Matthew 6:9-13 Explained | Free Resource Guide

Prayer is partly based on the belief that we can somehow talk with the God of the universe. But it’s pretty mysterious. Where do we even start? At the very center of a collection of teachings called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches his followers a simple prayer to adopt as their own. The prayer is made up of two short halves, each with three requests. The first half focuses on God’s purposes in the world, and the second half addresses our concerns in day-to-day life. It’s a short prayer, but it contains a whole new way to look at the world.

In this guide, explore the Lord’s Prayer alongside related videos, podcast episodes, and more.

The Lord’s Prayer

9:22 • Sermon on the Mount

Context

In Matthew 6:9-15, Jesus teaches his followers a short prayer that aligns them with God’s will and vision for life in his Kingdom. Matthew places the Sermon on the Mount within a larger narrative that takes place in Jerusalem, Judea, and the surrounding occupied lands of the Greco-Roman Empire between 10 B.C.E. and 40 C.E. The book was likely composed between 50 and 90 C.E.

Literary Styles

Matthew 6:9-15 (and the Sermon on the Mount as a whole) is written in the literary style of prose discourse.

Key Themes

God as “our Father”
God’s reputation as uniquely good, loving, and holy
Life in the Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of the skies)
Rejecting scarcity by trusting in God’s provision
Forgiveness for all people, especially opposers or enemies
The goodness of testing and trials
Deliverance from the causes and effects of evil

Structure

Matthew 6:9-13, often known as the Lord’s Prayer, belongs to the larger literary unit of Matthew 6:1-18, where Jesus teaches about doing right when engaging with common religious practices of his day. And this section is part of the larger Sermon on the Mount unit found in Matthew 5-7. Jesus instructs his listeners to reject the popularized, yet hypocritical, performative traditions that strive to be seen and respected by others. Instead he encourages them to practice real generosity, prayer, and fasting. This true devotion is born from a heart intent on loving God and others so that we can be aligned with his will and work to bring about God’s Kingdom to Earth as it is in Heaven.

Our Father

Jesus begins the prayer this way:

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“Our Father who is in the skies.”

Matthew 6:9 Keep Reading

Why refer to God as being “in the skies?” In the Bible, the skies, or the heavens, are a way of imagining God’s universal power and presence that are high above all things. In God’s realm, God rules as the king whose will is always done.

But notice that Jesus refers to God as “our Father.” Most expect the God of the universe to be called something stronger, like “king” or “ruler.” However, a key claim in the Bible is that God has appointed humans as his representatives and beloved children to embody God’s wisdom and rule in the world.

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Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27 Keep Reading

Your Name

The story of the Bible is about humanity’s disregard for this calling and how we make a mess of things. So the prayer continues this way:

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“May your name be recognized as holy.”

Matthew 6:9 Keep Reading

Holiness may sound like a fancy, religious word. But in the Bible, “holy” signifies God’s one-of-a-kind status. God is the source of all reality and the author of life, without beginning or end. And it’s this God who calls the family of Israel out from the nations and attaches his holy name to them. He sets them apart as his holy representatives to all the other nations.

Just like all of humanity, Israel messes up this calling. And this leads to their defeat and subjugation to many empires, bringing dishonor upon God’s holy name. But Israel’s prophets, like Ezekiel, said that one day God would restore the holiness of his name among the nations.

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Therefore say to the house of Israel, “This is what the Lord God says: ‘It is not for your sake, house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.’”

Ezekiel 26:22-28 Keep Reading

Your Kingdom and Will

God will restore the holiness of his name among the nations by raising up a new representative, who will restore God’s rule over Israel and the world so that everyone sees the holiness and goodness of God. And when Jesus announces the arrival of God’s Kingdom, he claims to be this representative. This makes sense of the next lines of his prayer:

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“May your kingdom come, and may your will be done, as it is in the skies so also on the land.”

Matthew 6:10 Keep Reading

Jesus teaches his followers that when we love God and our neighbor, and when we treat others with God’s generosity and justice, we are entering God’s Kingdom. So this is a prayer for the reunion of Heaven and Earth, and we’re invited to participate.

This completes the first half of the prayer, which focuses on loving God and seeking his will.

Give Us Our Daily Bread

The second half of the prayer shifts to the challenges of daily life as we pray for God’s Kingdom to come.

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“Give us today our daily bread.”

Matthew 6:11 Keep Reading

This is as basic as it gets, asking God to provide food. Jesus uses an image from Israel’s story, when they journeyed through the wilderness and God provided just enough bread for each day.

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Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in my instruction. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

Exodus 16:4-5 Keep Reading

Remember, Jesus’ audience is filled with poor people, struggling to get by during the Roman occupation. And here, he invites them to join their ancestors in the wilderness, trusting God for provision each and every day.

Forgive Our Debts

Jesus continues the prayer.

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“And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive those indebted to us.”

Matthew 6:12 Keep Reading

Forgiveness is central to Jesus’ movement. He announces that God is forgiving Israel and all humanity for its long history of violence and greed. And so he calls his followers to do the same—to forgive those who hurt us. Jesus sees that our desire for revenge only keeps the cycle of pain going. So he teaches that forgiveness begins with naming the wrongdoing but then not seeking vengeance.

This doesn’t necessarily mean becoming best friends with the people who wrong us. But it does mean we release our right to get even, and even learn to pray for their well-being.

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You have heard that it was said, “You will love your neighbor and you will hate your enemy.” And I say to you, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

Matthew 5:43-44 Keep Reading

This kind of forgiveness requires radical trust in God. And Jesus invites us to see that forgiveness is like breathing. In order to truly receive and take in God’s forgiveness, you need the habit of giving it out. The two work together as one.

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For if you forgive people their transgressions, your Father in the skies will also forgive you. But if you will not forgive people, then neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

Matthew 6:14-15 Keep Reading

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Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times?”Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times. For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and forgave him the debt.But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’But he was unwilling, and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed.So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened.Then summoning him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he would repay all that was owed him.My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Matthew 18:21-35 Keep Reading

Deliver Us From the Evil One

Finally, Jesus concludes the prayer.

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“Don’t lead us into the test, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Matthew 6:13 Keep Reading

Does this mean that God might test us? We actually see tests all throughout the Bible. In the biblical story, God appoints humans as his representatives to rule the world, and that opportunity presents them with a test. Will they partner with God and rule by his wisdom or break away from God and operate by their own wisdom? While God intends this test to strengthen them, there’s another voice that twists God’s good test into a trap that tempts humans to trust their own wisdom. So yes, God presents good testing moments for people, but the evil one presents traps. And we get to decide whose voice we will trust.

Jesus knows that life is full of choices that will force us to choose who or what we will trust, so he teaches us to pray for deliverance from the evil one.

Jesus Prayed This Prayer

This is not only the prayer Jesus taught to his followers—it’s the prayer that Jesus himself prayed. When he faced his greatest test in the garden, the night before his crucifixion, he prayed these words. Jesus even asks the Father to take this responsibility, or “cup,” from him. As a true human being, he wants to survive. But because he trusts his Father’s will even more than his basic human instinct, he prays:

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“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with me for one hour? Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, your will be done.”

Matthew 26:39-42 Keep Reading

Jesus hopes for the same thing he previously prayed for: “May your Kingdom come and will be done.” And because this prayer is his habit, he continues following the way of God and trusting in his promises even in the face of unjust arrest and execution.

Jesus is delivered from the evil one when God raises him from the dead. In fact, it is through his act of self-giving love that God’s forgiveness and heavenly Kingdom come to Earth. This is how God’s holy name is restored. And Jesus invites every human being to embrace the same kind of love and trust in God’s will so that we may partner with him in his resurrection way of life that even death can’t corrupt.

The Big Idea

Praying the Lord’s Prayer is one way to make Jesus’ story our own story. Over time, the prayer forms us into people who trust God daily, love and forgive others, and participate in the good work that unites Heaven and Earth.