HOW DID JESUS TEACH PRAYER?

If you could learn any skill, what would you choose? Now, imagine you got to learn that skill not only from the best in that field, but the best teacher in that field. Jesus is the ultimate teacher. In the Gospels the disciples asked Jesus to teach them one skill. Maybe the disciples did ask Him to teach them other skills, but only one occasion made it into the Bible. They could have asked Him how to preach, teach, heal, evangelize, organize ministry, defend the truth, understand the Torah, or have ultimate wisdom in life, but the disciples asked Jesus to teach them (drum roll please!)……. how to pray. This might seem trivial compared to the list, but their choice should be such a relief to us. We don’t have to wonder how to pray. Jesus shows us!

“The Disciple’s Prayer”, or more commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer”, can be found in Luke 11:2-4 and Matthew 6:9-13. Matthew’s is a bit longer and more well known so that’s the one we’ll explore. Consider taking a moment to scroll to the bottom of this post and reading it. A lot of theologians and pastors much more intelligent than me have analyzed, studied, and preached this passage. These are just simple thoughts to wet your appetite.

Before we dig in, just a friendly reminder that Jesus meant this prayer to be a template of how we should pray. There is nothing magical about the specific words or order of this prayer. This was never meant to be chanted as a lucky charm or a way to gain God’s favor. God doesn’t approve those prayers of mindless repetition (Matthew 6:7). There is absolutely nothing wrong with praying these exact words, but remember to check your heart and intentions as you do.

One of the many ways to look at this passage is to examine each line and find four things: a category of prayer that we can pray, an attribute of God, an action of God, and an idea of what our attitude should be. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” is a praise that proclaims God is Above All, yet He still has a relationship with us, and we should be reverent. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is a praise that reminds us God is sovereign and working in the world and that we should be submissive to His will. “Give us this day our daily bread” is a request that acknowledges God is the sustainer of life (attribute and action!) and we should come to Him with humility. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” is a confession that we sin and a request that God, who is gracious and merciful, forgive us. This is also a reminder that we need to have an attitude of forgiveness towards others. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” is a request for our loving and caring God to save us which again requires not only humility but also perseverance.

If this is an example for us to pray, I think it follows that we can pray different categories (praise, thanksgiving, requests, etc.), that we should acknowledge who God is and what He has done, and that we should check our attitude as we pray. If we find ourselves only requesting God to do things, maybe we should try spending a little time thanking and praising Him. If we feel like we have no requests to ask God, maybe we need to ask for humility to recognize our weaknesses and/or spend some time praying for others. If we find we are always selfish in our prayers, maybe we need to ask His forgiveness and submit to His good will. Hopefully these few thoughts encourage you to spend some time this week examining your own prayers and seeing how they compare to Jesus’ excellent template.

RESOURCE: “The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down” by Al Mohler

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