Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire to seek the Father first and to pray the pattern Jesus gave in Matthew 6:9 to 13 is pleasing to the Lord, and it reflects the very order Jesus taught when He said to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in Matthew 6:33.
What Jesus gave is not words to repeat quickly from memory without thought. It is a model to guide prayer. 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. That kind of fervent, heartfelt prayer is what Scripture describes as effectual and powerful in James 5:16.
Prayer begins with relationship. Our Father in heaven is only true for those who have received Jesus and believed on His name, as John 1:12 says, and who have been given the Spirit of adoption by which we cry Abba, Father, as Galatians 4:6 teaches. Because of the blood Jesus shed and His resurrection, we can come with the same intimate confidence He showed when He prayed Abba, Father in Mark 14:36. Without that relationship through Christ alone, prayer has no foundation.
The first three requests are all centered on God, not on us. Hallowed be Your name is worship, asking that His gracious and compassionate name revealed in Scripture, as in Exodus 34:6, would be honored in our thoughts, words and actions, and that His name would not be dishonored among people. Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven go together. Prayer was never intended as a way to get our own will done on earth. Its primary purpose is to see Gods will and Gods kingdom accomplished here. There are two kingdoms, the kingdom of light and life where God reigns, and the kingdom of darkness in rebellion against Him. To pray Your kingdom come is to ask for the reign of Christ to come into our own lives with righteousness, peace and joy and the fruit of the Spirit, to spread through the world as the gospel is preached, and to be fully revealed when Jesus returns. That is why the last prayer of the Bible is Even so, come, Lord Jesus in Revelation 22:20. We pray for His will to be done now in our lives and in His church, and we long for the day when His will is done on earth fully as it is in heaven.
Then Jesus teaches us to bring our personal needs. Give us this day our daily bread covers all our provision, spiritual, physical, emotional and daily needs, remembering that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God in Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors is the one request Jesus pauses to emphasize again after the prayer. We confess our sins and receive forgiveness, and we are called to extend that same forgiveness to those who have sinned against us, entrusting judgment and salvation to God. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil is a request for guidance and protection, to be kept from sin, from deception, from evil people and from the evil one, and to be guarded by the Lord who has all power.
Prayer then returns to worship. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Prayer is worship as we stand in awe of who God is, it is intercession as we bring others before Him, and it is petition as we bring our own needs. A prayer of faith can end with praise, with quiet confidence that God has heard and will answer according to His will, because all the promises of God are yes in Christ as 2 Corinthians 1:20 says.
Continue to pray in this way, taking each phrase and turning it into your own honest words before the Father. Spend time in worship, spend time interceding for others, and spend time bringing your own needs for provision, forgiveness, guidance and deliverance. As you do, the Lord will shape your heart to want His name honored and His kingdom and will accomplished first, and He will add what you need for daily life.
What Jesus gave is not words to repeat quickly from memory without thought. It is a model to guide prayer. 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. That kind of fervent, heartfelt prayer is what Scripture describes as effectual and powerful in James 5:16.
Prayer begins with relationship. Our Father in heaven is only true for those who have received Jesus and believed on His name, as John 1:12 says, and who have been given the Spirit of adoption by which we cry Abba, Father, as Galatians 4:6 teaches. Because of the blood Jesus shed and His resurrection, we can come with the same intimate confidence He showed when He prayed Abba, Father in Mark 14:36. Without that relationship through Christ alone, prayer has no foundation.
The first three requests are all centered on God, not on us. Hallowed be Your name is worship, asking that His gracious and compassionate name revealed in Scripture, as in Exodus 34:6, would be honored in our thoughts, words and actions, and that His name would not be dishonored among people. Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven go together. Prayer was never intended as a way to get our own will done on earth. Its primary purpose is to see Gods will and Gods kingdom accomplished here. There are two kingdoms, the kingdom of light and life where God reigns, and the kingdom of darkness in rebellion against Him. To pray Your kingdom come is to ask for the reign of Christ to come into our own lives with righteousness, peace and joy and the fruit of the Spirit, to spread through the world as the gospel is preached, and to be fully revealed when Jesus returns. That is why the last prayer of the Bible is Even so, come, Lord Jesus in Revelation 22:20. We pray for His will to be done now in our lives and in His church, and we long for the day when His will is done on earth fully as it is in heaven.
Then Jesus teaches us to bring our personal needs. Give us this day our daily bread covers all our provision, spiritual, physical, emotional and daily needs, remembering that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God in Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors is the one request Jesus pauses to emphasize again after the prayer. We confess our sins and receive forgiveness, and we are called to extend that same forgiveness to those who have sinned against us, entrusting judgment and salvation to God. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil is a request for guidance and protection, to be kept from sin, from deception, from evil people and from the evil one, and to be guarded by the Lord who has all power.
Prayer then returns to worship. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Prayer is worship as we stand in awe of who God is, it is intercession as we bring others before Him, and it is petition as we bring our own needs. A prayer of faith can end with praise, with quiet confidence that God has heard and will answer according to His will, because all the promises of God are yes in Christ as 2 Corinthians 1:20 says.
Continue to pray in this way, taking each phrase and turning it into your own honest words before the Father. Spend time in worship, spend time interceding for others, and spend time bringing your own needs for provision, forgiveness, guidance and deliverance. As you do, the Lord will shape your heart to want His name honored and His kingdom and will accomplished first, and He will add what you need for daily life.
