Learning How to Pray
Week 9
One of the most important things for you to learn as Jesus’ disciple is how to pray. Sometimes, we may not know how to pray or what to pray for, which is why Jesus gives us a model of how to pray in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus gives his disciples a model prayer. This prayer has come to be known as the Lord’s Prayer.
Sometimes, people treat this prayer as something to be repeated. This was not Jesus intention. Jesus did not say “pray this prayer,” rather, he said “pray like this’ or “in this way.” This means that the prayer is given to us as a guide to learn how to pray. This week, we will be looking at the Lord’s Prayer and how it serves as a guide for us when we are learning how to pray. The prayer can be divided into six requests: To the Father- his name, kingdom, and will. Human- needs, forgiveness, and victory over Satan.
1. His Name. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (6:9).
I know what you are thinking, “What does hallowed mean?” Though it is a funny sounding word, it is very important. To hallow God’s name means to hold it in respect and reverence. In other words, it means to hold him in reverence. It means to honor, glorify, praise, and exalt God. Therefore, when we pray, the first thing we need to do is come into God’s presence with praise and thanksgiving. We praise him and thank him for who he is and what he has done.
2. His Kingdom. “Your kingdom come” (6:10a).
The “kingdom’ here refers to the rule of God in a person’s heart. Only through the gospel does God change people’s heart, and only through the gospel will people live out the value and truth of God’s kingdom. Therefore, this portion of the Lord’s Prayer encourages us to pray that God’s rule would be established in the heart of people. It is a time to pray for the spread of the gospel and that people would be brought into God’s kingdom.
3. His Will. “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (6:10b).
The will of God that is being talked about here is what is called his “revealed” will, or those things which are commanded in scripture. It is this will which is done perfectly in heaven, but has a long way to go here on earth. Therefore, we should pray that just as God is being obeyed perfectly in heaven, so may it be on earth. We should pray this for ourselves, and for others, that what God has shown us, we would practice it more and more every day.
4. Your Needs.. “Give us this day our daily bread,” (6:11).
Here, Jesus teaches us to ask God to provide for our daily needs. God loves us and is going to take care of our day to day needs. We must remember something very important here: we are taught to ask for our needs, not our wants. God promises to take care of and meet our needs, not our wants. So, this means that God is not obligated to give you an ipod, Xbox, or anything else that you don’t need. This is not to say that he won’t bless you with one, but that is exactly what it will be- an extra blessing. The focus of this prayer is to trust that God will provide all that we need on a day to day basis.
5. Forgiveness. “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (6:12).
At this point in the prayer, Jesus teaches that we need to ask for forgiveness of our sins, along with forgiving others who have sinned against us. The word “debt” gives the idea of something that we owe and that we must be punished for unless a payment is made. What this means is that we need God to meet the payment for our sin. Thankfully, he has done that in Jesus! Therefore, when we ask for forgiveness of our sins, we are asking God to cleanse us from the pollution that it brings and the discord is causes in our relationship to God and others.
6. Victory. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (6:13).
Temptation is all around us, and given that we are weak and prone to sin, we are taught to pray here that God would help keep us from running headlong into temptation. The Bible is clear that God does not tempt anyone to sin; that is what Satan does. He pokes and probes at us to try and lure us away from Christ. Therefore, we should pray that God would help us and guard us.
Discipleship Principle: As a disciple, I must learn how to pray.
Parent's Notes:
Week 9: Prayer
Teaching Your Kids to Pray: The Lord’s Prayer is the perfect place to start to teach your children to pray. One of the things I have done to help my kids work through this and teach them is to divide the principles of the Lord’s Prayer up into six questions:
1) What do you like about God?
2) What are you thankful for?
3) In what way do you need God to help you to do His will?
4) What need do you have today that you need God to take care of?
5) Do you need to ask God to forgive you of something?
6) Who do you need to pray for?
These are some great questions to ask your children to get them praying.