Just Teach Sheet Adult August Week 4

✝️ Adult Faith Formation – Just Teach Sheet

Week 4: The Our Father – Living the Prayer of Jesus
August Theme: Prayer & Personal Relationship with God
Audience: Adult Catholics (individually or small groups)
Focus: The Our Father is not a children’s rhyme or background recitation. It is the very heart of Christian prayer, taught by Christ Himself, and called by the Catechism “the summary of the whole Gospel” (CCC 2761).

Weekly Goal

Adults rediscover the Our Father as a radical prayer that reorders life: worship first, then surrender, then trust in God’s care, then forgiveness, then protection.

What You’ll Need

This sheet

A Bible (Matthew 6:9–13, Luke 11:1–4)

A Catechism (CCC 2759–2865 if available)

Quiet prayer space or parish chapel

Opening Prayer (Say daily)

Lord Jesus Christ,
You taught us to pray the Our Father.
Teach me to live its meaning.
May my life proclaim Your kingdom,
may I forgive as You forgive,
may I hunger for the Bread of Life,
and may I trust the Father’s will in all things. Amen.

 

 

 

�� Day 1 – A Prayer from the Son

Teaching:
The Our Father is unique. Every other prayer in Scripture is human words rising to God. The Our Father is God’s own Word, given to us by the Word made flesh.

�� Matthew 6:9 – “Pray then like this: Our Father…”
�� CCC 2761: “The Our Father is truly the summary of the whole Gospel.”

�� Reflection:
When you pray it, you are entering Jesus’ own prayer to the Father. It is the prayer of the Church, the prayer of the Son in the Spirit.

Question for reflection:

Do I recite it quickly, or do I realise I’m standing with Christ before the Father?

Practice: Pray the Our Father slowly, pausing after each phrase.

�� Day 2 – “Our Father”

Teaching:
We don’t pray “My Father.” Christian prayer is never private. To say “Our Father” means I belong to the Church, God’s family.

�� Romans 8:15 – “You received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”
�� CCC 2790: “When we say ‘Our Father,’ we recognize first that all His promises of love… extend beyond every frontiers.”

�� Reflection:
Praying Our Father destroys individualism. It makes me intercede for the whole Church, not just myself.

Practice: Today, pray the Our Father offering it for persecuted Christians worldwide.

�� Day 3 – “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done”

Teaching:
This line is dangerous. To ask for God’s kingdom means surrender: my plans must give way to His. It means renouncing sin, building justice, and desiring holiness above comfort.

�� Matthew 6:10 – “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”
�� CCC 2820: “This prayer is inseparable from Christ’s own prayer… It must animate our lives.”

�� Reflection:
Do I really want God’s will — even when it crosses mine?

Practice: Write down one area of your life where you resist God’s will. Offer it consciously in this prayer today.

�� Day 4 – “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”

Teaching:
The Fathers of the Church saw three layers here:

Material needs (trusting God’s providence daily).

The “super-essential bread” of the Eucharist (Greek: epiousion).

The Word of God as nourishment.

�� John 6:35 – “I am the Bread of Life.”
�� CCC 2837: “Daily also refers to the Eucharist, the Bread of Life.”

�� Reflection:
The Eucharist is the fulfilment of this petition. Each Mass is the Father answering our prayer.

Practice: Attend one weekday Mass this week if possible. Before Communion, pray: “Father, give me today my Daily Bread.”

��️ Day 5 – Forgiveness & Protection

Teaching:
Forgiveness is not optional. To pray this is to bind ourselves: God forgive me as I forgive others. It is both a comfort and a warning.

�� Matthew 6:14–15 – “If you forgive others, your Father will forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
�� CCC 2840: “This outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven.”

�� Reflection:
Am I willing to forgive those who have hurt me — not excusing their sin, but handing it to God?

Practice: Make an act of forgiveness: “Lord, I forgive ___. Give me Your strength to let go.”

Weekend Wrap-Up – The Gospel in a Prayer

Reflect on these:

Which phrase strikes me most strongly right now?

Do I pray the Our Father with attention, or is it automatic?

How would my daily life look if I truly lived this prayer?

Journal Prompts

“The hardest line of the Our Father for me is…”

“This week I will live the prayer by…”

��️ Apologetics for Adults

Q: “Isn’t repeating the Our Father just empty words?”
A: Jesus condemned vain repetition (empty babble, Matt 6:7), not the repetition of meaningful prayer. The Psalms repeat phrases constantly. Jesus Himself gave us the Our Father and expects us to pray it often. The Church Fathers taught that it is the model prayer — every Christian prayer is contained in it.

Q: “Why add the doxology ‘For the kingdom, the power, and the glory…’ sometimes?”
A: That line is ancient (found in early Christian writings like the Didache), but not in the oldest Gospel manuscripts. Catholics usually say it at Mass after the priest’s prayer, as part of the liturgy.

Optional Extension

Read CCC 2759–2865 (section on the Our Father).
Reflect on CCC 2770: “The Lord’s Prayer is truly the summary of the whole Gospel.”
Ask: What would it mean for my life to be a living commentary on this prayer?