Bible Discussion Thread

were are the different versions of the Lords Prayer found?

In John 17 Jesus prayed to the Father. It is some of my favorite scripture. What is frequently referred to as the Lord's prayer is found in Luke 11:2-4 and Matthew 6:9-13

LeRoy,

Matthew 6:9-13 gives us the principles of prayer. This is known as the "Lord's Prayer" theologically, but in reality it is called the Disciples Prayer because Jesus is teaching the disciples to pray.



The real Lord's Prayer is found in John Chapter 17 where Jesus prayed in intercession for His people to the Father. That is the real Lord's Prayer. It is His prayer. This is the prayer for the Disciples in Matthew Chapter 6.



There is another version in Luke 11:2-4, but it is a different presentation from what we have in Matthew. In Luke there are no Hebraisms because Luke's Gospel was written to the Gentiles.



For instance the first one is "Our Father, which art in heaven." Luke, even in the oldest manuscripts, it is just "Our Father." There is no phrase, in heaven.



So basically, Jesus again taught the same principles, but one in Jewish form and one in Greek form. And so you can see that it was not used as a formula for reciting, where everybody gets up and says the same prayer all the time every week. It is not a formula prayer!



But there are principles that Jesus laid down to teach us. He says, you want to know how to pray? Here is what you do. And there are three parts. But again, this is not the Lord's Prayer in Matthew. The Lord was not praying. He was teaching the principles of prayer to His disciples.