Christian Prayers & Resources

inspired by the Celtic Christian Church

'Pray like this...'
The Lord's Prayer - A Group Bible Study

A series of 5 Bible Studies
based upon the Lord's Prayer

"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6)

The Lord's Prayer is easily the world's favourite prayer, but it is so easy to say it every week and not really get to grips with Jesus's words - to understand the implications of what we are praying.

In conversation with the BBC, The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams commented, ‘If somebody said, give me a summary of Christian faith on the back of an envelope, the best thing to do would be to write Our Lord’s Prayer.’

According to St. Augustine (d. AD430), “Whatever else we say when we pray, if we pray as we should, we are only saying what is already contained in the Lord’s Prayer.”

This set of studies explores some of the major themes of this prayer - the possible sources Jesus used and transformed to form this prayer; our relationship with God and our neighbour; God's provision; forgiveness and forgiving, and our battles with temptation and testing. It tries to show they might impact on our lives and those of the people we meet in our daily walk with God.

The studies can be photocopied onto 2 sheets of A4, making this a cost-effective way of leading a group study, as permission is given for copying.

Download a sample study as .pdf - Click Here

(for free Acrobat pdf Reader click here)

-------------------

Contents

Introduction - Leader's notes and background information

Study One - Lord, teach us to pray

Study Two - Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come

Study Three - Give us this day our daily bread

Study Four - Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

Study Five - Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

--------------------

This material is presented for ease of duplication, and permission given for this for group use within a single fellowship.

Available only as an ebook at present (pdf format, can be opened with free Acrobat Reader)