The Lord’s Prayer: Context and relevance for today

Amongst the great prayers in the Bible, there is one that has been treated from the earliest days of Christianity as “the Jewel in the Crown”—The Lord’s Prayer.

 

It is recorded in Matthew 6:9-14 and Luke 11:2-4 and referred to in Latin as Paternosta or Pater Nosta (Our Father). The Lord’s Prayer is almost certainly the best-known prayer in the Western World. It has been used in assemblies of Christians from the earliest of days.

 

But the prayer was given originally to the apostles of the Messiah at a specific time and for a specific purpose, and that has not always been taken into account in modern Western worship.  Hence, two of its clauses have presented great difficulties when trying to apply it to Christians today.