The Lord's Prayer: Teach Us to Pray

This is the first in a series that focuses on a foundational concept of our faith…prayer.

Prayer is a loaded term. I am certain that each of us have heard the phrase, “That’s a loaded question,” which means that there’s a lot more to the question than just the words that form it. This term – prayer – is loaded with strong connotations which can be either positive or negative because it means something different to every person.

Prayer is a vital part of a believer’s life, to which we all say, “Duh,” and roll our eyes as only a teenage girl can. But the truth remains, prayer is essential in every believer’s life. As believers, we understand that prayer is the key to our spiritual lives. Prayer can open the door and allow us to enter the very presence of God. Prayer can also lock doors to deny access to the enemy, to temptation, and to deception.

Protective Prayer

Prayer is a fortress of protection. Prayer can serve as our protection from enemy attacks and a protection from the emotional, physical, and spiritual challenges we face daily. It is a refuge, our safe place in troubled times.

Prayer is also a formidable weapon in our arsenal. We use prayer to slay the enemy’s lies and to hold back his advances. It’s a weapon that is available in an instant, always at hand, as close as our next thought or our next breath. We pray in faith and declare the Word in our prayers which enables us to take captive every thought and dispel every fear and concern.

For some, prayer is their safe, comfortable place to retreat. It is their favorite place to curl up and settle in with God. It’s a time and a place to wrap up in one’s favorite blanket, as it were, to spend time with their beloved, as Solomon refers to God in Song of Solomon 6:3.

For others, prayer is a lifeline that keeps them connected or tethered to something stable. It becomes the very thing that allows them to continue living. To become disconnected would mean the end of life as they know it.

In a negative sense, prayer can also be used as a means of measuring our spirituality or the spirituality of others. We have asked or perhaps been asked the question, “Have you prayed about that?” Perhaps it was a comment like, “If I was a better Christian, I would pray more often.” These kinds of comments are measuring tools, and the person receiving the comment or question usually comes up short of expectation.

Warfare Prayer

There are some people who seem to have the gift of prayer. They are prayer warriors whose task is to wage battle daily, hourly, and sometimes even moment-by-moment. This is their commission in the Kingdom, and these warriors are a vital part of God’s work here on earth.

But there are also those who have used prayer as a tool to try to manipulate God or other people to bend their will and make them do their bidding with seemingly innocent comments like, “Oh, I’m praying that God will…”

Why Pray?

For newer believers, prayer seems like a secret language that takes time to learn. It can be viewed as something magical and mysterious at which only the “truly spiritual” can be proficient. New believers struggle with understanding how to pray, and each of us, at one time or another, have likely pondered questions like, “Why do we pray? What’s the use? What is the value or the purpose? What reasons are there for praying to a God I may or may not understand, and why can’t I do this on my own?”

A cursory Internet search will yield many, many reasons why we pray. The primary reason we pray is because we are told to pray without stopping in I Thess. 5:17. Jesus said in Matt. 6:5, “When you pray”…not “if you pray.” It is a given that the children of God pray.

A second and equally important reason is that it strengthens our relationship with God. Regular prayer builds confidence that Father hears our prayers and increases our faith as we see the results which allows us to walk more boldly and purposefully in the Kingdom.

Praying consistently also makes us like Jesus. He is our model and our example. The Word is filled with instances where Jesus went off by himself to pray like in Luke 5:16 where Jesus withdrew to a quiet place where he could be alone with his Father…our Father.

Prayer is an act of worship. It is a way that we adore God and that we honor his majesty and Lordship over us. Praying reminds us and shows others how very dependent we are on God and is a demonstration of our obedience, which is our one and only job actually.

Teach Us to Pray

In Matthew 6, Jesus is talking with his disciples about prayer and the giving of alms. These are both deeply personal and private matters. Jesus says that prayer isn’t meant to be a public spectacle in verses 5 and 6. He also says in verse 7 that prayer is more than a lot of vain repetitions as if God is hard of hearing.

We see this same event in Luke 11, and here we hear the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray like John taught his disciples. This word, “teach,” is another loaded term that is fraught with meaning and expectation. The word brings with it the connotation of not knowing something you should know. A term that reveals an underlying uncertainty. It is an admission that something is missing or lacking.

The request also indicates that Jesus’ use and practice of praying is different from their own. This might cause one to stop and wonder, “Aren’t these disciples good Jewish boys? Haven’t they been raised in the faith?” Undoubtedly, they have faithfully attended Sabbath services…Sabbath School as it were. Culturally, they would have sat under the teachings of the local Pharisees and scribes and learned all the ritualistic elements of their faith. They would have possessed some understanding of the requirements of the Law and learned all the prescribed responses and prayers necessary to participate in their religion.

But, even with all this instruction and training, they were acutely aware of the fact that Jesus’ prayers were different from those of the religious leaders and certainly different from their own prayers. Jesus’ prayers were personal. They did not follow a prescribed format or set of predetermined words. His prayers were relevant. They were connected to his current circumstance rather than rote and memorized. Jesus’ prayers were specific rather than generic. Simply put, Jesus’ prayers had power. They had power to change lives, power to defeat the enemy, and power to empower others. Hence the disciples’ request: “Teach us to pray…”

And thus was born what we call the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Subsequent posts will dissect and examine this prayer phrase by phrase to build a deeper understanding and appreciation for this simple prayer that Jesus left for us.