Prayer · 7 days
Learning to Pray: The Lord’s Prayer
Seven days inside the prayer Jesus taught.
Pray like this: “‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
Who it’s for
One petition of the Lord’s Prayer a day, to learn to pray with Jesus.
- Anxiety and peace — Cast your cares, trust and rest in God.
- Grow in faith — Prayer, the Word and consecration, one day at a time.
What you’ll grow in
How the journey is organized
- Day 1Our Father in heavenMatthew 6:9
- Day 2May your name be kept holyLuke 11:2Available in the app
- Day 3Your Kingdom comeMatthew 6:10Available in the app
- Day 4Your will be doneMatthew 6:10Available in the app
- Day 5Our daily breadMatthew 6:11Available in the app
- Day 6Forgive us our debtsMatthew 6:12Available in the app
- Day 7Deliver us from the evil oneMatthew 6:13Available in the app
Day 1 · Our Father in heaven
Today’s reading: Matthew 6:5-9
5“When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward. 6But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7In praying, don’t use vain repetitions as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. 8Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him. 9Pray like this: “‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
Matthew 6:5-9 · World English Bible
Our Father in heaven
Context
The Lord’s Prayer appears in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), in the passage where Jesus speaks of three practices of devotion: giving to the needy, praying, and fasting (6:1-18). He criticizes prayer offered in order to be seen, and the vain repetitions of those who think they will be heard for their many words. Luke records the same teaching at another moment, after a disciple sees Jesus praying and asks, “Lord, teach us to pray.” The phrase “pray like this” shows that it is a pattern, not a magic formula.
One of the disciples saw Jesus praying and waited for him to finish. Then he asked: “Lord, teach us to pray.” He didn’t ask to learn how to work miracles or preach to crowds. Something in the way Jesus spoke with the Father awakened a hunger in him. Maybe you know that hunger: you want to pray but don’t know where to begin, or the words always come out the same and you wonder whether anyone is listening.
Jesus begins by taking apart two ideas. The first is prayer as a shop window: people praying on street corners to be admired. The second is prayer as technique: people who think that by talking a lot they will win God over. In both, the one praying is at the center. Jesus changes the foundation: “your Father knows what things you need before you ask him.” You don’t pray to inform God or to pressure him. You pray because you are his child.
That is why the first word is Father. For those listening to Jesus, calling God Father with such closeness was bold. Paul says the Spirit leads us to cry, “Abba! Father!” It isn’t a title we earn; it is a place we receive by grace, in Christ. If the word “father” hurts you because of an absent or harsh father, know this: God is not a copy of your earthly father. He is the original that every father was meant to reflect.
And Jesus says “our.” Even behind a closed door, in your inner room, you don’t pray alone. The prayer he taught has no “I” or “my” in it. It places you alongside brothers and sisters you know and many you will never meet. Simply saying “Our Father” is already a refusal of the idea that faith is just your own business.
“In heaven” doesn’t speak of distance, but of greatness. The Father who is near is also the Lord who rules over all. Closeness without reverence becomes carelessness; reverence without closeness becomes fear. Jesus joins the two in a single line, and it is in that balance that prayer breathes.
Today, begin in the inner room. You don’t need beautiful phrases. Close the door, put your phone away, and simply say: Father. Stay there a little while. Speak plainly about whatever is on your heart: the weariness, the gratitude, the doubt. He already knows, but he loves to hear from you. The rest of this week will be built on that one word.
To reflect onBefore any request, Jesus teaches you to say “Father.” How have you been approaching God: as a child, as a customer, or as a stranger?
To live it today
- Choose a set place and time to pray this week (ten minutes is enough) and, today, pray there beginning with just the word “Father,” without hurry and without ready-made phrases.
More questions
- What does the word “Father,” applied to God, stir in you: trust, distance, or pain?
- Who can you pray for today by saying “our,” remembering that this person is also a child of the same Father?
Prayer
Praise
Father, you are in heaven and greater than everything around me. And still you call me your child. I praise you because you welcome me close to you.
Surrender
I hand over to you my hurry, my ready-made phrases, and my desire to be seen. I also hand over the wounds that the word “father” carries in me.
Petition
Teach me to pray. Give me a simple heart in the closed room, and remind me that I never pray alone: there are many of us saying “Our Father.”
To memorize
But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Read also: Luke 11:1 · Matthew 6:8 · Romans 8:15 · Galatians 4:6
Continue in the app: days 2 to 7
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For your everyday
Scripture on this page: World English Bible (public domain). How we write the journeys