After telling his apostles not to pray as the hypocrites,
pray in secret, and not to use “vain repetitions”
He then taught them the way they should pray by giving the
Lord’s Prayer. Speaking of the Lord’s Prayer, President Nelson taught us, “Our
prayers follow patterns and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. He taught us
how to pray. From His prayers we can learn many important lessons. We can begin
with the Lord’s Prayer and add lessons from other prayers He has given.”[1]
In the scriptures, we have three versions of the Lord’s
Prayer.
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Matthew 6:9-13
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Luke 11:2-4
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3 Nephi 13:9-13
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9. Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name
[GR Let Thy name be sanctified].
10. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth [GR on
earth], as it is in heaven.
11. Give us this day our daily bread.
12. And forgive us our debts [GR debts, offenses,
faults, or sins], as we forgive our debtors.
13. And lead us not into temptation [Syriac: do not let us
enter into temptation],[2]
but deliver us from evil [GR but protect us from the evil one]: For
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
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2. Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in
earth.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one
that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.[3]
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9 Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
12 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
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We know the version in 3 Nephi represents the Lord’s words during
His ministry to the Nephites, but why two different versions in the Bible? Dr.
Thomas Wayment suggests it was an intentional alteration of the text by
scribes.
“Often, scribes attempted to ‘correct’ texts they felt were
open to misinterpretation, were prone to misuse, or contained contradictory
teachings … For example, the two versions of the Lord’s Pryaer do not contain
the same wording … [O]ne particular scribe of they fifth century openly
harmonized the two prayers … Our modern King James Version contains much of the
harmonized text instead of what is likely the original text … Had the text of
the Lord’s Prayer not been harmonized by later scribes, it would read, ‘Father,
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. Give us each day our bread for
tomorrow. And forgive us our sins, even as we forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us into trial’ (author’s translation).”[4]
When we pray, “[w]e start by speaking to our Heavenly Father:
“Our Father which art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2). It is our privilege
to approach our Father directly. We do not pray to any other being. Remember
that we have been counseled to avoid repetitions, including using the name of
the Father too often as we pray.”[5]
President Nelson explained what the Lord’s Prayer teaches us
about prayer.
“Though the four versions of the Lord’s Prayer are not
identical, they all open with a salutation to ‘Our Father,’ signifying a close
relationship between God and His children. The phrase ‘hallowed be thy name’
reflects the respect and worshipful attitude that we should feel as we pray...
“His request for ‘daily bread’ includes a need for spiritual
nourishment as well. Jesus, who called Himself ‘the bread of life,’ gave a
promise: ‘He that cometh to me shall never hunger.’ And as we partake of
sacramental emblems worthily, we are further promised that we may always have
His Spirit to be with us. That is spiritual sustenance that cannot be obtained
in any other way.
“As the Lord closes His prayer, He acknowledges God’s great
power and glory, ending with ‘Amen.’ Our prayers also close with amen. Though
it is pronounced differently in various languages, its meaning is the same. It
means ‘truly’ or ‘verily.’ Adding amen solemnly affirms a sermon or a prayer.
Those who concur should each add an audible amen to signify ‘that is my solemn
declaration too…
“The Lord prefaced His prayer by first asking His followers
to avoid ‘vain repetitions’ and to pray ‘after this manner.’ Thus, the Lord’s
Prayer serves as a pattern to follow and not as a piece to memorize and recite
repetitively. The Master simply wants us to pray for God’s help while we strive
constantly to resist evil and live righteously.” [6]
[1] Lessons
from the Lord’s Prayers, President Russell M. Nelson, April 2009 General Conference.
[2] “And suffer us
not to be led into temptation” ( JST Matthew 6:14)
[3] JST Luke 11:4 … And let us not be led unto
temptation; but deliver us from evil; for
thine is the kingdom and power. Amen.
[4] The Life and
Teachings of Christ, Vol. 1: From Bethlehem through the Sermon on the Mount, The
Story of the New Testament, Thomas A. Wayment.
[5] The
Privilege of Prayer, Elder J. Devn Cornish, October 2011 General
Conference.
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