Category: Series

“In this manner, therefore, 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.'”

Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV

Christ’s teaching on prayer so far is a wonderful and practical guideline on His expectation of our prayers, what not to do with our prayers, and His commanding our prayers. But He doesn’t stop there – He also gives us a through example of prayer. I mean, it’s most commonly known as The Lord’s Prayer for cryin’ out loud! This example is perhaps one of the most well-known prayers in history. And for good reason: it’s pretty thorough.

I won’t get too bogged down in the nitty-gritty in the following verses, and I’m certainly not going to address the textual variations of the end of this prayer either (each of those things would require significant in-depth study and writing, and those topics are not the focus of this series anyway); however, I will say briefly that regardless of the original ending to this prayer there remains a blatant truth: we should look to the Scriptures and Christ for our instructions to pray. God is the Almighty Creator of prayer and it would be of utmost importance to see what He says about how He wants us to communicate with Him. So let’s check out what this passage tells us.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Verses 9 and 10 of the Lord’s Prayer show us a few things: 1.) God is our Father and we pray to Him; 2.) He is in Heaven; 3.) His name is to be hallowed – kept holy; 4.) We are to desire His kingdom and will here on earth as it already is in Heaven. If I could sum it up in one sentence it would be that God should be the audience, object, and focus of our prayers. It seems obvious enough, but so often we make prayer about ourselves rather than about Him. Not that we can never make requests, but what do we desire more? Our will or His? This example of prayer shows us that God is the most important aspect of our praying – not us.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

Verse 11 shows us that God is the supplier of our needs. Not our wants. Not what we think are our needs. He provides our actual needs to sustain us every day. What Christ communicates here is that we need to ask Him to reveal our real needs to us and ask Him to meet those needs.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Aren’t we as believers already forgiven of our sins? So why do we need to ask for forgiveness? Because even though we are justified (declared righteous) before God, we still sin sometimes (read: everyday). While we may sin less than before our conversion, we now live a life of war against the desires of the flesh. Some battles we lose. And we need forgiveness for when we give in to our temptations. First John chapter 1 tells us that if we say we are without sin, we are liars and the truth is not in us. Yes, we may be saved by Jesus and on our way to Heaven when we die, but don’t be deceived into thinking we can’t sin anymore. Seek forgiveness of your sins from the Father in your prayer time.

Additionally, Christ insinuates that we are to be forgiving of others who sin against us. He tells us that we should be forgiving our offenders the way the Father has forgiven us – freely and without grudge.

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

The first chapter of James tells us that God does not tempt men to sin. So why does this example of prayer in Matthew 6 say to God to not lead us into temptation? A cursory reading of this line in modern English can lead us to think this was a bit redundant. But if I may help convey the real message here, I’d say this to you: God does not tempt us, He leads us away from it. I think the misunderstanding of this line comes from the second half of the sentence “but deliver us from the evil one”. We usually don’t make the connection here, but Jesus isn’t saying “Father, don’t lead us into temptation” only. The real idea here is, “Father, lead us out of temptation.” First Corinthians 10 tells us that God will provide a way out of every temptation, but this passage in Matthew shows us that we must request that God make that way known to us and to lead us out of that temptation and away from the evil spiritual entities that entice us.

“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

As stated earlier in this writing, there is some debate over the ending of the Lord’ Prayer and whether it should be included in the text or not. I am not going to discuss this debate one way or the other as that will be for another time. The one thing I will say is that whether this is the original ending or not, one truth remains: God should be the focus of our prayers and we should look to the Scriptures for the God-directed instruction on how we should pray. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. It seems pretty important that not only should God be who we address in our prayers, but we should reiterate the adoration of the One who gave us the ability to pray in the first place.

Final Thought

The Lord’s Prayer is the subject of countless sermons, Sunday school lessons, books, debates, etc., and MUCH more could be said about it than I said. My hope is that this series has been a good foundational overview of Christ’s instruction and example to us of what God expects of us concerning prayer. I hope that this has been instructional, practical, and eye-opening in some way for you. If it’s been beneficial for you, then wonderful! Praise be to God. This series should not be where your study of real, Biblical, God-centered prayer ends. Continue reading your Bible and look to it for how we should pray.

Further Reading Recommendations

Just a few book recommendations for you. These link to their respective Amazon and Apple Books pages, but I receive no kick-back or compensation for any of this. Enjoy!

“The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down: The Lord’s Prayer as a Manifesto for Revolution” by Albert R. Mohler, Jr.

“Does Prayer Change Things?” by R.C. Sproul

“Pray Big: Learn to Pray Like an Apostle” by Alistair Begg

“In this manner, therefore, pray…”

Matthew 6:9 NKJV

So far we have seen that God expects us to pray and gives us guidance on what not to do. Today’s post will be similar to the expectation of prayer, but shorter and a bit more blunt. If you’re just doing a cursory reading over this passage, you may miss an important command: pray. I use the word “exhortation” because of the alliteration, but in case it’s a new word to you it means “a command”. There is an exhortation to pray. God explicitly commands it.

Jesus says, “In this manner, therefore, pray…” Much of the time when reading this passage, we just focus on the Lord’s prayer and it’s guidelines for our praying. But this first phrase is Jesus literally telling us to pray. Why point this out? Because not only is prayer expected of us, but we are commanded to pray. It’s not just that God wants us to pray and prefers it – He has instructed us to pray. So consider this: if God gives a command, and we do not obey that command, what do we call that? Sin. Yes, it’s that simple.

Now the question is, am I sinning in every moment that I’m not actively praying? No. But if you completely neglect to pray, then yes that would be sinful. We can serve and be obedient to God by praying to Him.

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”

Matthew‬ ‭6:5-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

One of the best ways to learn about something, is to learn what something is not. In fact, we do it all the time, whether we are aware of it or not. Take for example one of the most basic concepts in math: addition. When you learned addition, you learned that it was combining two or more numbers together to find the sum of those numbers. But whether you realized it or not, you also learned that addition is not subtraction. It’s also not multiplication or division. Even if there may be similarities between some of those concepts you learned those distinctions.

Jesus teaches us about prayer by starting with what not to do. He teaches us the distinction between real, godly prayer and counterfeit prayer. This is the what NOT to do in praying. Jesus gives two things not to do – and tags them with what we should do instead:

• Don’t pray hypocritically.
• Don’t treat God like a genie.

Don’t Pray Hypocritically

What NOT to do: First, don’t pray like the hypocrites. So… what do the hypocrites do? Jesus tells us: standing in the synagogues and on the street corners “that they may be seen by men”. That is a description of people who outwardly pray to God, but inwardly are hoping that people praise them for their public displays of “godly” affection. These hypocrites want people to look at them and say, “Wow, they are so holy and successful!” They are seeking the approval of men for their prayers, not God. Jesus isn’t saying we shouldn’t pray in public; He’s saying that we should pray with the intent of bringing praise to God, not us.

Some of you may read this and think you’re not guilty of this hypocritical behavior because you’re not actively seeking a street corner to pray on or an audience to pray in front of. But have you ever noticed that when you’re asked to pray publicly (maybe to close a service or to pray over food) your prayers tend to be more pristine or polished than when you pray by yourself? While praying publicly, we tend to think that we need to say the right words to that we don’t come across as theologically ignorant to the people around us. But who are we trying to please, God or man?

Instead: Make your prayer private and intimate. Prayer is our one-on-one communication with the Father. When we go to our private place it allows us to focus on our talking with God. It helps to create a physical environment where there are no distractions and helps us to create a mental environment where we can focus on the Father. This does not prohibit public prayer, but the intent and audience of your prayers matter.

Don’t Treat God Like a “Genie”

What NOT to do: Second, don’t pray with vain repetitions. In other words, your many words and repetitions don’t impress God nor do they convince Him to grant your requests. That kind of prayer is empty and useless. Prayer is not a magical spell or chant wherein we say the magic words and God responds with, “You said the right words in the right order, your wish is My command.” No. God is not concerned with the length of our prayers or how many syllables each word has or the number of times we address Him by one of His proper names. God is concerned with your heart.

Prayer has become habitual and ritualistic in the sense that we pray simply as a means of routine. It’s easy to get into a routine and follow a formula every time we pray. That’s not to say that opening or closing or speaking similarly each time is wrong, but we should be aware of what we are saying and why we say our words when we pray. Remember that prayer is communication with the Almighty God. It is not mindless meditation.

Instead: Jesus is telling us that when we pray, our prayers should be God-directed and purposeful, not man-pleasing and ritualistic. Need some inspiration? Look to the Psalms.

I bet I can guess exactly when you pray. Before meals and before bedtime, right? Do you pray at church when someone else is “leading the prayer”? Do you pray when things get rough? Do you pray when things are wonderful? Do you pray before reading/studying your Bible or before starting your day?

When we first examine Jesus’ teaching on prayer in Matthew 6, we typically see how He tells us what not to do in prayer. But if we are carefully reading then we will see that we’ve already missed His first point. Jesus says, “When you pray.” He does not say, “If you pray.”

Why is this so important to point out? Because there is a great different between those two phrases. If Jesus said “if you pray”, then He would be leaving the choice of prayer up to his audience. It would be of no consequence whether one prayed or not. The idea of if has a connotation of wavering and unknown. Saying if makes it sound like “it’d be nice if you prayed, but if not that’s cool, too.” But that isn’t the language Jesus uses here. Instead, He says “when”. This phrase tells us that Jesus expects us to pray. Jesus makes the assumption that we will pray.

Therefore, the first thing we should know about Biblical prayer is there is an expectation of prayer – Christ expects us to pray. In other words, prayer is not optional. It is a duty of the believer. You must pray. It is expected of you. In fact, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul says, “pray without ceasing”. We should always be ready to pray and always be in a Spirit of prayer. We as believers have the Holy Spirit literally living within us and we should be in regular communication with our God.

Extra Thought

While many of us can recognize that prayer is a necessity and is expected of us, we still find ourselves struggling to start praying anyway. Whatever the reason (fear, unconfessed sin, hopelessness) Hebrews 4:15-16 tells us, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We can boldly approach the throne of God in prayer because Jesus Christ (our High Priest) sympathizes without weaknesses. He is a compassionate High Priest and desires to hear our prayers.

One of the most important duties of the believer’s life is often the most neglected. Prayer is mentioned and taught many times in Scripture, and most people are at least familiar with the concept. But what really is prayer? What is its purpose? How often should we pray? Does God really answer prayers? Only 54% of mainline protestants pray daily. If we are the body of Christ – born-again believers – if the Holy Spirit Himself lives within, shouldn’t that number be higher?

In this brief devotional series, we will be exploring step-by-step what Scripture says prayer is – and how we should pray – so that we can have a solid, foundational, and Biblical understanding and rightly apply it to our lives the way God intends.

Our central passage will be Matthew 6:5-15. It will be beneficial to read this passage multiple times a day to help get it ingrained in your memory:

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, 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. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

‭‭Matthew 6:5-15 NKJV

So, what is prayer? It can be defined simply as communicating with God. It\’s a two-way avenue of talking with the Father whether it be about your day, your burdens, your victories, His will for you, praising Him, etc. But it’s most important to understand prayer from the point of view of the Bible if you are to have a proper understanding of the purpose and method of prayer.

In our study together, it will be easiest to understand the “Four E’s of Prayer”:

• The Expectation of Prayer
• The Exception to Prayer
• The Exhortation for Prayer
• The Example of Prayer

Keep these in mind as we read together. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with our key passage in preparation for the study. D.L. Moody said, “If we pray without reading the Word, we shall be ignorant of the mind and will of God, and become mystical and fanatical, and liable to be blown about by every wind of doctrine.”