Lord's Prayer

The prayer Jesus gives to his disciples in Luke arrives in answer to a direct request — they have watched him pray, and they want a form. The form he gives is short, addressed to the Father, and ordered around the kingdom, daily provision, forgiveness, and protection from testing.

A Disciple's Request

The setting is a moment of Jesus's own prayer. When he stops, a disciple asks for instruction modeled on what John gave his own followers: "And it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, that when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples" (Lu 11:1). The request is for a form of prayer the group can use together — something patterned and learnable.

The Form Jesus Gives

The reply is the prayer itself, given as a corporate form (the plural-you in "When you⁺ pray, say"): "And he said to them, When you⁺ pray, say, Father, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation" (Lu 11:2-4).

The opening address is plain: "Father." The two opening petitions belong to God — that his name be hallowed, and that his kingdom come. The next three belong to the disciples: daily bread for the day they are in, forgiveness of sins coupled with their own forgiving of every debtor, and rescue from being brought into temptation. The forgiveness petition contains an active condition — "we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us" — making the disciples' practice toward others the form in which they ask Yahweh's forgiveness for themselves.