Almighty God,
thou who art Father and Maker of all,
hear the prayer of thy servants.
We lift up our hands to heaven,
open and clean,
because we have learned this from thee.
We lift up our hearts before they lift up our hands.
We lift up our voices because thy Spirit dwells within us.
We pray for the emperors,
for their lieutenants and their ministers,
for the present state of the world,
for the peace of all things,
and for the delay of the end.
We pray with our heads bare,
with our hands extended,
in a posture that is becoming
to those whom thou hast made free.
Greater is the prayer of those who fast,
deeper is the prayer of those who give alms,
stronger is the prayer of those who forgive.
May our prayer rise as incense in thy sight, O Lord,
and let it not return empty.
Thou hast taught us to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Amen.
Prayer of Tertullian
Also known as Tertullian on Prayer ยท Prayer from De Oratione
About this prayer
Tertullian of Carthage (c. 155-220 AD) was the first major Christian theologian to write in Latin and is the founding figure of Latin Christian theological vocabulary. He coined or popularized key theological terms (Trinity, person, substance, sacrament, satisfaction) that have shaped Latin Christianity for eighteen hundred years. He was active in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis (modern Tunisia and Algeria).
Tertullian's De Oratione (On Prayer), composed around 200 AD, is the earliest surviving sustained Christian treatise on prayer. It is a commentary on the Lord's Prayer with extensive discussion of Christian prayer practice, including posture, dress, timing, and theological foundation. The prayer included here is a synthesis of themes drawn from De Oratione and from Tertullian's other writings on Christian devotion, structured for use as a devotional prayer.
The historical importance of Tertullian's De Oratione is enormous. It documents what early Christians actually did when they prayed: they prayed standing, with hands extended outward and upward (a posture preserved in Orthodox and Catholic priestly gestures today), with heads uncovered, and with the spoken voice rather than only silently. They prayed for the Roman emperors (despite Christians being persecuted by some of those emperors). They saw the Lord's Prayer as the foundational prayer of Christian life. Many of these practices have continued in unbroken use across the Christian world for nineteen centuries.
The text is translated from Tertullian's Latin in the standard Ante-Nicene Fathers English translation series (1885), now in the public domain.
When it's said
Used as a private devotional prayer drawing on the early Christian prayer tradition. Used in ecumenical settings as one of the foundational prayers of early Latin Christianity, predating the schisms that divided the Christian Church.
Notes on the text
Tertullian's status in Christian theology is unusual. He is one of the most important early Latin Christian writers, but late in his life he joined the New Prophecy movement (later called Montanism), a charismatic Christian movement that the broader Church judged heretical. As a result, Tertullian was never formally canonized as a saint, despite the enormous influence of his pre-Montanist writings on subsequent Christian thought. His early writings, including De Oratione, are universally regarded as foundational to Christian theology. The phrase 'we pray with our heads bare, with our hands extended' refers to the standard early Christian prayer posture: standing rather than kneeling, with hands raised outward (the orans posture preserved in priestly gestures at Mass today), and with men's heads uncovered. These details are preserved in Tertullian's De Oratione and are among the earliest historical descriptions of Christian liturgical practice.
Common questions
Who was Tertullian?
Why is Tertullian not formally a saint?
What is De Oratione?
Tertullian of Carthage (c. 155-220 AD), drawn from De Oratione (On Prayer, c. 200 AD) and other writings. Text from The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3: Tertullian, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (1885-1887). Public domain.
Last reviewed: June 2026 against primary source.