People who pray, pray in lots of different ways. It depends on who they are praying to, why they pray, and what they expect their prayers might make happen. Our prayers reflect what we value and what we believe about how life relates to ultimate reality.
How often do praying people pray only when they need something or they are in a crisis? Of course, we should pray about these things. But Christian faith calls us to pray with a bigger picture in our sights and with higher goals in our hearts.
This is why Jesus taught his followers how they ought to pray. The praying that Jesus taught his followers to do revolves around God and his kingdom. It doesn’t ignore our very real human needs and cries, but it puts them within the context of God’s own plans and values.
The prayer that is popularly known as “The Lord’s Prayer” was given by Jesus to his followers who once asked him to teach them how to pray. We find it in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9–13. Given that prayer was a regular and ordinary part of life for people in that time and place, they must have felt that Jesus would have some special insight on what the most important things are to pray about.
He taught people to pray like this:
9Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
(New Living Translation)
In the Lord’s Prayer we see six things that should prompt us in what Christians pray for:
Praise. When praying we start by honouring God, by thanking him for the grace, mercy and blessings he gives to us. Our praise is a testimony of our faith in his sovereign power, even when our life is difficult. Praise is important because it reminds us that God is in control (verse 9).
Purpose. Just as we desire God’s name to be placed above all other names, so we desire God’s plan and kingdom to progress over all other plans and kingdoms (verse 10).
Provision. It is good practice to give thanks before a meal – it reminds us that the most basic things still come from the Lord’s hand. Prayer is made for each day’s needs, not because God doesn’t care about our futures, but so that we learn to trust him instead of living anxiously (verse 11).
Pardon. Jesus taught us to confess our wrongs to God. Confession of sin is important, even though it might feel unusual to us. God knows us through and through, so we can’t hide stuff from him by not talking about it. Guilty feelings are appropriate, but we mustn’t forget that gratitude is more appropriate, because God has made provision for our forgiveness by Jesus’ death on the cross (verse 12a).
People. This is to remind us to forgive people who have wronged us – or if we have been angry when we should not have been angry, to take another chance to confess that to God (verse 12b).
Protection. This requires us to acknowledge that our enemy is not people, but the unholy triad of ‘the world’, sin in ourselves, and the devil. The battleground to pray about is first ourselves, and after that the people you see regularly and any special task that the Lord has given you (verse 13).
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The praying that Jesus taught us to do is concerned with God’s glory and kingdom rather than our plans and ambitions. This praying humbles us by recognising that God is concerned about our holiness more than he is concerned about our comfort. This praying leads us into a God-centred view of the world—the kind of view that Christian faith is built upon, and a view that might be radically different to what you’ve known before.
Have you prayed like this before? Have you prayed at all before? You might like to consider praying in this way.
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“Take Another Look” is a West Auckland-based ministry that aims to commend Jesus to people’s hearts and minds, and promote the way of life that the good news of Jesus invites.
If you would like to discover the widely-held beliefs and practices among Christians, please visit and explore www.TakeAnotherLook.nz. Or, if you have questions you would like discussed, please get in touch through the contact page.
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