A weekly blog of Creative Ideas for Leading Worship
Reimagining the Lord’s Prayer
Speaking timeless words in today’s language
Rewriting sacred words to speak freshly into the heart of today’s community.
Why Reimagine?
The Lord’s Prayer is one of the most familiar and beloved prayers in the Christian tradition. Its rhythms and cadences have been spoken for generations in countless languages. For many, these words are deeply comforting.
Yet sometimes familiarity can dull our ears. We risk reciting the prayer by rote, without pausing to consider its meaning.
Reimagining the Lord’s Prayer together in fresh, contemporary language can awaken our hearts again. It invites us to listen with new ears, and to ask questions such as:
- What does “daily bread” mean in our community today?
- What does it mean to describe God as our parent?
- What does God’s kingdom look like here and now?
This exercise is not about discarding the old words, but about rediscovering them.
It’s creative, participatory, and open to people of different ages and stages of faith. By rewriting the prayer in our own voice, we learn to engage more deeply with its message.
Preparation
This activity works best in settings where people can talk together in smaller groups – such as café church gatherings around tables, or by creating circles of chairs in your usual worship space.
Practical steps:
- Provide large sheets of paper and markers or pens for each group.
- Have a large whiteboard or computer linked to a projector and screen at the front to collect the groups’ ideas.
- Print copies of the version of the Lord’s Prayer your church usually prays, for reference.
During the Service
Introduction
Begin by grounding the congregation in the significance of the prayer. You might say:
“This is the prayer Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him how to pray. It speaks of trust, forgiveness, daily needs, and God’s reign of love. Today we are going to listen with fresh ears and rewrite these words together in our own language for our own community.”
Allow 20-30 minutes for the exercise. It could take the place of the sermon.
Action
- Read aloud your church’s usual form of the prayer.
- Distribute copies, setting it out in one- or two-line sections, like this:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory
are yours now and forever. Amen.
- Assign each group one section (or the standalone line: Give us today our daily bread).
- Invite them to discuss what that section means today, then draft new words that capture the meanings and messages they uncover.
- Encourage plain, everyday language – words a child, neighbour, or newcomer to faith would understand.
Collaborative Draft
- When the groups are ready, invite them, in order, to share their rewritten lines.
- Record their new wording on the whiteboard or computer linked to a projector and screen for all to see.
- As each section is added, the congregation will see a new, parallel version of the Lord’s Prayer take shape – their own collaborative version of Jesus’ words.
Sharing the Prayer
Pray the new version aloud together for the first time.
Consider using it again later in the service – perhaps after communion, or as the final blessing.
Take a photo of the whiteboard and share it in the church newsletter or on social media.
If the text resonates with your community, use it again in future worship services.
Closing Reflection
Conclude with words like these:
“The prayer Jesus taught us is a gift for every generation. Today we have reimagined it in words that speak to our hearts, our needs, and our community. May this remind us that prayer is not only about repeating sacred words – it is about bringing our lives honestly before God.”
Why It Matters
Reimagining the Lord’s Prayer does more than refresh familiar language. It:
- Invites worshippers to own their faith in the present tense.
- Connects scripture with the daily struggles and hopes of your community.
- Bridges tradition and creativity, honouring both.
- Reminds us that prayer is a living conversation with God.
Done with care, this exercise can deepen trust, broaden understanding, and energise your congregation’s shared spiritual life.
Ngā mihi
Philip