I. Symphonic pedagogical perspective in the Lord’s Prayer (from my book Westminster Foundations pp. 119-121, PDF free on my website www.bethoumyvision.net )
WLC defines prayer as our 2nd and 3rd C duties (WLC 108, 112). Using the identical format as Exodus 20:2-17 above, the Scripture's teaching about prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 summarizes the Christian religion, our rule of faith, and obedience. Using a Scripture about prayer to interpret all Scriptural prayers (WCF 1:9), WLC 186-196 uses the rubric of the Lord's Prayer (divided into a preface and six petitions) to teach what man is to believe concerning God and man's duties toward God. WLC 189 defines "Our Father in heaven" as a preface about God and his work (summarized in WLC 5-90). Following that, WLC 190-196 divides the Lord's Prayer into six petitions, asking that God, by that faith union in the covenant of grace with Christ our mediator by the communion of the Spirit in the fellowship of the visible church, would supply the grace to perform the duties He requires of man (summarized in WLC 103-148).[1] This form of prayer is sufficient for converting the unregenerate (the so-called "sinner's prayer") and the daily supplication of the saints. Prayer also has a distinguishing function. As with any good work, when it is done by unregenerate men and not from a faith-purified heart (Heb. 11:6), nor according to the pattern of the Lord's Prayer, nor for the glory of God, it can neither please God nor receive saving grace from God (WCF 16:7).
Preface: “Our Father in heaven” teaches us that God as Father beckons us to draw near to himself, trusting and loving his attributes of “sovereign power, majesty” revealed in his “gracious condescension” for our salvation by the covenant of grace in Christ by the Spirit. He has adopted all the elect as “children” who have a right to call him Father (Rom. 8:15) and requires our humble obedience to his will and our prayerful efforts to support each other in obeying his will.[2]
1. Petition: “Hallowed be your name," asks for grace to perform 1st-3rd C duties related to glorifying, loving, fearing, and honoring God, his new covenant in Christ our mediator, and his Triune name as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (WLC 190).
2. Petition: “Your Kingdom come," asks for grace to remove 1st-10th C lex Christi prohibitions and grace to perform all lex Christi duties. Primarily, this petition asks that all authorities (governments, husbands, parents, school and business leaders, and church leaders) properly represent God as revealed in his Word, sacraments, and prayer (WLC 191, summarized in WLC 153-196).
3. Petition: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," asks for grace for ourselves and all men to perform God’s prescriptive will, their 1st -10th C lex Christi duties (WLC 192).
4. Petition: “Give us this day our daily bread” is specifically related to 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th C for ourselves and all men, asking for God’s gracious condescension to sustain his created world and its resources for the flourishing of all life, and man’s thankful and contented production and stewardship of “a competent portion” of resources for physical health and strength to perform all lex Christi duties (WLC 193).
5. Petition: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," asks for God's mercy on all our 1st-10th C sins because of the propitiation of Christ, our mediator. From this mercy received, we ask for grace to perform our 6th C duty to continually forgive all lex Christi sins committed by others against us, first in our hearts (Mark 11:25), and if possible, to reconcile with them (Rom. 12:16-18; Matt. 18:15; WLC 194, 135).
6. Petition: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," asks for protecting grace from all 1st-10th C lex Christi prohibitions. One method is by our contemplation of the punishments and curses of sin (WLC 28; Proverbs) and contemplation of the blessed enjoyment of all lex Christi duties (study Proverbs, e.g., Prov. 7:7-27 compared to Prov. 31:10-31). We ask God that we may resist temptation, beginning with our heart's desires. If we fall by sinning, we ask that we be delivered from all evil by forgiveness of our sins and renewal in our pursuit of holiness to gain the unshakeable kingdom as our reward (Heb. 12:14, 28; WLC 195).
7. The last phrase of the Lord’s prayer “for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever, Amen” is biblical, but not part of our ESV version of the Lord’s Prayer. It seems like an adaptation of 1 Chronicles 29:11: “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” It has testimony to early use in church documents like the Didache (c. AD 100).
II. Structuring the Lord’s Prayer for Children
As a hymn, as WLC/WSC instruction and as a didactic teaching and story outline from Matthew’s Gospel
I composed this rendition of the Lord's Prayer to the tune of Old Hundredth (left side column) in preparation for teaching this class on parenting from Matthew's Gospel, using a familiar tune to teach children how to remember the themes of the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 combined with themes from the Westminster Larger Catechism Q&A 1, 189-196. My rough Chinese translation (using Perplexity.ai and my own editing) was much improved by our own Reformation Translation Publishing Co. 天地共讚Psalms & Hymns for Worship hymnbook editor Christina Hsu 徐嘉徽. (It can also be sung to other 8.8.8.8 meter tunes, such as “Duke Street” “The Water is Wide” “The Maker of the Universe” “Before the Throne of God Above.” We could also use “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (8.8.8.8.8.8 meter tune) with potential to add this chorus “Our fears, Be still, our Father’s gift shall quell, Christ’s Spirit in his children comes to dwell,” (allusions Luke 11:13; Mark 4:39-41; Rom. 8:9, 14-17).
see pdf on my website http://bethoumyvision.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/The-Lords-Prayer-Hymn-T.-Yates-2025.pdf
[1] For anecdotal evidence on how the English Puritans understood The Lord’s Prayer as a perfect summary of the general headings for all prayers, but which needed the supplemental specific petitions under those headings, see Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory, (Ligonier: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1990 reprint), 484-486.
[2] The Lord's Prayer conclusion, "for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, Amen" (ibid. OPC, 2005, WLC 196, note n, note r, “found in some, but not all, Greek manuscripts” 352-353) is likely additional wording adapted from 1 Chronicles 29:11, but conforms to the theme of the preface, that our confidence in asking these petitions is joined with praise for the Lord’s symphonic persons reflecting symphonic attributes in his kingdom work.
Applications to Daily Discipleship
Verse two would make a good pre-meal prayer/song.
I believe the Lord's Prayer can and should be used for what we call "the sinner's prayer," namely, a seeker's expression of initial faith in Christ, whether a child or an adult. This versified form adds explanatory detail. Additionally, each verse can be connected to the focal point of salvation in Christ's cross and resurrection. Thus, it could also be used as "the sinner's prayer/song." The Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms can also add excellent explanatory detail. In conclusion, teaching the seeker the Lord's Prayer as an initial prayer of faith becomes a Scripture-based framework for discipleship and future growth.
This creative hymn rendition of the Lord’s Prayer can be used to augment our corporate worship, either as a response to a prayer of confession, as a replacement for the Triune doxology (or that Triune doxology could be added as a sixth stanza, though doxological themes are present in the first five stanzas), or as a “sending forth to serve” of the entire time of worship.
Here is a contemporary musical version of the hymn “All Creatures that in Earth Do Dwell” (same tune, plus a creative chorus/bridge) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRklkCklycU
This can be combined with regular recitation of WLC 189-196 to instruct the congregation about essential themes of Christianity and “union and communion with God in grace and glory” (WLC 65, 69) in memorable forms. For the children and youth among us, these are vital to their spiritual formation in corporate worship and in family instruction and prayer from the time they can learn to speak and recite our teaching.