An acclaimed, award-winning, and best-selling poet, novelist, and critic turns his poetic and literary eye to the most famous prayer in human history.

For Christians, the Lord’s Prayer stands at the heart of both belief and practice. It offers a brief yet profound window into Jesus at prayer, and it continues to guide those who follow in his way. In this close, meditative, and far‑reaching reading—drawn from the slightly different versions found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke—Parini brings to bear his formidable gifts as poet, critic, and teacher.

Moving line by line, Parini unpacks the depth and resonance of this fabled prayer, illuminating its layers of meaning and the many ways it reveals the nature of God. In doing so, he considers what it truly means to live the Lord’s Prayer: to lean into its words, inhabit them, and allow them to shape one’s character and daily practice of faith and reconciliation.

Parini—whose distinguished career has been recognized with major honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship—draws on his mastery as poet, critic, and novelist to emphasize the prayer’s lived dimension. He helps readers experience it not simply as a sacred text, but as a transformative way of being.