Video Transcript
Edmund: It’s not surprising that Jesus prayed a lot. And the disciples would have noticed Him often going away to be alone in prayer. But Scripture tells us about one day in particular when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray.
Emily: And this is when Jesus taught the disciples what we call “the Lord’s Prayer.” This is a prayer we’ve heard so many times that we might not realize just how special it is. Jesus reveals something that has since been passed down for centuries and prayed by millions of people.
Edmund: We can understand just how important this moment and this prayer are by looking at just the first two words. Jesus begins by teaching the disciples to pray “Our Father.” He didn’t teach them to pray by saying “Jesus’ Father” or “The Father.” In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus revealed an invitation to something very intimate and special. In this prayer, Jesus invited the disciples into the heart of the Father, our Father.
Emily: Jesus—who had a deep and intimate closeness with his heavenly Father—wasn’t just giving His followers words to recite—He was opening a window into His own way of connecting with the Father. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer—which we sometimes call the “Our Father”—we’re actually entering into Jesus’ own prayer; the way He relates to God as His Father. It’s like He’s showing us how to be part of the most intimate conversation ever, one that pulls us into the very heart of the Trinity.
Edmund: Through Jesus, we are invited to become adopted sons and daughters of God. No one before Jesus had revealed this special relationship with God. So by teaching us to pray “Our Father,” Jesus invites us to enter into a relationship where we accept God as our own father.
Emily: But teaching us each to pray “our” instead of “my” also implies that when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are reminded that God’s invitation is for everyone. He is “our” Father. When we pray this prayer, we are praying on behalf of the whole Church—the family of God—and on behalf of anyone anywhere that might not know God yet, or not know Him fully.
Edmund: The Catechism reminds us in paragraph 2765: “The traditional expression ‘the Lord’s Prayer’ — oratio Dominica — means that the prayer to our Father is taught and given to us by the Lord Jesus. The prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is ‘of the Lord.’ On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives us the words the Father gave him: he is the master of our prayer. On the other hand, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our prayer.”
Emily: So the Lord’s Prayer is a model of Christian prayer. The Catechism also goes on to call it “The summary of the Gospel,” or the “Gospel in miniature,” and also “The most perfect prayer.”
Edmund: The Lord’s Prayer is a quintessential prayer of the Church. It is prayed at every Mass. And it’s a part of all the sacraments of Christian Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist. And in the Divine Office, it is prayed every day around the world in the Liturgy of the Hours.
Emily: At Mass, the priest says, “As we dare to say…” right before we pray the Lord’s Prayer. Because calling God “our Father” is a bold move for us mortals! But we dare to call God “our Father” because Jesus invites us to do so. It emphasizes a relationship of trust, intimacy, and reverence.
Edmund: Not only that, but Jesus reveals in the Lord’s Prayer that we can and should ask God for our needs.
Let’s talk about the structure of this prayer a little more.
Emily: The Lord’s Prayer is divided into seven petitions. The first three focus on God’s name, kingdom, and will. The last four address our needs of daily sustenance, forgiveness, protection, and deliverance from evil.
Edmund: In the Jewish tradition, prayers were often memorized and recited, and Jesus likely intended the Our Father to serve as a foundational prayer for His followers. The fact that it’s concise, memorable, and includes essential themes for a life of faith suggests it was meant to be recited regularly. And that’s exactly what the early Christian communities did. They quickly adopted it as a core part of worship, and passed on this prayer as central in Jesus’ teachings.
Emily: In the first three petitions, we are carried towards God the Father. These petitions can concern His name, His kingdom, and His will. The Catechism says in paragraph 2806: “By the three first petitions, we are strengthened in faith, filled with hope, and set aflame by charity.”
Edmund: And in the last four petitions, we entrust God with our concerns in this world: we pray “give us” … “forgive us” … “lead us not” … and “deliver us.” The first two concern our life — to be fed and to be healed of sin; the last two concern our battle for the victory of life — that battle of prayer. Then we pray, “Do not let us fall into temptation but deliver us from evil”.
Emily: Jesus revealed God as a loving Father who cares for us and invites us into a deep, filial relationship with Him in Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Jesus reveals a Father who cares about our daily needs and who we can trust with our petitions. Jesus wanted to teach us how we could have this special relationship with the Father and what that relationship of prayer looks like. And that’s why Jesus teaches us to pray “Our Father” by revealing the Lord’s Prayer.
