The Sermon on the Mount: Teach Us to Pray
20 August 2025 · 1 min read · Prayer
In the middle of the sermon, Jesus gives the prayer that has been prayed more than any words in history. After this manner therefore pray ye — not a magic formula but a pattern, six petitions wide, deep enough for a lifetime.
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
God's concerns first
The first three petitions face upward: thy name hallowed, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Prayer's order corrects our instincts — before a single need is mentioned, the heart is re-centred on God's honour, reign, and purposes.
Then, and only then, the human needs — and all three come in plurals: give us daily bread (provision), forgive us our debts as we forgive (pardon), lead us not into temptation but deliver us (protection). Body, conscience, and future, covered in eighteen words.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
A pattern to inhabit
The prayer is short enough to memorise and vast enough that no one has finished exploring it. Pray it slowly — a line at a time, expanding each in your own words: hallowed be thy name in my house, my work, my Tuesday.
Notice too what follows it: the one petition Jesus circles back to explain is forgiveness. The forgiven forgive; the prayer assumes it. Sixty-six words — and a whole life's curriculum.
