Matthew 6:5–15

Teaching about Prayer

^5*“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. ⁶But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

⁷“When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. ⁸Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven:

May your holy name be honoured;

¹⁰may your Kingdom come;

may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹Give us today the food we need.^c

¹²Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.

¹³Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.’^d

^14*“If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.