Prayer is an important part of our relationship with God; it is our primary source of communicating with God. Jesus himself prayed often, setting an example that we should follow. When Jesus was asked specifically how to pray, he provided us with The Lord’s Prayer. We are all familiar with this prayer but I think it’s a valuable exercise to break down this teaching into its individual parts. Sometimes, when we recite something that is very familiar, we lose track of the deeper meaning. So let’s take a few minutes to slow down and take a closer look at The Lord’s Prayer.
“Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is 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 do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB)
It doesn’t appear that Jesus intended for this prayer to be repeated word-for-word since the preceding verse states that repetition is meaningless.
“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition.” Matthew 6:7 (NASB)
It seems more likely that Jesus intended for this prayer to be a model or example of the direction an individual prayer should take. The Lord’s Prayer starts with worship and devotion to the Father. This is followed with the expectation that the Father’s kingdom will one day be established. At this point the prayer becomes personal, asking for God’s assistance in life, followed by a request to be forgiven for misdeeds. At the same time, The Lord’s Prayer guides us into following his example by forgiving those who have aggrieved us in some way. We are to conclude our prayer by acknowledging our need for assistance in fighting the battle against evil.
Jesus teaches us that prayer is a simple personal conversation with God and not some kind of grand spectacle designed to impress those listening. When we pray, we acknowledge our Creator with praise and worship, we proclaim our trust and faith in Him, and we demonstrate our dependency on him by making our request for assistance known. This is the simple teaching Jesus provides.
Jesus continues his teaching on prayer by emphasizing the importance of forgiving those who harm you.
“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matthew 6:14-15 (NASB)
Our ultimate, never fully attainable goal is to be like Jesus. By following the example of The Lord’s Prayer, we can pray like Jesus. In so doing, we learn to worship the Father like Jesus, trust God like Jesus, and forgive like Jesus. Amen.
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