Silas
Beloved of All
Your hunger to pray as Jesus taught is a beautiful and biblical desire, and the outline you have shared reflects the heart of what He gave us in Matthew 6 verses 9 to 13.
Jesus did not give that prayer to be repeated quickly from memory without thought. He gave it as a pattern to guide us. There is great value when you take it slowly, phrase by phrase, and meditate on what each request means and pray it sincerely from the heart.
Notice the order He established. Prayer begins with relationship. He teaches us to say Our Father who is in heaven. That relationship is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ. As many as receive Him and believe on His name are given the right to become children of God, and through His death and resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit we can cry Abba, Father with genuine intimacy and confidence. Without that father and child relationship through Christ, prayer has no foundation.
Then the first requests are not about us, but about God. Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The primary thrust of prayer is worship and surrender to God's purposes. It is an expression of awe at His greatness and glory and a desire to see His name honored, His reign extended, and His will accomplished here as fully as it is in heaven. That is very different from trying to use prayer to get our own will done on earth. We are asking for His kingdom to come.
That kingdom is described in Scripture as righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is seen when the fruit of the Spirit grows in us, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, and when we walk humbly, love mercy and do what is just. It is also the future hope we long for, when Jesus Christ will reign fully and every knee will bow. That is why the last prayer of the Bible is Even so, come, Lord Jesus. When we pray Your kingdom come we are praying both for His rule in our hearts today and for His glorious return.
Only after we have put God first do we bring our personal needs. Jesus groups them into the basic issues we need to bring to the Father. Give us this day our daily bread covers our provision. We cannot live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God, so this is a request for all our needs, spiritual, physical, emotional and daily, so that we can love God and love our neighbor well. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors covers our need for forgiveness. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil covers our need for guidance and protection from sin, deception and the evil one.
Of all these personal requests, Jesus pauses to emphasize only one afterward, the call to forgive. Our forgiveness is connected to our willingness to forgive others. We confess our own sins honestly before God and receive His mercy, and we also release those who have sinned against us, praying for them and entrusting judgment to God who alone saves and judges.
Prayer then returns to where it began, to worship. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. A prayer of faith should end with praise, with quiet confidence that God has heard and will answer according to His wisdom and love. The fervent, heartfelt prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, and when we agree together in prayer God hears.
Continue to use this pattern not as empty repetition but as a thoughtful guide. Begin with worship and surrender to the Father, seek His kingdom and His righteousness first as Matthew 6 verse 33 teaches, then bring your daily needs, your need for forgiveness with a forgiving heart, and your need for leading and deliverance, and close with praise for His everlasting kingdom, power and glory. As you do, you will find prayer becomes less about informing God of what you want and more about aligning your heart with what He wants to do in you and through you.
Jesus did not give that prayer to be repeated quickly from memory without thought. He gave it as a pattern to guide us. There is great value when you take it slowly, phrase by phrase, and meditate on what each request means and pray it sincerely from the heart.
Notice the order He established. Prayer begins with relationship. He teaches us to say Our Father who is in heaven. That relationship is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ. As many as receive Him and believe on His name are given the right to become children of God, and through His death and resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit we can cry Abba, Father with genuine intimacy and confidence. Without that father and child relationship through Christ, prayer has no foundation.
Then the first requests are not about us, but about God. Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The primary thrust of prayer is worship and surrender to God's purposes. It is an expression of awe at His greatness and glory and a desire to see His name honored, His reign extended, and His will accomplished here as fully as it is in heaven. That is very different from trying to use prayer to get our own will done on earth. We are asking for His kingdom to come.
That kingdom is described in Scripture as righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is seen when the fruit of the Spirit grows in us, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, and when we walk humbly, love mercy and do what is just. It is also the future hope we long for, when Jesus Christ will reign fully and every knee will bow. That is why the last prayer of the Bible is Even so, come, Lord Jesus. When we pray Your kingdom come we are praying both for His rule in our hearts today and for His glorious return.
Only after we have put God first do we bring our personal needs. Jesus groups them into the basic issues we need to bring to the Father. Give us this day our daily bread covers our provision. We cannot live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God, so this is a request for all our needs, spiritual, physical, emotional and daily, so that we can love God and love our neighbor well. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors covers our need for forgiveness. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil covers our need for guidance and protection from sin, deception and the evil one.
Of all these personal requests, Jesus pauses to emphasize only one afterward, the call to forgive. Our forgiveness is connected to our willingness to forgive others. We confess our own sins honestly before God and receive His mercy, and we also release those who have sinned against us, praying for them and entrusting judgment to God who alone saves and judges.
Prayer then returns to where it began, to worship. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. A prayer of faith should end with praise, with quiet confidence that God has heard and will answer according to His wisdom and love. The fervent, heartfelt prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, and when we agree together in prayer God hears.
Continue to use this pattern not as empty repetition but as a thoughtful guide. Begin with worship and surrender to the Father, seek His kingdom and His righteousness first as Matthew 6 verse 33 teaches, then bring your daily needs, your need for forgiveness with a forgiving heart, and your need for leading and deliverance, and close with praise for His everlasting kingdom, power and glory. As you do, you will find prayer becomes less about informing God of what you want and more about aligning your heart with what He wants to do in you and through you.
