During Jesus’ three and one-half year ministry on earth, the things He did – healing, teaching, praying, worshiping, and general ministry – are examples for Christians. In other words, Christ is the example for the Christian.
For example, when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper as a memorial of His death, He included the ritual of foot washing (an ordinance of humility) and said…
For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
John 13:15 (NKJV)
Jesus expected His followers to “copy” Him, and His prayer life was one of the patterns He expressed most clearly. Compared to most Christians I have met, the prayer life of Jesus was intense. Consider this:
Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Luke 6:12 (NKJV)
All night. Alone. Now, I’ve been to a few all-night prayer meetings with several people in church, but I don’t know anyone who prayed all night…alone…in the wilderness. However, this example illustrates the level of reliance on God and relationship with God to which followers of Christ are to aspire and attain.
Teach Us
Luke chapter 11 gives us more of the context in which the Lord’s Prayer came about. After seeing Jesus pray, one of His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray (see Luke 11:1-4).
Matthew chapter 6 gives more detail of Jesus’s response to that request. He told them how they should NOT pray, then He gave a clear example of HOW we should pray.
So, let Jesus teach us…
When you pray, don’t be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the meeting places and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.
Matthew 6:5 (Contemporary English Version)
Given that God knows everything we do privately, Jesus said it’s better to pray to God in private. That means our personal prayers need not be made public. Jesus’s example was just that: He usually went away to a secret place for personal prayer.
“Don’t Be Like Them”
When you pray, don’t talk on and on as people do who don’t know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. [8] Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask.
Matthew 6:7-8 (CEV)
It’s interesting that Jesus would caution against using “vain repetition” when we pray to God. It must be a significant issue. We might even say it is insulting to God to attempt to convince Him with our rhetoric (or by much words). To use a popular phrase; He already has “our backs”. Jesus said, that manner (or way) of praying is heathen, not Christian!
So how should we pray?
Pray Like This
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. [10] Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us this day our daily bread. [12] And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. [13] And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)
1. Start with a salutation. “Dear God“ or “Our Father” and acknowledge His sovereignty, His power, His goodness or any of His many attributes we adore. But…
2. Do not “take God’s name in vain”. Jesus warned us right there: “Hallowed be Your name” or as some modern translation rendering: “help us to honor your name.” (CEV)
I think that’s clear instruction there from Jesus. Greet Him and don’t take His name in vain. I have to say, it’s quite common to hear Dear God, Father God, My God several times in a sentence or in every sentence when some people pray.
Jesus said, don’t do it!
3. Ask for what you want. God already knows, anyway. But exercise your faith. “Give us this day our daily bread”. Even if I am the owner of Nabisco factory in Chicago, Mondelēz International, or Amazon.com, I still must acknowledge God as sovereign owner of the universe.
Jesus teaches us in His example prayer to ask God for forgiveness and guidance. “Forgive us our debts” and “do not lead us into temptation”.
The Lord’s Prayer, My Prayer!
Now, while it is traditional and commonplace to call the text of Matthew 6:9-13 “The Lord’s Prayer”, it it clear that it is the Lord’s Prayer pattern for us. He was answering the question of “how to pray”.
Jesus, as our loving Teacher and Example, not only told “how to”pray, but prefaced His prayer template by telling us how NOT to pray.
Praying to God is one way we express or practice our faith in Him. It’s not a session in which we try to convince God. He already knows what we are thinking. In fact, He already has full knowledge of what we need.
So, I pray that we all pray in the manner Jesus said we should. No one knows more about prayer and how we must pray to God than Jesus Christ. Right?
I think I heard you say, “Amen!”
