How to Pray

Part 1

Is there a formula for prayer? The disciples wondered if there was. They begged Jesus, “Teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1) Things haven’t changed much since then. If you peruse the titles of bestsellers through the years, it would seem that we are still searching: How to Pray by C.S. Lewis, Pocket Prayers by Max Lucado, The Power of a Praying Wife (and others in the series)by Stormie Omartian, Praying God’s Word by Beth Moore, Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels, and more. Two thousand years later, we are still looking for the right way to pray.

Of course, many religious leaders and teachers believed that they knew the right way to pray, but were totally wrong. Jesus berated these hypocrites for praying publicly on the street corners. “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward,” (Matt 6:5 KJV) he said, meaning that they were rewarded by the crowds of people observing them.

Jesus taught us instead that we should “..enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (Matt 6:6 KJV) Nothing is hidden from our Heavenly Father, who sees our private lives as well as our public lives, and He will hear the “effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man,” that “availeth much.” (James 5:16).

But there’s more. Jesus also taught us a model for prayer…one that always resounds with our Father. This model was not a list of words for us to parrot back in prayer, but was meant as a guide to follow with our individual and personal prayers.

This is how it goes.

Begin with Adoration

When Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer, he began with “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” The first two words, “Our Father,” are bursting with significance. First, the word, “our,” refers to more than one person, or a group, a group of people—us. All of us. God is the god of all of us. Our God is our Creator, our redeemer, and our hope of eternal life–one God for all of us.

“Father” is a term of authority as well as endearment. God is our supreme authority, but also our Abba, our loving Father.  What an amazing thought! The Creator of the Universe, the Supreme Authority in all Creation, is also our loving Father!

The words, “Who art in heaven,” indicate his abode above us, but also that he is differentiated from our human fathers, although human fathers may be likened to him. The Bible tells us about heaven, but much of it is unfathomable to eyes that have never seen and ears that have scarcely heard of its glory.

“Hallowed be Thy name,” indicates that we, too, should begin with hallowing our Father, who is so worthy of our praise. “Hallow” means holy, consecrated, and revered. God’s name is holy and He is holy—He is perfect in all His ways. He alone is worthy of adoration, for we are imperfect and not worthy of any praise. The mention of His name should bring us to our knees in worshipful reverence. Ps 99:5 says, “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool; Holy is He.” This psalm is commonly attributed to David. We may not know how to adore the Lord our God in a way that is worthy of Him, but David certainly did. The psalms are full of his exaltation! Ps 145:1-3 says, “I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” We will do well to follow David’s example.

Solicit His Perfect Will

Jesus continued the Lord’s Prayer with “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Seeking God’s will above all else is a top priority, but also seeking to mirror the sinless state of heaven in our own lives is also critically important. This will keep us on the right road—the path of righteousness. It takes faith and obedience to seek this path.  It’s crucial to note that God’s will is perfect and that He has plans we do not know about and sometimes cannot fully understand. God is diligently building His Kingdom. When he inserted the phrase, “Thy kingdom come,” Jesus understood that we might not fully comprehend the logistics of this kingdom, but He added, “on earth as it is in heaven, so we would understand that we should still seek to obey as all the heavenly host obey.

Note that Wikipedia claims some ancient authorities translated this to say, “Thy Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us.” While we don’t see that in many translations today, it, too, is a worthwhile request to make!

Ask for our Needs to be Met

Jesus taught us that there is a hierarchy for making our requests. Only after praising and asking for God’s will to be done, should we ask for our own needs to be met. It can be difficult for us to fathom where our needs fall in the universal hierarchy of life, but the Bible tells us that God has our needs in mind as well as what is best for us. Our best interests may take some time to realize. When our beloved dies, when we are living with cancer, when a child is stillborn, we can scarcely see beyond our present pain. Paul taught that “…now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (I Cor 13:12 KJV) I believe that Paul meant one day all of our past will be clear to us and we will understand. Prov 16:4 tell us that, “The Lord hs made everything for its purpose,”  even though we may not comprehend what that purpose is. What’s more, Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. … Each day has enough trouble of its own.” This means that we also only need to ask for one day’s need at a time. We have no guarantees of tomorrow and the satisfaction of today’s needs are enough. “Give us this day our daily bread…” speaks of asking for one day’s provision at a time.

Ask for Forgiveness

“And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Modern Bible translations often use the word, “debts,” but most older versions use the word, “trespasses.” There is a meaningful difference in the two words. A trespass means overstepping a boundary, whereas a debt is something that is owed. There is no denying that we owe everything, including our very lives, to Jesus Christ, but we are all trespassers. We have overstepped the boundaries God set for us daily, and often deliberately. We are without excuse as trespassers and must plea for forgiveness. In this world where everyone has debt—home mortgages, car loans, credit card bills, and more—debt is considered pretty commonplace. The result is that using a word such as “debt” seems to convey a lesser meaning than the original translation of “trespass.” Make no mistake about the meaning Jesus intended. We are sinners and cannot pay our sin debt ourselves. Jesus added, “as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The measure with which we offer forgiveness to others is the measure that forgiveness will be offered to us. Oh, but we are slow to forgive and may harbor a grudge for years! May God be merciful unto us and forgive us for this, too, and help us to forgive others who are sinners just as we are!

Ask for Protection

“And lead us not into temptation,” needs little explanation. No one wants to be tempted, but we are all guilty of succumbing to temptation. Only Jesus was able to overcome the tempter’s snare. But we can learn from His example. He diverted every tactic Satan used to tempt Him with scripture. The better we know the Holy Word, the better we are able to stand against temptation.

“But deliver us from evil.” Evil will be a part of life until the evil one is ensconced in hell forever, but as long as we are alive on earth, we need not fear it, for God has not only promised to send his angels to protect us (Ps 91:11) but to also keep us and deliver us from all evil (Ps 121:5-7). Perhaps one of the most comforting passages reassures us that the devil will flee from us if we submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7).

End with Praise

Psalm 22:3 tells us that our Father is exalted with our praise and inhabits the praises of His people. And He is due all of our praise, forever. So, don’t hold back. The psalms are full of beautiful examples of praise, such as Ps 145: 19: “My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever,”and Psalm 8:9: “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” There is no end to the things we can praise God for. It might do well to memorize Ps 150 and say it until it resounds in your heart: “Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.  Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.”

Closing

The final phrase, “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever,” Is considered a benediction, or a blessing. We are indeed blessed if we are members of the family of God, whose kingdom is without end, for that means we will enjoy His presence and further blessings throughout eternity.

This phrase was not included in the oldest translations but seems to have been added at some point.

The word, “Amen,” is translated, “so be it.” It implies not only that we are finished praying, at least temporarily, but also that we believe that our prayers have been heard and will be answered. It is a statement of faith and trust.

God delights in the prayers of His people. He hears us even when we don’t know the right words of how to ask for what we need. He knows our innermost thoughts, so nothing is hidden from him. Talk to Him and He will respond to you. The more you pray, the better you will know Him, and soon you will learn to discern His whispers and gentle nudges guiding and directing and blessing you.

Read Part II here: https://frompeggyspen.com/2021/05/30/how-to-pray-part-ii/