Our father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name…..I know the words, you know them, and so does everyone else. The Lord’s prayer is hard to forget. Any person raised in a Christian household knows the prayer better than the back of their own hands.
And with Christianity’s influence being nothing short of global, there’s a sizable chance that the Lord’s prayer is just as well known to non-religious people.
Although memorization depends on practice. It’s a piece of cake for us grown-ups who’ve said or heard this prayer all our lives. On the other hand, the odds aren’t exactly fair when you’re just a few years old.
It’d be quite the task to recite the Our Father when you’re still learning your ABC’s.
Natalie and Nicole, two twin toddlers, are certainly doing their best. The blonde, curly-haired pair are daughters of pastor Brad Angus. With their daddy’s job being to preach the gospel and recite the scripture to a regular audience, the two of them probably hear the Lord’s prayer all the time.
Angling the camera to Nicole first, Brad asks “Can you say the Lord’s prayer?”. Maybe thanks to camera shyness, lack of practice or something else, she just gives a very anxious “Nooo”.
Okay then, he can just ask Natalie. Indeed, Natalie seems much more eager than Nicole. So much that she starts reciting the prayer before her daddy can finish the question!
At least she’s loud and unapologetic about her love for Christ, right?
Her dad has to mention the catch though. The catch is that she has to say the prayer very loudly. Should be easy for a toddler. “Loud” is in their very soul.
Say no more, dad. Here I go.
“Our father who-“, and then some incoherent babbling follows before the “hallowed be thy name“.
Well she said she could recite it, not that she memorized it.
She pretty much nails the next line, though. That being, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven”. To be completely honest, this all reminds me of when you only know half the lyrics to a song, so you mumble the parts you don’t know.
Up next is “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses”.
Once more, Natalie gets it pretty well.
I’m particularly impressed at how a toddler was able to say “Trespasses“.
She has a bit of trouble with “as we forgive those who trespass against us“, but it’s discernible enough.
On she goes with, “and lead us not into-“, and here instantaneously and abruptly stops dead. There’s now a naughty, comedic grin on her face, and she’s smirking so strongly that her cheeks look like they’re about to burst from the pressure.
She needs a bit of a hint here. So dad obliges, and informs her that the next line is “and lead us not into temptation”. Then we hear her go at it, and it’s close enough. Kinda.
“And nead us nuh into nentation, Amen.”
No, Natalie. Not yet.
There’s still the “But deliver us from evil”, her dad informs her. I should say “Tries to inform her”, because her attention is grabbed by the sound of their mom coming home. And it’s all a big, adorable and loud mess from there.
“I see mama!!”, fills the air and it’s even louder than when she was asked to loudly recite the Lord’s prayer. They’re toddlers, they can always turn the volume up.
When they calm back down, dad asks them to do it again. Together this time.
And it went about as well as you think.
First, a simultaneous and calm “Our father….who art in heaven…”, and then it just goes from 0-100 real quick. They probably think their voices have to be extra loud if God needs to hear them from all the way up in heaven.
But I’m sure the Lord appreciates it nonetheless – “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
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