March Catechism Discussion Questions

In the book, How to Teach The Catechism to Children, by Joyce M. Horton, there are some helpful discussion questions / topics you can use during the Truth Made Known time.

Q. What is the Lord's Prayer? A. The Lord's Prayer is "Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

In the Old Testament, God had revealed Himself to His people by names like Almighty, Covenant God, Lord of Hosts, All-Sufficient, Creator God, etc. But they had never known Him as Father before.

As far as I know, this is the first time they were told directly that they could call God “Father….” Imagine coming to God in such familiar terms!

There are six petitions in the Lord’s Prayer that cover just about everything for which we’d pray.

The first three petitions ask for things pertaining to the glory of God (just like the first four commandments are regarding our duty to God)

Hallowed (Holy) be your name Your kingdom (the realm in which God's will is fulfilled) come Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven

The last three petitions ask for things pertaining to our needs (just as the last six commandments pertain to our duty to our fellow man).

Give us this day our daily bread (our daily needs provided for - we pray that our needs and God’s provisions will meet in His perfect timing. Forgive us our debts (sin or trespass) as we forgive our debtors Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us (to set free) from evil

This, probably, was to serve as sort of an “outline” for us to follow in our own praying. It would be good to let the children pray some prayers that would follow this outline but still be personalized.

For example, instead of saying “forgive us our debts” one could pray “please forgive me for losing my temper”, or “please forgive me for hitting my brother / sister today.”

Instead of “lead us not into temptation” one could pray “today on my test, please keep my eyes on my own paper so I won’t cheat” or “please help me not to disobey my parents when they tell me to do my chores.”

The Lord’s Prayer would likely become much more meaningful to the children if they spent some class time personalizing it in this manner.

It’s good to point out that this was not the way Jesus prayed, for He had no sins to confess. His prayer is contained in John 17 and is called Christ’s high-priestly prayer.

Scripture Reference:

Matthew 6: 9-13 - Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Luke 11: 2-4 - And 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 who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”