Matthew 6: 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Luke 11: 1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from evil.”
If you don’t know how to pray, use this prayer as an example/ template.
1. Say the Lord’s prayer all the way through once, listening as you speak, talking to God like He’s a real person (cause He is).
2. Go through each phrase and make it personal. Be specific; name names.
3. Say the Lord’s prayer all the way through again. Add whatever else is in your heart.
4. Spend at least a few minutes in silence. Listen to/for God. Overtime, you learn to hear/ recognize His voice
5. Before and/or after you pray, read the Bible. A good place to start is the book of John, followed by the book of Proverbs
We talked about this in depth in our Wednesday Bible study. We are studying prayer and the very first lesson dealt with praying the Lord’s prayer.
Consider the points below:
a. Our Father who is in Heaven
- Talk to God like He’s really there, because He really is.
- Start by stating your relationship to Him. Like every good father, God likes to hear his children say, “Daddy, I love you.”
b. Hallowed (holy) be Thy name
- Remember and say that God is holy. You don’t have to use the word “holy.” The point is to acknowledge up front that God is perfect & righteous so He isn’t going to tell you wrong or lie to you or even break His own rules.
c. Thy kingdom come
- “Thy kingdom come” is the first request in the Lord’s prayer. God promises repeatedly that He will establish His kingdom on Earth.
- Before you ask for things for yourself, ask God to fulfill the promises He has made in His Word/ the Bible.
- As you study God’s Word you learn the many promises God has made. Pray these promises. (You don’t have to go through them all.)
d. Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven
- The 1st request is about God’s stated promises. The 2nd is about His will.
- When you know God’s will, ask for it to happen in this world/ in your life.
- For example, you know that it is God’s desire that people be saved. If you know people who aren’t saved, pray for their salvation.
- You can also pray for big situations/ things that affect the larger Earth. For example, praying for government officials, for missionary work overseas, for social problems, for the military, for needs in a disasters situation.
- The beginning phrases in the Lord’s prayer have you focus on God not on yourself.
- The idea is to make sure you approach God the right way, not in a selfish way. God is not Santa Claus. He is not a genie who grants wishes. He is not a spirit you can control by using the right words or wording. He. Is. God.
- Prayer is a conversation with God Himself. Before you ask anything for yourself you need to be submitted to His will & direction.
e. Give us this day (day by day) our daily bread
- Ask for what you need.
- You have real physical needs. Don’t be afraid to lay them out before God. Ask Him.
- Remember that you‘re needs are not just physical. (Read Job 32: 8.)
- We get stressed and equate our stress with our stuff. The reality often is that we’re stressed about money, health, & relationships because we’re living sinfully in the way we handle our money, health, & relationships.
- Ask for what you need.
- Ask for what your family needs.
- Ask for what your church needs. (not necessarily in that order.)
- Yes, you can ask for wants, too. however, you have to keep in mind whom you’re talking to. don’t ask God to do something/ give something that contradicts who He is.
o He’s our Father in Heaven: He wont’ give us what will do more harm than good. He sees all from above & knows in advance when we’re trying to hustle.
o He’s holy: He won’t be an “enabler” for our sin. We can ask for mercy when we get ourselves into trouble. But, God will sometimes let us deal with the bad consequences of our bad decisions because we won’t change any other way.
o His will is more important than ours: When what we want contradicts what God wants for us, we should submit to God’s will. Why? Because He knows better than we do.—There’s the whole trust in the Lord thing. (Proverbs 3: 5-8)
f. And forgive us our debts/ sins/ trespasses
- Confess your sins, repent, & ask God to forgive you.
- Tell God directly that you’ve been wrong. Tell God specifically how you’ve been wrong.
- Yeah, I mean give Him the list.
- Yeah, I know He knows. Again, He’s our Father. As a father, I know when my kids have messed up, but I still ask, “What did you do?” because I want them to be honest with me.
- Tell God Himself for yourself.
- You can confess to another person, but say you confess all your sins to me. I am a pastor but I can only forgive you for what you’ve done to me and to mine. I cannot absolve you of the sin debt you owe God. No man on Earth can do that—doesn’t matter what his title is.
- If you cannot/ will not admit where you’re wrong, it means that you don’t really want to do right. If you don’t want to do right, why should God listen to your prayer. Ultimately, God wants you to be holy and in heaven. Your physical/ financial stuff is really secondary.
g. As we forgive everyone who is indebted to us/ As we forgive our debtors
- Here is a fact we don’t deal with. Jesus said in Luke 11 & in Matthew 6 that if we are not willing to forgive people who have done us wrong, then God will not forgive us for the wrong we’ve done.
- … Let that one soak in …
- The grudges you hold are holding you back.
- Forgive them so you can be forgiven. When you pray, speak forgiveness . Name names to God and really genuinely let it go.
- You may have to do this repeatedly, daily over time until you have really forgiven them. You’ll know when you can pray for them with the same enthusiasm you pray for people you like, when you are genuinely happy to hear that good things have happened to them.
h. Lead us not into temptation
- You know the things that tempt you. You know the stuff that’s hardest for you to resist.
- Name those things and ask God to keep you away from them and to keep them away from you.
- Also, note: We should ask God to keep us away from temptation, but sometimes God will choose to allow temptation in our lives. The Holy Spirit personally led Jesus Himself into the wilderness for the purpose of being tempted (Mark 1: 9-13).
i. But deliver us from evil/ sin/ the evil one
- 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God won’t let you be in a temptation that’s too much for you. Everytime you’re tempted, He will give you a way out. Now, we don’t always take the out, but there’ll always be one.
- Even when temptation and trouble come, if you want to be delivered, ask God & He will make a way out for you.
- When you pray, ask for a way out of the sin in your life. God will make a way. Taking the out is up to you.
j. For thine is the kingdom
- Ending your prayer, you acknowledge why you’ve asked all this of God.
- Because God is the ruler of everything. He deserves your submission.
k. And the power
- You ask God because He has the power to make it happen.
l. And the glory
- You pray to God because He is entitled to credit/ glory for all the good things that have, do, & will happen in your life.
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