The Lord's PrayerSample

How Jesus taught us to pray

The Lord’s Prayer is one of the most famous parts of the Bible. Even if you have not thought about Jesus’ best-known prayer for a while, you probably know it off by heart. But do you know where to find it in the Bible, and do you know why Jesus was giving a prayer tutorial?

With expert insights from New Testament lecturer David Höhne (Moore Theological College, Sydney), we made The Lord’s Prayer Podcast to dive deep into Jesus’ prayer. Before we looked at it, though, David and I discussed the context of the Lord’s Prayer.

What we now call the Lord’s Prayer turns up about midway through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). Among the many other guidelines that Jesus shares for life in God’s kingdom, He explains what to do when we pray.

Before outlining ‘how you should pray’ (6:9), Jesus provides two examples of what not to do. Don’t pray like religious hypocrites who show off before others, and don’t pray like someone who thinks praying many words will grasp God’s attention. Instead, let’s pray like… (more tomorrow)

Written by BEN McEACHEN