Week 2: Prayer

How Jesus taught us to pray

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The disciples watched Jesus do many things without asking for lessons. They saw Him pray and said: teach us that.

What He gave them was short. Roughly thirty seconds long. That should tell us something.

Walking through it

"Our Father in heaven" — Relationship comes before requests. He is near enough to be called Father, great enough to be trusted with everything.

"Hallowed be your name" — Worship before wanting. It puts you in the right size before you start asking.

"Your kingdom come, your will be done" — Prayer is not bending God to your plan. It is joining yours to His.

"Give us this day our daily bread" — Ask plainly for what you need. Today's need, today. He is not offended by ordinary requests.

"Forgive us... as we forgive" — Come clean, and let others off the hook too. These two are tied together on purpose.

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us" — Ask for help before you are in trouble, not only after.

Use it as a frame

You can pray these words exactly. You can also use each line as a doorway and pray your own life into it. Both are right.

Read it for yourself

  • Matthew 6:9-13 — Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..."

  • Luke 11:1 — Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.

Think it over

Sit with these for a moment. Writing your answers down helps more than you would expect.

  1. Which line of that prayer is hardest for you to mean?
  2. Is there someone you need to forgive before you can pray it honestly?

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