Exploring and learning about the Lord’s Prayer as a school
The Lord’s Prayer <strong>an overview for teachers</strong>
- The Lord’s Prayer is found twice in the Bible. In Matthew, it is in the prayer section in the Sermon on the Mount. In Luke, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray as John the Baptist taught his followers.
- It is called the Lord’s Prayer because Jesus taught the words to the disciples. Catholics usually call it the ‘Our Father’.
- ‘Our Father’ indicates a loving, personal God. God is a model father, to be emulated, not the poor representation many sadly know. . It reminds Christians that God is a personal God, who is theirs
- ‘Who Art in Heaven hallowed be thy name’ -Praise the name of God for He is good. Hallowed means; greatly revered and honoured.
- Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in Heaven. -Asking God for His ways and will to be lived out on earth, so that all may live their life as God intended. God wants us to pray for others as everyone is part of God’s Kingdom.
- Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Here are the four personal requests: 1. Provide for us all we need 2. Forgive us all we have done wrong 3. Help us to know what is right and wrong and to stay on the path you place before us 4. Protect us from harm.
- For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever-A closing ‘hymn’ of praise to God. May you continue to be great. May you rule the Kingdom and have the glory and the power for ever and ever. ‘Yours is the kingdom…’ – this is called the ‘doxology’. It is not part of the original prayer in most manuscripts, but it was added, and used, early on.
- Amen is a Hebrew Word meaning ‘I agree’ ‘So be it. May I happen as I have prayed.’ It is used to end prayers in Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions.
with kind permission from Chelmsford DBE
Ideas for your school
There are two versions commonly used in the Church of England – in Contemporary and Traditional Language: what does your parish church use? Consider which you will use as a school.
Learn the Lord’s Prayer in sign language using this video
Invite pupils to sing this song in collective worship through the year
Use this video of the Lord’s Prayer
Global Christianity
- The Lord’s Prayer is a worldwide Christian prayer – consider how you could have a focus on global Christianity this year
- Explore the words for ‘Our Father’ in 18 languages
- Tourists and pilgrims on a trip to Israel visit the Church of the Pater Noster which is said to stand on the traditional site in Jerusalem where Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. It is famous for a series of 140 wall plaques made out of ceramic tiles. Each of these is decorated, according to the local Armenian tradition of painting on tiles, with the Lord’s Prayer in a different language. This video shows some of them why not display some or create your own?
- Consider purchasing the resource ‘The Lord’s Prayer CD’ to support collective worship this year: This is a music resource for schools and churches professionally recorded in Ipswich Primary Schools and the Ngara Anglican Primary School, Tanzania. The CD contains:
- 13 songs, including 11 sung versions of the Lord’s Prayer
- 30 fully-documented and resourced assemblies / acts of collective worship
- All you need to run a primary-age RE theme day on all aspects of the Lord’s Prayer
- Sign language guidance, resources and ideas to help create interactive stations and a fully-documented reflective story spoken recordings of the Lord’s Prayer in 18 different languages.
- Explore the Lord’s Prayer in the languages of our partner dioceses in South Africa
The Lord’s Prayer
ENGLISH
Our father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
they will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven,
give us this day, our daily bred,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever
AFRIKAANS
Onse Vader wat in die hemele is,
Laat u Naam geheilig word.
Laat u koninkryk kom. Laat u wil geskied,
Soos in die hemel net so ook op die aarde.
Gee ons vandag ons daaglikse brood,
En vergeef ons ons skulde,
soos ons ook ons skuldenaars vergewe.
Lei ons nie in versoeking nie,
maar verlos ons van die Bose.
Want aan U behoort die koninkryk en die krag en die heerlikheid, tot in ewigheid.
Xhosa
Bawo wethu osezulwini,
Maliphathwe ngcwele igama lakho,
mabufike ubukumkani bakho,
mayenziwe intando yakho emhlabeni,
njengokuba isenziwa ezulwini.
Siphe namhla isonka sethu semihla ngemihla.
Sixolele amatyala ethu njengokuba
nathi sibaxolela aabo banamatyala kuthi.
Ungasingenisi ekulingweni,
kodwa sihlangule ebubini
AMEN
Opportunities for prayer and reflection
- Set up a Lord’s Prayer Labyrinth. This activity invites pupils to ‘journey’ through the Lord’s Prayer. As pupils walk around the labyrinth pathways they encounter sentences from the Lord’s Prayer, and they are encouraged to reflect on the words, and perhaps pray them for themselves. The PDF includes a suggested layout, ideas for different places that you could set it up, and a script for dividing the Lord’s Prayer into six parts.
- Set up Lord’s Prayer reflection stations around school or the classroom ( The diocese has a Lord’s Prayer stations kit that can be borrowed. Contact oseymour@yorkdiocese.org for more details
Opportunities for prayer and reflection
- Work in partnership with your local church to create art panels representing the different parts of the Lord’s Prayer we are exploring through the year. You could connect this with the ceramic tiles from the Church of the Pater Noster
- Think about how you could encourage creative writing or poetry around the themes each half term. These could these be shared in the school newsletter, the parish magazine, displayed in school or in church.