Say it with me:

Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil

You my feel compelled to add the words absent in Matthew 6 and Luke 11:

For thine is the kingdom
The power and the glory
Forever and ever,
Amen.

This simple prayer of Jesus has been used to facilitate prayerful devotion from the earliest days of the church. It has been described by countless authors throughout church history.

In On the Lord’s Prayer, Alistair Stewart-Sykes translates the commentaries of three early Christian theologians: Tertullian (c. 155–220), Cyprian (200–258), and Origen (c. 185–c. 254). Tertullian and Cyprian’s commentaries are short, likely intended as baptismal catechesis. These works are refreshingly direct and practical. Consider this advice from Tertullian about the tendency to pray too loudly:

So it is fitting that the tones of our voice be subdued [in prayer]: if we are heard in proportion to the noise we make we should need additional lungs! (53)

Origen’s work is of a different order. It is a more advanced treatise on the Lord’s Prayer, steeped in Platonic philosophy. While I have some strong opinions about the negative influence of Platonic thought in Christianity, there were still moments of striking beauty.

For when anyone who is accompanied by the Holy Spirit calls upon the Lord, God sends thunder from heaven and rain to irrigate the soul. (142)

This Popular Patristic Series offering is another rich work, suited for devotional reflection.

Tertullian, Cyprian, and Origen. On the Lord’s Prayer. Translated by Alistair Stewart-Sykes, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004. Popular Patristics Series 29.