Praying the Lord's Prayer Together
Month 4: The Teacher (Part 1) · Family Worship
Today's Scripture
Read together: Matthew 6:9-13
9 So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Memory Verse
“So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.”— Matthew 6:9 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: 2 Chronicles 15-18
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 118 of 365 — Jehoshaphat seeks the LORD while Ahab refuses to listen to the prophet.)The Heart of It
Today we gather the whole prayer into our hands and pray it together as a family. This week Jesus walked us through it line by line. We come to "Our Father in heaven." We honor His holy name. We long for His kingdom and His will. We ask for daily bread. We receive forgiveness and give it. And we ask to be kept from evil. Jesus didn't give us these words to mumble without thinking. He gave them as a pattern, like a trellis our own prayers can grow on. Some days we'll pray the very words. Other days we'll slow down and pour our real lives into each line. Both are good. The point is a family learning, together, to talk with their Father.
So let's make this a true worship time. Notice how the whole prayer is shaped like a healthy heart. It begins with God. His fatherhood, His name, His kingdom. Only then does it turn to our needs, our forgiveness, our rescue. That order trains us to keep God first and ourselves in our proper place. And notice it is all "us" and "our," never "me" and "my." Jesus gave us a family prayer, meant to be prayed shoulder to shoulder. As you pray it tonight, let the little ones say a line. Let the older ones add their own words. And let Dad lead the way by praying honestly. A home where children hear their father pray "Our Father" with them is a home being quietly built on the Rock.
Around the Table
Tonight we get to pray Jesus' special prayer all together as a family! God loves to hear all our voices at once.
Let's do it: Hold hands in a circle. Then pray the Lord's Prayer slowly together, one line at a time.
The Lord's Prayer starts with God. It names Him as Father, honors His name, and asks for His kingdom. Only then does it ask for our needs. That order helps us keep first things first.
Let's talk: Which line of the prayer means the most to you right now, and why?
The prayer is a pattern, not just a script to repeat. It puts God first and our needs second, and it is all "us" and "our." It is meant to shape every prayer we pray.
Let's go deeper: Take one line and pray it in your own words tonight. How could the Lord's Prayer become a daily frame for your own praying?
💬 Conversation Starter
What's your favorite thing our family does together, not alone? Jesus gave us a prayer to pray together, because we are His family.
🛡️ Defending the Faith
Christians of every language and every century have prayed the Lord's Prayer. It is a living thread that ties our family to believers across two thousand years. The fact that it has lasted so long points to a real Lord who really taught it. We treasure it and share it with confidence and gentleness ().
For Dad · Go Deeper
Tertullian called the Lord's Prayer "a summary of the whole gospel." The early church taught new believers to pray it before they were even baptized. There is deep wisdom in giving children a shape for prayer, not just feelings. Spontaneous prayer is precious. But a child whose only model is "say whatever you feel" can drift into shallow or self-focused praying. The Lord's Prayer disciples the heart. It teaches us what to want, and in what order, before God. As the spiritual leader of your home, consider praying it together regularly. Not as a dead ritual, but as a trellis on which living, honest, family prayer can climb. Your steadiness here will outlast your best one-off devotions.
Draws on: Tertullian, On Prayer; and the Didache.
Let's Pray Together
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. In Jesus' name, amen."
Jesus gave us a family prayer. So we'll learn to say "Our Father" side by side.