A Study of the Lord's Prayer

All materials in these studies that are not otherwise attributed are © 1999 by Mark Vitalis Hoffman. Expressed permission is hereby granted to download and print these materials for personal use only. If you wish to use any of these materials for a group or other purposes, please contact me (orders@crossmarks.com) for permissions. In all cases, include my copyright notice and email address with any versions of the material. Thank you. 

For Openers:

• What food is the most tempting for you to eat?
• What important promise have you been able to keep, even though it has been hard to do?
• What is the biggest problem or trouble you have ever faced?

For Your Information:

• Matthew 6.13 - "Do not bring us into..." (eisenegkes): The Greek word means, "bring into, lead into, carry into, cause to enter."
• Matthew 6.13 - "Temptation" (peirasmos): The Greek word could be translated with, "testing, temptation, trial, trap."
• Note that we pray to God to "not bring us into temptation." (It does not say, "Do not tempt us.")
• Does God test / tempt people? See the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 and consider what happened to Job. Also see 1 Corinthians 10.13; James 1.13-15.
• Note how Jesus himself dealt with the problem of temptation. Read Matthew 4.1-11 and Luke 22.40.
• Read Matthew 26.35-42. What connections do you observe between the Lord’s Prayer and what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane?
• Read Luther's explanations to the 6th Petition of the Lord's Prayer.
• Matthew 6.13 - "Evil": The form of the Greek word here could either be referring to "evil" as an abstract concept, or it could be translated as "evil one." See Matthew 13.19 and 13.38 where the same Greek construction does mean "evil one," that is, the devil or Satan.
• Read Luther's explanations to the 7th Petition of the Lord's Prayer.
• The Doxology ("For thine is the kingdom...") is not included in the oldest and best Greek manuscripts. It was probably added later, perhaps on the basis of 1 Chronicles 29.11-13, as part of the liturgical use of the Lord’s Prayer in the early church. It is possible that Jesus concluded the prayer with some sort of doxology or blessing.
• "Amen": The Greek word a)mh/n is actually a transliteration of the Hebrew word }m). It means, "so let it be, truly."
• Read Luther's explanations to the Doxology of the Lord's Prayer.

For Your Consideration:

1. In translating the phrase, "Lead us not into temptation," the contemporary version of the Lord’s Prayer reads, "Save us from the time of trial." Is this a good translation? Is it helpful to you?
2. What is one temptation you never want to face? Why would this one be hard for you?
3. Does God tempt us? Test us? Try us? What are the differences in meaning between these possible translations and why are they important?
4. What would be best for you: To never face any temptations? To face temptations but receive help in resisting them?
5. Look at the list of temptations Martin Luther mentions in his explanation to the Sixth Petition. What makes these things so tempting?
6. If someone admitted to you that they were struggling with some temptation (e.g., a chemical dependency, cheating on taxes, adultery), what would you do to help them resist the temptation?
7. Keeping in mind that the Lord’s Prayer consistently uses plural forms, what temptations and evils do we face together as a family? a church? a community? a nation?
8. What is an evil thing you face daily?
9. What is the difference between praying that we not be led into temptation and that we be delivered from evil?

For Later:

• Pick one thing that really tempts you. When you pray the Lord’s Prayer, specifically keep this temptation in mind.
• Pray the Lord’s Prayer when you first awake, sometime during the day, and just before you go to sleep.
• Parents: teach the Lord’s Prayer to your children. Godparents: remember that you promised to teach the Lord’s Prayer to your godchild when s/he was baptized.