Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (Greek: Πάτερ ἡμῶν, Latin: Pater Noster), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manuscripts and Christian traditions.

Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and a shorter form in the Gospel of Luke when "one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.'" Scholars generally agree that the differences between the Matthaean and Lucan versions of the Lord’s Prayer reflect independent developments from a common source. The first-century text Didache (at chapter VIII) reports a version closely resembling that of Matthew and the modern prayer. It ends with the Minor Doxology.

Theologians broadly view the Lord’s Prayer as a model that aligns the soul with God’s will, emphasizing praise, trust, and ethical living. The prayer is used by most Christian denominations in their worship and, with few exceptions, the liturgical form is the Matthean version. It has been set to music for use in liturgical services.

Since the 16th century, the Lord’s Prayer has been widely translated and collected to compare languages across regions and history. The Lord’s Prayer shares thematic and linguistic parallels with prayers and texts from various religious traditions—including the Hebrew Bible, Jewish post-biblical prayers, and ancient writings like the Dhammapada and the Epic of Gilgamesh—though some elements, such as “Lead us not into temptation,” have unique theological nuances without direct Old Testament counterparts. Music from 9th century Gregorian chants to modern works by Christopher Tin has used the Lord’s Prayer in various religious and interfaith ceremonies. Additionally, the prayer has appeared in popular culture in diverse ways, including as a cooking timer, in songs by The Beach Boys and Yazoo, in films like Spider-Man, in Beat poetry, and more recently in a controversial punk rock performance by a Filipino drag queen.