In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. The Lord’s Prayer. 9 “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread; 12 and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; 13 and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
Matthew places this teaching in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is correcting distorted religious practice and forming his disciples into a new way of living before the Father. Just before giving the prayer itself, he warns, “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.” The issue is not length, but the idea that prayer persuades a reluctant deity. Jesus says plainly, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Prayer is not a technique to move God. It turns the heart of the one who prays toward God.
When Jesus begins, “Our Father in heaven,” he places prayer within a relationship. The address is communal and filial. Those who pray are not isolated individuals but members of a family formed by Jesus (cf. Mt 12:48-50). Calling God “Father” echoes Jesus’ own way of praying (cf. Mk 14:36) and expresses trust rather than anxiety. The prayer does not begin with human needs but with God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. “Hallowed be your name” asks that God’s holiness be recognized and honored. “Your kingdom come” looks to the full realization of God’s reign, which Jesus has already proclaimed (Mt 4:17). “Your will be done, on earth as in heaven” aligns the disciple’s life with the divine purpose. Before asking for anything, the prayer lifts the mind from self-preoccupation to God’s larger work.
Only then does Jesus turn to human needs. “Give us today our daily bread” asks for what is necessary. The language recalls Israel’s dependence on manna in the wilderness (Ex 16:4-5). Bread was given one day at a time. The petition trains disciples in daily reliance rather than self-sufficiency. It can include ordinary material needs, yet in Matthew’s Gospel bread also carries a deeper resonance, as when Jesus takes bread, blesses it, and gives it to his disciples (Mt 14:19; 26:26). The request teaches steady dependence on God’s provision.
“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” introduces a moral condition. In Matthew, “debts” refers to sins (cf. Mt 18:21-35). The disciple asks for mercy while committing to extend mercy. Jesus immediately underscores this point after the prayer: “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.” Refusal to forgive blocks the very mercy one seeks. Prayer and conduct cannot be separated. The one who stands before the Father must be willing to be reconciled with others (cf. Mt 5:23-24).
The final petition, “do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one,” looks ahead. Scripture speaks of times of testing (cf. Gen 22:1; Rev 3:10). The disciple does not presume strength but asks to be preserved from trial and from the power of evil. Matthew’s wording, “the evil one,” recalls earlier references to Satan (Mt 4:1-11; 13:19). The prayer acknowledges both human weakness and the reality of spiritual opposition. It places ultimate trust in the Father’s protection.
Taken as a whole, the Lord’s Prayer forms a pattern. It begins with God’s name and reign, moves to daily sustenance, insists on forgiveness within the community, and ends with a plea for protection in the face of testing. It does not multiply words. It orders desires. The disciple learns to want what God wills, to depend on what God gives, to forgive as God forgives, and to seek deliverance from what opposes God’s reign. In this way, prayer becomes the school in which the heart is trained for the kingdom.
Lord, teach us to pray as your Son has taught us. Turn our hearts first toward your name and your will. Give us what we need each day, forgive our sins, and strengthen us to forgive others. Preserve us in times of trial and deliver us from the evil one.
___________________
Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Mt 6:7-15.
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, Matthew, pp. 17-18.
- New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), Matthew, pp. 644-645, paras. 38-39.
- Navarre Bible: St. Matthew’s Gospel, pp. 65-67.
- Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018), Matthew, pp. 922-923.
- The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century (2020), Matthew, pp. 1184-1185.
Comments