How To Pray: Learning From the Lord’s Prayer
Praying is important, but it is difficult. A part of that difficulty is that it can feel like empty words muttered into thin air that dissipate as soon as they leave our mouths. Perhaps another difficulty comes from the disappointment of unanswered prayers, especially ones that we couldn’t expect would have been poor or wrong requests, such as longing for a family or friend to be saved from death or illness.
Despite its potential difficulty, prayer is vital to the spiritual life of a Christian. To seek to find out what prayer is about, we should turn to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:1-15. But before we look at the prayer itself, we first see in verses 1-8 where Jesus tells us what prayer should be about.
First, prayer is about intimacy, not spiritual showmanship to impress God or man (v. 1-2, 5). Prayer is also precious (v.6) and revealing (v. 8). Prayer is about your heart, not your impressive words (Isaiah 29:13). With the stage set for what prayer is and how we should hold it, Jesus presents us with the Lord’s prayer.
Breaking Down the Lord’s Prayer
“Our father in heaven, Hallowed be your name…”
Jesus asks us to start by recognizing and acknowledging the holiness and reverence of God. This sets our hearts in a proper position before anything else. This is similar to how Solomon starts off his prayer of dedication in 1 Kings 8:22-23: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.”
When Jesus uses the word “hallowed,” it means, “let your name be sanctified.” [1] This orients our hearts toward God as His children who long for and adore His supremacy and fatherliness. Dallas Willard thoughtfully writes, “Only a vivid assurance of God’s greatness and goodness can lay a foundation for the life of prayer…” [1]
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven…
After recognizing God’s holiness, Jesus then asks us to continue this acknowledgment, bringing our perspective to the overall desires of God, which is first and foremost the redemption of the earth. He is our Father, and He loves us like a father does; not wanting us to suffer but longing for us and those who don’t know Him to finally find their home in Him. He desires our individual salvation but also the broader redemption of humanity, governments, people groups, and the world. Our heart is set aright to His heart. We are moved to even sorrow reflecting on those who are truly lost and in desperate need to return to the love of their true Father.
Give us this day our daily bread…
Now, we request. When we ask for our daily bread, it certainly can entail food if that is what we are missing, but it also means our spiritual needs to satisfy our hunger. What is the provision that we need, only for the day? This focus is meant to relieve any cause for anxiety. We are not to be focused on getting all we can to secure the future—we’re asked to focus on God providing for us in this moment.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…
We return to Dallas Willard here: “It is only pity or mercy that makes life possible… it is not psychologically possible for us really to know God’s pity for us and at the same time be hardhearted towards others.” [1] In full and true repentance, we don’t make excuses for our sins or give ourselves some leniency because of the reasons behind our actions. We simply ask for forgiveness for what we have done wrong and accept God’s mercy. To do anything less is to let our pride go untouched and for it to continue to fester. The hope Jesus has in our asking for forgiveness is not just the killing of our pride but the then replacement of a love for others that seeks not to harm in thought, word, or deed and instead seeks to give love and mercy.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…”
Jesus gives us the direct instruction to ask for deliverance. He is mightily aware of our finiteness and susceptibility to sin and horrible trials, and he wants us to ask for deliverance from them. Of course, we aren’t always spared from trials. But if we aren’t, then “it only means that he has something better in mind for us than freedom from trials.” [1]
A Reminder of Reality
One of the things that the Lord’s Prayer does for us is to remind our hearts of the reality in which we live. A reality where God desires, ultimately, for the redemption of the world, the trusting of His people in Him for all they need, and for a heart that adores Him and holds Him in the highest esteem.
For Further Reading:
[1] Willard, Dallas. The Divine Conspiracy
Much of this article is an echo of what I’ve learned and reflected on from Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy, which has given a fresh and spiritually enlivening perspective on prayer. I would encourage anyone who wants to know more to read this book.