Jesus' friends often saw Him praying. One day they asked Him: “Lord, teach us to pray.” So Jesus taught them the Our Father, also called the Lord's Prayer.
Let's look at what we say:
- “Our Father, who art in heaven”: we are God's children, all together.
- “Hallowed be thy name”: God's name is holy.
- “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done”: we want God's love to fill the whole world, and we want to do what God wants.
- “Give us this day our daily bread”: we ask God for what we need.
- “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”: we ask God to forgive us, and we promise to forgive others.
- “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”: we ask God to keep us safe from wrong choices and from harm.
The Church says the Our Father is a summary of the whole Gospel. We pray it at every Mass, and Christians all over the world pray it every day.