Prayer is one of the most powerful tools that God’s people have access to. The Bible promises us that when we pray, God listens. Take a moment and let that sink in. If you have issues with the way that things are working in our nation, you probably can’t pick up your phone and call the President of the United States. However, the same God who spoke everything around us into existence wants to hear from you anytime something is going wrong in your life.
Many people, whether they’ve been saved for years, or they recently asked Christ to be their Savior struggle with finding the “right” way to pray. Some people feel a sense of shame when they acknowledge that they aren’t sure about how to pray. Not only is asking questions about how to pray nothing to be ashamed of, but it’s also actually Biblical!
Luke 11:1 (ESV)
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
The same men who spent virtually every moment with Christ, saw Him work miracles, and heard Him teach realized that they weren’t sure if they were praying the right way. Surely, if anyone on earth knew how to pray, it was these men, right? Not exactly. They knew that they should pray, but they believed that there was a more effective way to approach prayer, so they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.
Not only did this question take bravery, but it also revealed the fact that Jesus was willing to show them a model prayer. We can apply His model prayer to our own prayer lives as well.
Luke 11:2 (ESV)
And he said to them “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.
In Jesus’ model prayer, He opens up with a statement of praise. It’s easy for us to approach prayer as a method for us to give God our wish list and then walk away until He does exactly what we want Him to do. It’s sad to say, but in a lot of ways, we treat God like our own personal Santa Clause. Kids don’t really put much thought into Santa in June or July. Instead, they wait until December when they’re told that he’s watching, they modify their behavior and then give Santa their list.
Jesus encourages His people to open up prayer with praise. Instead of bursting into Heaven’s throne room where we can rattle off a list of everything we want God to do, start out by acknowledging His role as your Heavenly Father.
Additionally, the first request that Jesus makes in His model prayer is, “Your kingdom come.” He didn’t elaborate on that point much, but it’s powerful that His first request is a request for God’s kingdom to be made manifest on earth.
That portion of this prayer is about our priorities. Not only does opening our prayer with praise help us to shift our focus onto God’s goodness, but making our primary request a request for His kingdom, His presence and His power ensures that we’re focused on God more than we’re focused on ourselves.
Luke 11:3 (ESV)
Give us each day our daily bread,
God’s Word contains multiple promises in which He assures us that He will meet our needs. However, in His example prayer, Jesus takes a moment and points to our need for God to sustain us. This portion of The Lord’s Prayer isn’t just about making sure that we have bread. Instead, it is a verbalization of our never-ending dependence on God to meet our needs.
As humans, we have a natural tendency to look to ourselves as our own source of provision. However, the false gospel of self-reliance is in direct contrast to God’s design for our relationship with Him. Yes, God wants us to work, and He is certainly in favor of us having dreams, hopes and ambition. However, He is passionate about being our provider.
In The Lord’s Prayer, Christ pointed to the fact that God is the true source of everything that we need or want. When we pray, we’re acknowledging that we are completely dependent on God. That doesn’t make us weak. Instead, it puts us in a better position to embrace His strength.
Luke 11:4 (ESV)
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
The repentance of sin is not something that we only do when we initially ask Christ to be our Savior. In fact, the exact opposite is true. As God’s children, we try our best to live a life that is pleasing to Him. We read His Word, we submit our lives to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and we strive to live a Christlike life. However, none of us have it all figured out, which means that we still have days where we don’t quite meet the mark.
Our need for forgiveness doesn’t end upon our initial conversion. Instead, we need to constantly seek God’s forgiveness. He has a standard of holiness that we are called to meet. However, when we don’t meet it, He continues to offer His grace to those who ask for forgiveness.
Additionally, we are told that we should pray about our relationships with others. Everyone has someone in their life who has mistreated them in some capacity. It may not be a blatantly horrible offense, but all of us have someone who has done something to us that we still carry the wounds from. However, while we’re asking for God to forgive us of our shortcomings, we also need to ask Him for the strength necessary to forgive other people for theirs.
Finally, the phrase, “Lead us not into temptation,” is a bit misleading. James 1:13 teaches us that God is not the source of temptation. Therefore, asking Him to not lead us into temptation can seem a bit redundant.
Instead, this final plea is one of total submission. Since we know that God will never lead us into temptation, this statement ultimately means that we are submitting the direction of our lives to Him. In essence, praying for God to lead us is our way of acknowledging that we don’t know what is best, but we trust our lives’ direction to Him.
A Closing Prayer:
God, I thank You for every good thing in my life. I’m thankful for the chance to be an active participant in Your kingdom, and I ask that You create opportunities for me to advance Your kingdom on earth. Lord, continue to meet all of my needs, as I know that You’re my Source. Forgive me and give me the strength to forgive others around me. Finally, take control of my life. I give it all to You. In Christ’s name, Amen.