting us from evil.

Amen.

• Hebrew for “so be it”

• Saying we believe that everything we just said (prayed) is true.