Prayer part 1: “How” rather than “What” to Pray

Jesus “told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up”  Lk.18:1         “I want men everywhere to pray” 1 Tim. 2:8          “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer & requests” Eph 6:18

There is no question that the Lord expects those sincere in their faith to pray.  Prayer is as integral to spiritual life as breathing is to the natural life. However, the Lord did not intend our prayer experiences to be the powerless religious ritual so many associate with prayer today. Instead, He offered a vibrant prayer experience of fellowship with God, seeing the mountains of our troubles in this world cast into the sea, and of experiencing guidance and answers to those questions we do ask of Him. Prayer does not have to be the dry bones of ritualistic religious experience; it can be what Isaiah described as that which “satisfies our soul as the richest of foods”.

One of the great praying men of the Civil War era, E.M. Bounds, wrote “little prayer, little power, much prayer, much power”.  This association of prayer and power is nothing new to those who pray with the expectancy that comes with believing God hears us.  The Bible declares that sincere prayer moves mountains (Mk 11:23). It assures the child of God that prayers offered in faith will have a direct impact on the comings and goings of this life. James writes “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (Jms 5:16).

          In what is known as “the Lord’s Prayer”, Jesus was responding to His disciple’s request to teach them to pray. Although that prayer does present an outline helpful in establishing an effective prayer life, what Jesus chose to teach these men was the importance of how they pray rather than what they prayed.  He was not simply giving them a formula of words to pray, He was showing them what the heart of prayer should be.

The opening of this prayer, “Our Father in Heaven, let your name be Holy”, reveals the worshipful place our hearts must be in when we approach God in prayer. We must come before Him in reverent recognition of His Holy being.  The Psalmist recognized this, saying that we must “enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise” (Ps. 100;4). We must begin with the right attitude, an attitude that recognizes God’s majesty and glory.         

Once before the Lord in reverent recognition of His Holy nature, we must also recognize that it is His will and His plan that should be at the forefront of our prayers.  “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” is a confession of an attitude of surrender to the supreme purpose of the kingdom of God. We must align our prayers with His perfect will.  Like the recognition of His majesty addressed in the opening line, this attitude of surrender towards the eternal purpose of the heavenly kingdom must continue as we proceed in the rest of our prayer.  This is especially evident in the next line which progresses into what scripture calls “petitions”.                                     

“Petitions” are those things we ask of God. To be effective when we pray “give us this day our daily bread” these requests must be first offered in an attitude of reverence, “Our Father in Heaven, Holy is your name”. It is this attitude that allows us to believe He is able to do all we ask.  Secondly, as the second line of this prayer has established, our petitions must also be offered in the selfless attitude of surrender to His greater plan, “Thy kingdom come Thy will be done”. What attitude we pray with will always guide what we pray for.

The next line in Jesus’ exemplary teaching reminds us that we have sinned, and that the forgiveness we receive from God is linked to the forgiveness we extent to others. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others”.  Because we are born in sin and have continued to sin, only His mercy and forgiveness will allow us the liberty to approach Him in prayer. Even when we are “born again”, the remembrance of our old sinful nature is designed to keep our attitude of prayer in humble reverence.

Jesus also associates our ability to be forgiven with our willingness to forgive others. He said that when you bring your gift to the altar, if you have conflict between you and a brother or sister in Christ, leave your gift there and go be reconciled to that person (Mt. 5:22-23). He is saying that when you come to pray, if you still harbor hard feelings against another person, go forgive them. Peter associated conflict with others to be a reason that our “prayers are hindered” (1 Pe.3:7).  This is what “Forgive us our sins as we forgive others” is conveying. It is calling us to an attitude of love and mercy towards others, just as we must have an attitude of reverence and surrender towards the Father.

The prayer then declares “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” continuing this emphasis upon not our words, but our attitudes. The New Testament warnings to the believer of the dangers of falling back into the ways of sin are numerous. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (He.3:12).  “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pe. 5:8.) etc.          The trials and temptation of this world are the works of darkness that must be both avoided and opposed if we are to be victorious in our prayers. The Psalmist called the temptations and evils of this world the “snare of the fowler” (Ps.91:3, 124:7).

As we pray, we must have the attitude of awareness regarding the Devil’s schemes and the snares he places in our lives. Only the Lord’s grace, guidance, and wisdom can empower us to avoid the traps the Devil lays for us. This part of the prayer admonishes the seeking of help from the Lord in our avoidance of falling into sin. “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall” (1 Co. 10:12).

            Although what many recognize as the closing line of this prayer does not exist in the original manuscripts, it is a fitting doxology to this example of prayer Jesus offers. It is a return to the all-important opening line that recognizes the majesty and glory of God.  ‘For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever”.  This is the recognition that the Lord is supreme, and all things, including our prayers and petitions, are about furthering Him and His glory.  

            Paul wrote “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”.  Having the mind of Christ begins with the attitudes consistent with our recognition of the existence of an almighty God and His kingdom. This is the mind that as James writes, when it prays, its prayers “availeth much” (Jms. 5:16 KJV). In teaching His disciples how to pray rather than what to pray, Jesus was admonishing an attitude of prayer that would prove to be “powerful and effective” for those who seek “the mind of Christ” when they pray.