509 / 665
36
JESUS TAUGHT US
TO PRAY
THE LORD’S PRAYER: OUR FATHER
—CCC, NOS. 2759-2865
“THIS IS HOW YOU ARE TO PRAY” (MT 6:9)
Jesus prayed always. St. Luke, for example, tells us in his Gospel: “After
. . . Jesus . . . had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened”
(Lk 3:21).
Jesus prayed before his choice of the Twelve Apostles and before he
asked the Apostles who they thought he was. He prayed regularly in the
synagogue and Temple. He prayed before the prediction of his Passion
and during the Transfiguration. “While he was praying his face changed
in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white” (Lk 9:29). Jesus
prayed at the Last Supper, in Gethsemane, and on the Cross.
He prayed for long periods of time, sometimes for a whole night. “He
went up on the mountain by himself to pray” (Mt 14:23). The Gospels rarely
describe what his prayer was like, simply noting that he prayed often. One
thing is clear, the Apostles were so moved by the constancy and depth
of his prayer that they asked him to help them to pray: “Lord, teach us to
pray” (Lk 11:1).
Jesus responded with what is now known as the Lord’s Prayer. In St.
Matthew’s Gospel, he precedes his gift of this prayer with teachings about
how
not
to pray. In St. Luke’s Gospel, he adds advice about the need
to pray with confidence that our prayer will be answered. The Gospel of
Matthew introduces the Lord’s Prayer with these words:
When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand
and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that oth-
ers might see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their