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Why do some traditions recite the Lord's Prayer word for word?

I know a lot of Christians that do this, but I am having trouble understanding why. Is the Lord's prayer recited by anyone anywhere else in the Bible other than when Jesus first says it to the disciples?

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this is related and addresses the first part of your question As for the second part there is no other repetition of the Lord's prayer as far as I am aware in the NT. – ryan Apr 24 '12 at 17:52
Welcome to Christianity--StackExchange! I agree with @ryanOptini--we've had a virtually identical question. Point #2 is a different question, but it's pretty easy to answer with a quick search or a check of a study Bible's cross-references. But you could probably edit the question to get at what you seem to be really asking, which is why some traditions recite the prayer word for word. – Jon Ericson Apr 24 '12 at 18:10
thanks for the comments. i didn't see that other topic which has good information on this topic. – Greg Apr 24 '12 at 19:43
yeah, that is perhaps what i'm really wondering, jon -i updated the question – Greg Apr 25 '12 at 12:57

There are two main reasons we recite the Lord's Prayer in worship:

  • It is a model prayer that Jesus gave us to teach us how to pray. We recite it to remind ourselves what genuine prayer looks like.
  • We pray it as a group to unify the congregation. When we recite the Lord's Prayer, we are all speaking to God with one voice.
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There are similarities between the Lord's Prayer and others prayers recited in those days as the Kaddish. So it could be said that Jesus used a common pattern to make up His prayer based in what they know: Jewish traditions. We don't have references to say that anyone anywhere else recited it.

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