You are probably familiar with the feeling. You know you need to pray, but the words don't come and your thoughts are clumsy. You try, but God feels distant and you suspect your prayers are stopping at the ceiling. You feel guilty about this and it inhibits your prayers even further. So you stop praying or it becomes a dull routine. God doesn't feel near.
If this is you, there is hope for you yet.
Jesus assures us that we don't have to be stuck here! In Matthew 6, He goes so far as to give a step-by-step guide for how to pray.
The Lord's Prayer is a framework for what our prayers should look like. It sets the example that when we pray, our full attention should be on God. Jesus gives us the model in two parts: the first focusing on God's glory, the second focusing on man's needs.
Part 1: God's Glory
Our Father, who art in heaven.
When we pray, our attention should be fully focused on God and who He is. God's Fatherhood is not all-inclusive. It is reserved for those who have been adopted into His family, through faith and hope in Jesus. If this is you, call on Him as Father.
Hallowed be your name.
We are to honor and attribute to God the Holiness that is already His. We are to draw Him into every thought, word, and action in our lives and to concern ourselves with His glory. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Your kingdom come.
We are to pray for God's kingdom. Our prayer should focus on God's sovereignty, dominion and reign -- for His kingdom to be built and not ours. The best way to pray for a person or a cause, is for God's kingdom to be advanced through them.
Your will be done.
We are to pray for God's will. We are to ask for God's work in us and in others to be revealed according to His will, on earth and in heaven. God is not a genie in a bottle that we should only come to when we have a need -- no! He is the sovereign Lord of the universe who has invited us into relationship with Him. We must come to Him because we love Him and because of what He has done for us. (John 14:15)
Part 2: Man's Needs
Give us this day our daily bread.
We are to pray for God's provision. Though God already knows what we need, He still wants us to ask Him. Martin Luther described "bread" as being all things that are essential for life -- not only food, but a healthy body, a home, a healthy wife and children, a healthy government, peace, et cetera. We are to be completely dependent on God to provide for us, knowing that every good gift is from Him alone.
Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
We are to pray for God's forgiveness. We must acknowledge that we are sinners in need of a Savior. John MacArthur said it well, “Sin is that which separates man from God, and is therefore man’s greatest enemy and greatest problem. Because man’s greatest problem is sin, his greatest need is forgiveness, and that’s what God provides.”
As believers, we must confess our sins to God daily as part of our sanctification journey.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” -- 1 John 1:8-9
To the second part of this statement, this is a prayer that assumes that since we have experienced God's forgiveness, that we have extended that forgiveness to others. As forgiven sinners, we are to be forgiving sinners.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
We are to pray for God's protection. Until we meet Jesus face-to-face, we will never be fully sanctified or immune to sin. We must pray diligently for his protection over our flesh and our tendency to sin. The truth is that we have an enemy and we cannot face him alone. We must go to the Father and ask Him for help in this.
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The words Jesus gives us are not empty rhythms to recite and repeat, but life itself! He shows us the way to draw near to the Father. He gives us a pathway to glorify Him and align our lives with His will for us.
For His is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
See this prayer in action on matters of current events, here.