Praying the Lord’s Prayer Line by Line

The disciples had watched Jesus pray numerous times. The more they watched, the more they began to wonder why his prayers weren’t like their own.

The disciples were no strangers to prayer. They’d grown up in the synagogue and knew how to pray, yet something seemed different when Jesus prayed. Something seemed deeper, more sincere, more connected to God, more powerful, and more transformational, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on the difference.

So, they asked the teacher for a lesson on how to pray. “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:1)

The lesson Jesus gave that day, praying the Lord’s Prayer, also teaches us how to pray. You can learn how to pray more powerfully, too, by praying the Lord’s Prayer line by line.

The Lord’s Prayer

Jesus responded to his disciple’s request to learn how to pray with the 72 words we know so well as the Lord’s Prayer.

He didn’t intend this to simply be a memory verse, a prayer to only be recited from rote memory. Instead, he gave the disciples a template for prayer.

He outlined how to approach God in prayer, explaining the different conversation points we should have in our prayers, and how crucial it is to align our hearts with God’s.

We memorize the Lord’s Prayer not just so we can recite a prayer, but so that we can easily recall the key components of prayer.

The Lord’s Prayer may be committed to memory quickly, but it is slowly learnt by heart. 

 Frederick Denison Maurice

Why Pray the Lord’s Prayer?

Do you want to learn to pray?

Have you been praying all your life, yet haven’t felt its power in your life?

Are you just starting to experience prayer and wondering how it works?

Or, have you been building your prayer habit, but keep seeing others who just seem better at prayer than you and want to know their secret? 

If you want to know how to pray, look no further than the Lord’s Prayer.

Sit at the feet of Jesus, alongside the disciples, and listen to his words. See the Lord’s Prayer through fresh eyes. Start praying the Lord’s Prayer as your own.

The Lord’s Prayer – A Prayer for a Lifetime

The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer for all time. A single prayer that can transform your life. A brief, 72-word prayer that can take a lifetime to fully pray.

A simple prayer that can teach you all you need to know about prayer. 

Let’s say together, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

I used to think the Lord’s Prayer was a short prayer; but as I live longer, and see more of life, I begin to believe there is no such thing as getting through it. If a man, in praying that prayer, were to be stopped by every word until he had thoroughly prayed it, it would take him a lifetime. 

 Henry Ward Beecher