TEACH US HOW TO PRAY

We often hear the prayer found in Matthew 6, called “The Lord’s Prayer”. It is not. Neither is it an appropriate prayer for Christians today, as it was for the apostles who asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They had seen him pray. and knew Jesus talked with his Father regularly, sometimes spending the night doing so. They were familiar with the prayers of the Pharisees and other religious leaders of their day and could not help but note the difference Just as Jesus’ teaching was different, so were his prayers different. This led them to ask to be taught by him how to pray. While this prayed will teach us “how to pray,” we must remember that we live under a different covenant than our Lord who lived under the Law of Moses. For example, the kingdom referred to in “Thy kingdom come,” came on the first Pentecost after this. (Acts 2.) Christians are a part of the kingdom. It is not something still to come in the future. We can, and should, praise him for his kingdom and that we are permitted to be a part of it. Jesus’ own prayer is to be found after his resurrection. therefore falls under the new covenant, and is recorded in John 17, “That they may all be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee.” He was praying for us all, even today and all to come. Let’s look for a moment at some points in that lesson on prayer.

It is a private conversation between man and his Father. It is not a display for the sake of being seen and heard by men. The difference is that if one is leading a group in prayer, he is speaking on behalf of all who hear. The man on the street corner is praying to be seen, and being seen is his reward.

Since it is a private conversation, find a place alone where you can open your heart to God. An inner room is suggested, and with the door closed.

A prayer need not be lengthy to be effective. What it must be, is to be sincere, and from the heart. Pagan religions thrive on long prayers, using any means to repeat them over and over as often as possible, even to the extent of small flags with a prayer written on them and placed where the wind will cause them to flutter, or prayer bells that jingle in the wind, or beads to be counted off so many times. Don’t forget, many “praise choruses” are really prayers set to music. Repeating them over and over makes them no more effective as prayers, and are certain to exhaust any elderly singers kept standing for long periods of time.

God knows our needs and sometimes lets us know so as happened to myself once several years ago. I had been praying day after day fervently several times a day about the need to replace our small Bible shop with something more suitable. In the middle of one of my prayers, God softly spoke in my inner ear, just once, “Be still and know that I am God.” I learned my lesson there and then. A little over a year later we owned a spacious Bible shop, including a church building, and an apartment all in one complex. Our Lord knew what we needed, and when the time was right, He provided it.

Compare these points with the scripture and the prayer Jesus taught his apostles.

Matthew 6:5-13 - “When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into the closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to the Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
After this manner therefore pray ye: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

This short, directly to the point, from the heart, meeting our needs, with praise to our Father.

Prayer is a private conversation with our heavenly Father who made all things and loved us enough to send His Son to die for us and pay the price for our sins. (John 3:16).