Some additional thoughts from Fr. Gerhard Lohfink on the Our Father.

In St. Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 11, we read, He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

The Our Father is primarily a prayer for Jesus’ disciples, the Gospel of Matthew [5:1-2] places it at the center of the Sermon on the Mount

In the Gospel of Luke [11:1], the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray

The Our Father is primarily for Jesus’ disciples the petition for bread.”

The Our Father leads us to desire only what God wants.

In the early Church the Our Father was so precious that it was fully given only when the catechumenate was completed, shortly before the baptism of new candidates he catechumens were presented the Creed and the Our Father solemnly.

Why didn’t Jesus teach His disciples a prayer of praise, because He gave them a prayer that deals with the reign of God breaking forth, pure petition.

The Our Father is a very short prayer

The Our Father without the doxology has 55 words [in English], with the doxology it has 14 additional and with the Amen = 70

Luke’s version without the doxology and conclusion has 23 words

May God Be Praised!