“Everywhere (in the ancient church) the Lord’s Prayer was a constituent part of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, and everywhere the Lord’s Prayer, together with the (Apostles’) creed, belonged to those items which the candidate for baptism were instructed…”. -Joachim Jeremias, The Prayers of Jesus. p. 83
The Lord’s Prayer-noun phrase.
/ˌlɔːrdz ˈprer/
Definitions:
Merriam-Webster, contemporary -the prayer with variant versions in Matthew and Luke that according to the Lucan account, Christ taught his disciples.
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, 1755 1-listed under the first two words in Latin: “Pater Noster” and defined simply as “The Lord’s Prayer” 2- “No penny no pater-noster.”1
MakeGoodHappen with Randy Lovejoy -a bridge by which we go deeper with God and closer to each other.
Etymology:
The Lord’s Prayer has been prayed in thousands of languages over more than 2,000 years. Here are some steps of its journey to get to us in 21st-century English.
Abun di bashmayya nethqadash shmak
-Aramaic
Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·
-Greek (Between 80 and 90 AD)
Pater noster, qui es in coelis
-Latin (4th century)
Fader uren thu arth in heofnum
-Anglo-Saxon (8th century)
Ure Fadyr in heaven rich
-English (12th century)
Oure fadir that art in heuenes
-English (14th century, Wycliffe)
Our Father in heaven
-English (1986, NAE)
How It MakesGoodHappen:
The Lord’s Prayer is known to many people through its repetition in Christian worship. This kind of familiarity has had some unintended effects. Let me mention just two of them:
“Paternoster,” the first two words of the Lord’s prayer in Latin, is defined by Merriam-Webster as “…a word form or a magical charm.”
In the 1860s Peter Ellis developed a doorless, revolving elevator (see video clip above). When the civil engineer and architect from Liverpool was considering a name for his invention he came up with the “paternoster lift” because its repetitious loop reminded him of people praying the “Our Father” with the rosary in hand.
These two examples certainly show a kind of impact that Jesus’ prayer has had in the Western world. But the Lord’s Prayer can be so much more.
After all, it is the prayer that Jesus recommends to his disciples. In Matthew, he says to his disciples and everyone who is listening to the Sermon on the Mount, “This, then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven…” In the Gospel of Luke, after the disciples asked him to teach them to pray in the same way that he prays, Jesus says, “When you pray say, ‘Father, hallowed be your name…” Since that time, the Lord’s Prayer has been an essential training tool for all followers of Jesus. For example, a 2nd-century guide for Christians recommends that they pray the Lord’s Prayer 3 times a day. We in the 21st century have the opportunity to use the Lord’s prayer productively in our own lives as well.
1-The Lord’s Prayer helps us to makegoodhappen in our lives. It provides us with simple words that:
express the nature of our relationship with God (Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name)
directs our hope for the future (Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven) and, finally,
it enables us to make a very practical deal with God for the day (give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil).
In Luke’s gospel, the prayer is followed by the encouragement to persevere in our seeking. We need to persevere, Jesus teaches us, because God will answer.
Praying the Lord’s Prayer each morning reminds us what our life journey is all about. I explore this use of the Lord’s Prayer in my post “Finding Home,” a personal exploration of how I use this prayer to persevere in this world after tasting the one to come.
2-The Lord’s Prayer helps us to makegoodhappen in our relationships. The Lord’s Prayer trains us to forgive others. We see this in Luke with the part of the prayer that says: Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. This familiar phrase is really quite radical. It directly connects our learning to forgive with our being forgiven. Matthew only increases this emphasis by reporting that Jesus followed the Lord’s Prayer with this teaching: For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Every time we pray this prayer we are making a commitment to learn how to forgive.
3-Finally the Lord’s Prayer helps us to makegoodhappen in our local community. In fact, it can even help us build local community. Every follower of Jesus has to get comfortable with praying out loud in a group. The Lord’s Prayer can help us. Try this with some people you trust who would be interested in praying the Lord’s prayer:
One person reads the first phrase of the Lord’s prayer out loud to the group as a prompt. For example, “Our Father, who art in heaven.”
Then the group meditates on those words and takes turns offering prayers that come to mind. Keep the prayers simple. For example, “Thank you for being a loving God.”
When there is a moment of silence read the next phrase and repeat the process. Sometimes there will be many short prayers. Other times only silence. Both are fine.
Once the last phrase has been read and prayed about (“for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever”) the leader says something like, “Let’s pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray saying, “Our Father…) Everyone joins in praying the full prayer together, concluding with the “Amen.”
Then take a few minutes to talk together about the experience.
Practicing this with friends will not only help you learn to pray out loud but will deepen your relationships with the people you have prayed with.
The Lord’s Prayer has so much to offer us on our journey through life. Used properly, it becomes a bridge that takes us deeper in our relationship with God and closer to others. And one day it will be answered. I share my take on what that day will be like, in an imaginative journey posted under the title, “Hope Fulfilled.”
How have you used the Lord’s Prayer in your own spiritual journey? What is your next step?
Let us know in the comments below.
1605, William Camden’s Remains of a Greater Work Concerning Britain, a collection of themed historical essays as a more popular companion to Brittania.