Jesus taught us how to pray. Why? Because without His help, we don’t know how. In fact, without His Spirit, we can’t!

19 Like a bad tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in times of trouble.

Jesus called His disciples to follow Him and learn His ways. He was all about imparting to them His mission. He wants to impart that mission to us, too. He had it recorded in the Gospels and expounded upon by Luke, Paul, Peter and John. When Jesus said, “Go and make disciples,” He was talking about making disciples like He made disciples. He called them to accept His teaching, His way of living, His way of loving, and His way of dying. Are we ready?
Jesus had a method to His praying. Let’s look at it:
[5] “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. [6] But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. [7] And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. [8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
[9] “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘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 today our daily bread.
[12] Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
[13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
[14] For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. [15] But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

1. Prayers for prayer’s sake is not really prayer if we define prayer as a conversation and not just “talking to God.” If God is not part of that conversation, then it’s not prayer by this definition. Hence, those praying for the accolades received all the reward they were going to get.
2. When we consider the fact that God knows everything about us, we may ask, “Why ask at all?” God’s M.O. is to reveal a need to His children and invite them to join Him in meeting those needs. A good example is Adam in Genesis 2:18-22.
3. His instruction:
   1. Whether in private or in a group, we address God as our Father.
   2. Jesus specified that God the Father was in heaven. Why? Because God the Son was standing in front of them!
   3. Hallowed = Holy. He is high and lifted up!
   4. Jesus has us pray for God’s kingdom to come to this earth–which it had in Jesus. We who have Jesus have the kingdom of heaven in us.
   5. In heaven, God’s will is done immediately and fully. We pray that His children here on earth would do the same.
   6. “Daily bread” is a reference to manna in the wilderness. It met all of their dietary needs. It’s a picture of the promise that God will meet all our needs of food, clothing, and shelter. It may not be what we consider adequate, but we will survive. Note that only our needs are promised to be met. Our comforts are like batteries in many toys: They’re not included.
   7. Jesus explains forgiving people in verses 14-15. Our forgiveness is contingent upon accepting Jesus’ way of forgiving us. If we don’t forgive others, then we are forfeiting His forgiveness for ourselves. It all goes back to His mission of reaching people for the kingdom.
   8. We don’t have to worry about Him leading us into temptation; I believe this statement was there for contrast. His entire mission was to deliver us from the evil one! Not only that, He prayed that we would not be taken from this world, but that the Father would protect us from the evil one (see John 17:15).

To summarize the prayer, we are to pray in this manner:

1. Acknowledge God and His majesty, His place, and His position;
2. Pray for people everywhere to accept His will for their lives;
3. Ask Him to meet our daily needs;
4. Don’t let unforgiveness take root in our lives; instead, forgive and be forgiven;
5. Pray against the things that tempt us and pray for deliverance from them.
6. Finish with praise and thanksgiving.

As we pray for ourselves, we also pray these things for others. We will be looking further into our method of praying soon. Stay tuned.

Abba, You are wonderful. You meet all our needs and protect us from the evil one. We ask that Your kingdom would come so that Your will would be done by everyone on earth just as it is in heaven. May we adopt Your mission and start by forgiving others. We release them from any debt that we perceive they owe us. Thank You for releasing me from my debt of sin. Yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Abba. Amen.