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Prayer is the way that we communicate with God. It can have many purposes and formats. The Bible is full of advice on how to pray. Jesus himself prayed to his Father often and gave his apostles a model for speaking to God. In this article we will look at the various directives given throughout God’s Word. We will also examine “The Lord’s Prayer” as a model for ourselves.
God wants us to pray to Him. “Call to me, and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderful and marvelous things.” (Jeremiah 33: 3) “If any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you.” (James 1: 5) Jesus assumes that we will pray to God, “When you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” (Matt. 6: 6) The Bible teaches that God wants us to pray to Him and assumes that we will.
Much prayer is supplication. We are asking God for something and acknowledging our inability to get it for ourselves. “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matt. 7: 7) “I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people.” (1 Tim. 2: 1)
Prayer requires faith. It is not a magic formula for getting what we want. The supplicant must trust that God is and can hear us. “Whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists” (Heb. 11: 6) “If you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, ‘Go from here to there!’ and it will go. You could do anything!” (Matt. 17: 20)
When praying, we want to seek the will of God, not change it. “We have courage in God’s presence, because we are sure that he hears us if we ask him for anything that is according to his will.” (1 John 5: 14) Jesus taught through parables that persistence is important when praying. In the parable of the widow and the judge, the widow kept on demanding her rights until the judge got tired of all the trouble and granted her request. “Now, will God not judge in favor of his own people who cry to him day and night for help?” (Luke 18: 7)
There are some conditions for having our prayers heard. We need to seek God’s will and persistence helps. Prayer requires an attitude of humility and repentance. “If I had ignored my sins, The Lord would not have listened to me.” (Psalm 66: 18) “If they pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again.” (2 Chronicles 7: 14)
In the four Gospels, Jesus led a life of prayer. He was always in communication with his Father. In every prayer where Jesus’ words are recorded, he called God his Father. Jesus prayed at his baptism (Luke 3: 21), when he was alone (Mark 1: 35, Luke 5: 16), all night (Luke 6: 12), many times. John chapter 17 records Jesus’ long and moving prayer for his disciples.
Jesus was asked by one of the apostles, “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11: 1) The prayer that he taught them is one that is repeated all over the world exactly as it appears in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus said, “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)
Whether or not this prayer should be repeated and memorized is the subject of ongoing debate between many churches. I don’t believe it particularly matters whether you can say it by heart or not. The important thing, as we have seen, is attitude. If it is prayed from memory on a rosary, as part of a congregational prayer, or even in our personal devotions, what are we thinking as we say it? I can remember saying the “Our Father” in school when I was a boy. I said it because I knew the words, not because I was really praying. I wouldn’t assume that anyone else who prays it from memory is indulging in vain repetition.
For many, it is helpful to say the prayer with their lips while thinking about their requests. Often, the words for a heartfelt prayer are the hardest to find. The Lord’s Prayer gives us the words while our spirit connects to God on a deeper level. I use the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern for my own prayer life. What Jesus taught his apostles is a structure for prayer that starts with praise, followed by our needs (daily bread) and then asking for forgiveness and ending with more praise. It’s a simple pattern and covers all of the bases.
What does the Bible say about prayer? God wants to hear our prayers. He wants us to have faith in him and be persistent with our requests, be humble and ask forgiveness, be bold and make our requests known to Him. Jesus gave us a prayer that we can learn to recite or use as a pattern for our own words.
Sources:
Matt 6: 9-13 from the New King James Bible, Thomas Nelson, 1979
All other quotes: Good News Bible, CBS, 1992
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