LSB #766 "Our Father, Who from Heaven Above"

Biblical citation in the hymnal:  Matthew 6:9-13

Matthew 6:9-13:  "9 'Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."'"

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Only some of the stanzas are public domain:

1 Our Father, who from heav'n above

Bids all of us to live in love

As members of one family

And pray to You in unity,

Teach us no thoughtless words to say

But from our inmost hearts to pray.

6 Forgive our sins, Lord, we implore,

That they may trouble us no more;

We, too, will gladly those forgive

Who hurt us by the way they live.

Help us in our community

To serve each other willingly.

8 From evil, Lord, deliver us;

The times and days are perilous.

Redeem us from eternal death,

And, when we yield our dying breath,

Console us, grant us calm release,

And take our souls to You in peace.

9 Amen, that is, so shall it be.

Make strong our faith in You, that we

May doubt not but with trust believe

That what we ask we shall receive.

Thus in Your name and at Your Word

We say, "Amen, O hear us, Lord!"

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The hymn is an expansion of the text of the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6.  Along with the introduction and conclusion, each petition (as outlined in Luther's Small Catechism) has its own verse.

The last line of the fifth verse ("To care and greed no entrance give") may allude to Proverbs 30:8-9:  "8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."

The line "That what we ask we shall receive" in the ninth verse refers to Matthew 7:7-8:  "7 'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.'"