Silas
Beloved of All
It is good to see your heart to pray the prayer Jesus gave not as empty repetition but as a thoughtful pattern to follow. Simply reciting the words from memory has little value, but when you take it slowly phrase by phrase and truly meditate on what each line means, it becomes a rich guide for communion with God.
Jesus begins with relationship, Our Father who is in heaven. Prayer rests on that relationship through Jesus Christ. Apart from being adopted as a child of God through His shed blood and resurrection, prayer has no foundation. But when you have received Christ and believed on His name, you can come as a child to a Father, even with the intimacy of Abba, and know you are heard.
The model He gave then moves in a clear order. The first petitions are not about us at all, they are about God. Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This teaches that the primary thrust of prayer is not to get our own will done, but to desire that God's name be honored, His kingdom be advanced, and His will be accomplished. That is what it means to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, as Matthew 6:33 says, and then trust Him to add what we need.
To pray hallowed be Your name is to ask that His gracious and compassionate character revealed in Scripture would be reverenced in our thoughts, words and actions, and in the world around us. To pray Your kingdom come is to ask for His reign of righteousness and peace and joy to be evident in us through the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately for Christ to come and establish His everlasting kingdom fully. It is the same longing expressed at the end of Revelation, even so come Lord Jesus. To pray Your will be done is to ask that we would know and submit to His will individually and together as His people, living to please Him and making Him known, just as Jesus did.
Only after that does the prayer turn to our personal needs, and those needs are summed up in a simple way. Give us this day our daily bread covers provision for all that we need spiritually, emotionally, physically and in every other way, trusting the Father to supply so we can love Him and love our neighbor. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors covers our need for forgiveness and reminds us that this petition is tied to our willingness to forgive others. Of all the petitions, Jesus pauses to emphasize this one, showing how essential a forgiving heart is. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil covers our need for guidance and deliverance, asking for protection from sin, deception, and the power of the evil one, and for strength to walk in holiness.
Prayer in this pattern also teaches us its different forms. It is worship in its awe of who God is, it is intercession as we pray for His kingdom and for others, and it is petition as we bring our own needs. And it returns to worship at the end, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. A prayer of faith should end with praise, with confidence that God has heard and will answer according to His wisdom and will.
Continue to pray in this way, not hurriedly or to impress others, but quietly and sincerely before your Father who sees in secret. Take each phrase and turn it into your own honest words to Him, thanking Him for adoption through Christ, asking that His name be honored through your life, that His kingdom would come in and through you, and then bringing your daily needs, your need for forgiveness, and your need for keeping from sin. He hears that kind of earnest, heartfelt prayer.
Jesus begins with relationship, Our Father who is in heaven. Prayer rests on that relationship through Jesus Christ. Apart from being adopted as a child of God through His shed blood and resurrection, prayer has no foundation. But when you have received Christ and believed on His name, you can come as a child to a Father, even with the intimacy of Abba, and know you are heard.
The model He gave then moves in a clear order. The first petitions are not about us at all, they are about God. Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This teaches that the primary thrust of prayer is not to get our own will done, but to desire that God's name be honored, His kingdom be advanced, and His will be accomplished. That is what it means to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, as Matthew 6:33 says, and then trust Him to add what we need.
To pray hallowed be Your name is to ask that His gracious and compassionate character revealed in Scripture would be reverenced in our thoughts, words and actions, and in the world around us. To pray Your kingdom come is to ask for His reign of righteousness and peace and joy to be evident in us through the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately for Christ to come and establish His everlasting kingdom fully. It is the same longing expressed at the end of Revelation, even so come Lord Jesus. To pray Your will be done is to ask that we would know and submit to His will individually and together as His people, living to please Him and making Him known, just as Jesus did.
Only after that does the prayer turn to our personal needs, and those needs are summed up in a simple way. Give us this day our daily bread covers provision for all that we need spiritually, emotionally, physically and in every other way, trusting the Father to supply so we can love Him and love our neighbor. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors covers our need for forgiveness and reminds us that this petition is tied to our willingness to forgive others. Of all the petitions, Jesus pauses to emphasize this one, showing how essential a forgiving heart is. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil covers our need for guidance and deliverance, asking for protection from sin, deception, and the power of the evil one, and for strength to walk in holiness.
Prayer in this pattern also teaches us its different forms. It is worship in its awe of who God is, it is intercession as we pray for His kingdom and for others, and it is petition as we bring our own needs. And it returns to worship at the end, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. A prayer of faith should end with praise, with confidence that God has heard and will answer according to His wisdom and will.
Continue to pray in this way, not hurriedly or to impress others, but quietly and sincerely before your Father who sees in secret. Take each phrase and turn it into your own honest words to Him, thanking Him for adoption through Christ, asking that His name be honored through your life, that His kingdom would come in and through you, and then bringing your daily needs, your need for forgiveness, and your need for keeping from sin. He hears that kind of earnest, heartfelt prayer.
