Our Father (The Lord's Prayer)
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Jesus taught His disciples this prayer in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9–13) and when they asked Him, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1–4).
Pray it along with us, with every prayer on screen:
Where Does This Prayer Come From?
This one is easy.
Jesus gave it to us.
His disciples asked Him how to pray, and He gave them these words.
Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
— Matthew 6:9
Matthew gives the longer version, with seven petitions.
Luke gives a shorter one.
— Luke 11:2–4
The Church prays Matthew's version.
So Why Do Protestants Say It Differently?
If you've ever prayed the Our Father next to a Protestant friend, you know the moment.
You say "Amen."
They keep going.
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever."
So who's right?
Wait a second.
Open a Douay-Rheims Bible to Matthew 6:13.
And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.
— Matthew 6:13
That's where Jesus' words end.
The line about the kingdom and the glory is called a doxology, a short burst of praise.
Christians were adding it to the Our Father very early.
The Didache, one of the oldest Christian writings outside the Bible, already ends the prayer with praise to God's power and glory.
Over time, that ending was copied into some later manuscripts of Matthew.
The King James Bible (1611) included it.
So most English-speaking Protestants learned the prayer with it.
You may read those manuscripts differently.
But you at least have to admit that Christians in the Church's earliest worship were already praying those words.
Catholics Say It Too
Here's what surprises a lot of people.
Catholics pray the doxology every Sunday.
At Mass.
Listen right after the Our Father.
The priest prays:
"Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil…"
And the whole church answers:
"For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever."
There it is.
The Church never dropped the doxology.
She keeps it right where it started: in the liturgy, as the people's answer of praise (CCC 2760).
So at home, the Our Father ends with "Amen," the way Jesus taught it.
At Mass, the whole Church finishes the praise together.
Same prayer.
Same Lord.
Two ways of saying amen.
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