Articles
Pray In This Way
Pray In This Way
Matthew 6.9-13; Luke 11.1-4
As I examine my own prayer life, I often feel that I am asking too much. However, we are frequently told throughout the New Testament to make requests of God in our prayers (Matthew 7.7-11; Mark 11.24; John 14.13-14, 15.7, 16.23-24; James 1.5-7; 1 John 5.14-15). After looking at these Scriptures, I realized my problem was not that I was asking too much, it was that I was asking for the wrong things. With this in mind, I looked to the prayer Jesus gives when asked how to pray. In this prayer, which we often refer to as the Lord’s prayer or the model prayer, there are five sections that can be broken up into five requests.
In this article we will look at the template for prayer Jesus gives us, and what requests we should be making in our prayer lives.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. (Matthew 6.9b; Luke 11.2a)
A request to approach. In the same way that we would start a conversation with any person, we should start our conversation with God with a request to approach Him. Rarely do we start a conversation with someone without any introduction or greeting, yet I often find myself approaching God by barely mumbling the words “Dear God” before launching into what I really want to talk about. The reverence we should have when approaching our Creator should take up a larger portion of our prayer than just the first two words. Start with an acknowledgment of who you are talking to and give praise to Him before you go into the rest of your prayer.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6.10; Luke 11.2b) A request for heaven to come to earth. Praying for God’s kingdom to come is an acknowledgment of God as our King. As followers of that King, we desire to submit to His sovereign rule. Prayer is perhaps the best way to align our will with God’s will. A great way to do this is to request for earth to be like it is in heaven. By asking for this, we commit ourselves on earth to doing the will of our King in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6.11; Luke 11.3)
A request for our needs. This request is not only for our physical needs but for our spiritual needs as well. Our daily needs are certainly more than just food. It is important to pray for our physical needs but let us not forget to pray for our spiritual needs to be met. Remember that Jesus said He is the bread of life (John 6.35), so requesting our daily bread is a request for Him to be in our lives daily. How else would our daily needs be met except through the bread of life?
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (Matthew 6.12; Luke 11.4a)
A request to be more like God. This could have simply been a request to be forgiven, but Jesus makes it much more than that. The request for forgiveness is followed up with the condition that we also will forgive. Being forgiven and offering forgiveness bring us closer to God. This is a request both to be forgiven and to forgive. If we want to be more like God, we need to pray for our forgiveness and our forgiving of others.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6.13a; Luke 11.4b)
A request for God’s protection. Protection from God means allowing Him to lead us. If we want Him to deliver us and keep us safe, then we are asking Him to lead us away from danger. Temptation is dangerous. Delivery from the evil one means leading us away from temptation. God’s protection and leadership is always accessible. When temptation comes, ask God for His protection and deliverance.
– William Speer
