How should I pray?
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed by 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” – Matthew 6:9-13
God created each of us with an instinct to pray.
If we want to have a meaningful relationship with God, we need to learn how to talk to him. Thankfully, with minimal coaching and practice, anyone can become proficient in prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus’s example of how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, gives us five insights for mastering the practice of prayer.
- “Father”: Leverage Your Connection. When we recognize that God in heaven is our loving Father, it transforms our conversation.
The Lord’s Prayer begins with praise (hallowed be your name) and so should ours. It changes our view of God from genie to the father whose best interests will shape our conversations.
- “Kingdom”: Embrace God’s Agenda. The power of prayer is not primarily in asking God for what you want but in aligning your life with His agenda. When we know God’s purpose, we can pray for things, and God will say yes.
There are a number of requests to which God promises a yes, if we just ask, including wisdom (James 1:5), the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), escape from temptation (Luke 22:40; 1 Corinthians 10:13), and the ability to promote Jesus (Matthew 9:37-38).
Only when we get these first two areas of prayer right can we begin to ask God for what we need.
- “Give”: Acquire Resources. When deciding what requests to make, we must simply answer the question, “What do I need to do my job?” When we align ourselves with God’s purpose in life, Jesus promised that he would give us everything we need to accomplish everything God wants us to do (see also James 4:2-3).
Some answers are postponed because it’s not yet time or we’re not yet ready. But many of our prayers are postponed because we’ve imposed barriers on God’s approval. The last two items of the Lord’s Prayer reveal the most common barriers that postpone a yes.
- “Forgive”: Remove Barriers. Sometimes our prayers are hindered because we haven’t forgiven someone who has hurt us. Anger, resentment, and bitterness are barriers between God and us as much as between others and us.
Forgiving others frees us to have an open relationship with God. When we forgive others as God forgave us, our prayers will flow more freely and be answered more readily.
- “Deliver”: Follow a Guide. Sin is another barrier to answered prayers. When we’re purposefully participating in behaviors that dishonor God and degrade our human dignity, it’s hard for us to have open communication with God.
God will forgive our sins if we simply confess them to Him (1 John 1:9). Jesus’s death on the cross saved you. But if you don’t confess, sin will weigh you down.
