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Which Version of the Lord’s Prayers Do You Say?

Which Version of the Lord’s Prayers Do You Say?

Did you know there are multiple versions of the Lord’s Prayer—the prayer Jesus used to teach his followers how to pray? Matthew records the most common version, which goes something like this:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

While there are some variations to this depending on the version of the Bible referenced, it is essentially the wording many people use.

However, there is a footnote indicating that some manuscripts add the following phrase at the end:

“For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

This completes the version used by most of the rest of us. However, Luke also records the prayer with a more concise wording:

“Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.”

I’ve never heard anyone use this version. But it is in the Bible and is worth considering.

However, it doesn’t really matter which of these three versions of this classic prayer we follow, for I don’t think Jesus intended us to recite it verbatim, but to use it as a model or a template to form our own prayers.

[Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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