In our increasingly Biblically illiterate society, it is interesting to see which passages of Scripture maintain a high pop culture profile, particularly in movies. 

Psalm 23 (The Shepherd’s Psalm) gets a fair share of shout-outs (The Elephant Man, Pale Rider, and, not surprisingly, in Jim Carrey’s The Number 23. I Corinthians 13 also is used frequently, almost always in wedding ceremonies. In Wedding Crashers a wager is made about whether I Corinthians 13 or Colossians 3:12 will be used in the ceremony. (Betting against I Cor. 13 is a sucker’s bet.)

But filmmakers’ go-to Scripture, the champion for quotation, seems to be the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6: 9 – 13: “Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’” (ESV translation)

For the past hundred years, it’s been used frequently in films, but it doesn’t seem to be out of fashion yet. The prayer Jesus gave His disciples remains a powerful touchstone for our culture, but not always in a positive way.

Just as the Corinthians passage is often used in movie weddings, the Lord’s Prayer is used in movie funerals, especially Westerns. “Our Father” is used at a funeral in George Steven’s Shane and on HBO’s Deadwood (a TV show, sure, but a cinematic TV show). The Lord’s Prayer was used in a funeral in Michael Cimino’s Vietnam epic, The Deer Hunter.

One of the most powerful uses of the prayer as a eulogy is in Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In this seafaring adventure, based on Patrick O’Brian’s series of novels set in the Napoleonic Wars, Russell Crowe plays British ship captain Jack Aubrey, a stern yet fair man. 

When the ship’s crew begins to lose confidence in Hollom, one of the midshipmen Hollom, Aubrey tries to set things straight, but soon all of the ship’s ill fortune, particularly a becalmed sea, is blamed on Hollom. The crew refer to him as a “Jonah” (one wonders how many in the movie audience knew the story of the rebellious prophet). 

Hollom himself begins to believe he may, somehow, be responsible for the ship’s bad luck. Following the example of Jonah, he throws himself overboard, but the Lord doesn’t provide a fish to swallow him up, and Hollom drowns.

At the man’s funeral, Captain Aubrey refuses the passage from Jonah that he is offered and instead reads the Lord’s Prayer. In a powerful way, the crew is reminded that they had not been willing to forgive this brother, leading to his death. The prayer serves as a reminder of the crew’s dependence on God to meet all their needs: wind, rain, and forgiveness. We, too, need these reminders.

However, the Lord’s Prayer hasn’t always been used positively in films. Sometimes knowledge of the Prayer is a shibboleth, a sign for sorting believers from heathens. In David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees, the rather freakish Christians recite the Lord’s Prayer (the cool people in the film are the Buddhists and existentialists). In Claude Berri’s The Two of Us, a Catholic suggests to a Jew in 1944’s occupied Paris that he should learn the Lord’s Prayer, just to be safe.

This theme is echoed in 2001’s Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Nowhere in Africa. In this story, a Jewish family flees Nazi Germany for safety in Kenya. The parents use their meager resources to send their daughter to a private school. At the opening of the school year, the schoolmaster asks the Jewish children to go to the side of the room while the other children stand to recite the Lord’s Prayer. This young girl was ostracized in Germany for being a Jew and has already been set apart for her white skin. She then discovers this prayer is yet one more obstacle to becoming part of a community.

In many Christian congregations, the Lord’s Prayer is recited with the assumption that all will know it. Someone visiting the church, unfamiliar with details of the Christian faith, may also feel like ignorance of the prayer sets them apart. I’m sure Jesus isn’t pleased that His prayer as a gift is used to test people for spirituality.

Many other films make use of the prayer. In the melodrama Johnny Belinda, Jane Wyman recites the Lord’s Prayer in sign language in her Oscar-winning performance.

In the concert film The Last Waltz (about the band The Band), a parody of the Lord’s Prayer, “The Loud Prayer” written by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, is performed.

The Lord’s Prayer makes a cameo appearance in horror films as well, often providing a contrast to the forces of evil. In The Seventh Victim, the protagonist uses the Lord’s Prayer as a source of protection against a Satanic cult. In the remake of The Omen, the Antichrist’s adopted father recites the Lord’s Prayer as he unsuccessfully tries to kill the child with a sacred dagger.

The prayer can also be heard in the Marvel Extended Universe. In Bryan Singer’s X-Men United, the blue, German, Christian, teleporting mutant called Nightcrawler (aka Kurt Wagner) recites the Lord’s Prayer to fight his fear.

My favorite use of the Lord’s Prayer in a fantasy film is in Sam Raimi’s Spiderman. Toward the end of the film, Peter Parker’s Aunt May in kneeling by her bed in prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from…” She stops when the film’s villain, the Green Goblin, breaks through her bedroom window. The demonic-looking creature has discovered Spidey’s true identity and is attacking Peter through his aunt. He demands Aunt May finish her prayer. She hesitates, then prays, “Deliver us from evil.” We next see Aunt May lying in a hospital bed. Was her prayer answered?

It’s worth noting that praying for deliverance from evil doesn’t mean evil won’t have an impact on our lives. Christians throughout the centuries have prayed for daily bread and yet starved. We pray for God’s will to be done, and yet people act against God’s will.

This is quite clear in two films (both made in 2006) about the events of 9/11/2001. Paul Greengrass’ United 93 and Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center both include characters who face death and pray the Lord’s Prayer. Of course, these aren’t just characters – actors in both films portray real people who faced death that day. Passengers on United Flight 93 prayed for God’s will to be done. And they died. Port Authority Police Officers John McLoughlin and William Jimeno prayed for God’s will to be done. They were rescued.

There is something about this prayer Jesus taught. It forces us to wrestle with God’s will, God’s provision, sin, and forgiveness. It addresses the ultimate issues. It makes sense that it would come naturally to believers facing death. It is a prayer that should come naturally to believers almost every day.

The power of this prayer, this piece of Scripture, is such that even Hollywood can’t ignore it.