Praying With Understanding
In this manner...pray:
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be 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 forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matt. 6:9-13, NKJV.
Jesus' disciples had a problem. The Master prayed a lot, but He had never taught them how to do it. They argued that John the Baptist had done that for his disciples, and they wanted the same (Luke 11:1). In response, Jesus provided two types of instruction. In the first He noted that they should not merely "heap up empty phrases" as did those who wanted to be heard "for their many words" (Matt. 6:7, RSV). He then went on to provide them with a sample prayer that was to provide them with a model for their own.
Prayer is not just a "bunch of words" that we mumble in a mindless or passionate sort of way. No, we find in Jesus' prayer both order and structure. It comes as a shock to some people that something as spiritual as prayer could have any system or structure to it. But Christ's prayer provides a model that has all the essential elements of prayer.
While it is not wrong to recite the Lord's Prayer if it is done with meaning and thought, it is better to see the Lord's Prayer as a pattern prayer that provides us with an outline of the essential elements that should be in both private and public prayers.
As such, Jesus' outline prayer is much like the outline used by many preachers. Each part of the outline provides a heading of things that we need to remember in the prayer. The prayer itself expounds and fills out each point.
The prayer is comprehensive in that it covers all the elements of both our relationship with God and with other people, as well as our personal needs. Even the order of the petitions is important. The first three have to do with God and His glory, whereas the second three petitions concern our human needs and necessities. Thus we must give God first and supreme place--then and only then should we turn to ourselves and our needs and desires. It is only when God receives His proper place that other things fall into line.
We thank You, Lord, for taking the time to teach us to pray, for taking our needs seriously. We want to learn from You, especially in our prayer life.
In this manner...pray:
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be 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 forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matt. 6:9-13, NKJV.
Jesus' disciples had a problem. The Master prayed a lot, but He had never taught them how to do it. They argued that John the Baptist had done that for his disciples, and they wanted the same (Luke 11:1). In response, Jesus provided two types of instruction. In the first He noted that they should not merely "heap up empty phrases" as did those who wanted to be heard "for their many words" (Matt. 6:7, RSV). He then went on to provide them with a sample prayer that was to provide them with a model for their own.
Prayer is not just a "bunch of words" that we mumble in a mindless or passionate sort of way. No, we find in Jesus' prayer both order and structure. It comes as a shock to some people that something as spiritual as prayer could have any system or structure to it. But Christ's prayer provides a model that has all the essential elements of prayer.
While it is not wrong to recite the Lord's Prayer if it is done with meaning and thought, it is better to see the Lord's Prayer as a pattern prayer that provides us with an outline of the essential elements that should be in both private and public prayers.
As such, Jesus' outline prayer is much like the outline used by many preachers. Each part of the outline provides a heading of things that we need to remember in the prayer. The prayer itself expounds and fills out each point.
The prayer is comprehensive in that it covers all the elements of both our relationship with God and with other people, as well as our personal needs. Even the order of the petitions is important. The first three have to do with God and His glory, whereas the second three petitions concern our human needs and necessities. Thus we must give God first and supreme place--then and only then should we turn to ourselves and our needs and desires. It is only when God receives His proper place that other things fall into line.
We thank You, Lord, for taking the time to teach us to pray, for taking our needs seriously. We want to learn from You, especially in our prayer life.
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