“This, then, is how you should 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 today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ Matthew 6:9-13
A healthy prayer life will display certain characteristics. Reverence, submission and dependence are foundational to a healthy prayer life. These characteristics mark authentic communion with God.
Reverence is at the heart of the privilege of prayer. On the one hand, Jesus tells us to call God, “Our Father;” but then, He immediately reminds us not to forget that this loving Father is the almighty, holy, eternal God. “Father, hallowed be your name.”
As we pray, we enjoy intimate communion with our Father in the context of a holy reverence for our Creator God. He wants us to be close, but not forgetting who He is – the Sovereign Lord of the universe! We are seeking intimacy with the Sovereign and only Lord of heaven and earth. Because of who God is, reverence is essential to the privilege of prayer.
If we’re going to pray, we must pray the way Jesus taught us to pray: “Your kingdom come.” We pray, not asking God to do our will, but offering ourselves to His service.
The difference between worship and witchcraft, between prayer and idolatry, and between faith and wishful thinking is: Who is in control? If we would learn the secret of powerful prayer, it begins with yielding our will to God. Submission is essential to the privilege of prayer.
Jesus also teaches us to depend on Him for everyday provisions: “Give us this day our daily bread.” God wants us to depend on Him right now. He wants us to trust Him for our immediate needs. This part of Jesus’ model prayer is drawn from Proverbs chapter thirty, which says: “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or, I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
When we begin to see each meal as an answer to prayer, it becomes an occasion for thanksgiving. God wants a daily relationship with us. He wants us to acknowledge Him as a Jehovah Jireh, our provider, throughout the day everyday. God delights in meeting even our most minor needs in a moment-by-moment fashion.
Jesus teaches us to depend on Him also for His provision for our past. The next thing we pray is: “Forgive us our sins.” God has already made provision for our past, whatever we’ve done, whatever mistakes we’ve made, whatever horrible sins we’ve committed.
Jesus teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our sins.” He doesn’t tell us to pray, “Let us make it up to you, God. Let’s make a deal. Please could we work something out? If you’ll not punish me for my sins, I’ll do these things for you. Let me escape the consequences and I’ll make it up to you, God.”
Instead, Jesus says we must learn to depend upon God’s mercy. He wants us to seek simple forgiveness. Jesus was willing to go to the cross to make this possible for us. Obtaining forgiveness for us was very costly for Jesus. Because of Him, we can depend completely upon God’s grace to take care of everything in our past – everything! The more we come to understand this, the more passionate our prayer life will be. We’ll fall deeper and deeper in love with the ONE who loved us first.
Jesus tells us to depend on God for our future: “Lead us not into temptation.” We are in essence saying, “God, you know what’s out there; we don’t. You know what we’re going to face; we don’t.” We must depend upon God to be our shepherd, our protector, and our guide. When we depend upon God for the future, we can face uncertain days with confidence. We know that when we are weak, He is strong.
As we pray with a focus on God as our Father and as our Sovereign Lord, we no longer feel a need to manipulate God. We don’t have to impress God. We really can’t impress God anyway. If we think about the fact that God knows everything, then we understand that it’s pointless to try to put our “best foot” forward. God sees the other foot, too. God sees all. When we come to Him, we come to ONE who knows us inside and out and yet loves us and accepts us and wants to bless us.
Jesus says, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead, or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The most awesome thing we can ask God for is His Holy Spirit: “More of you, Lord!” This is what we really need to receive. When we learn to pray this way, understanding that one way or another God will give more of Himself to us, then we’re not insistent on wanting our own way. God loves us and wants a daily, intimate relationship with us.
Prayer is not about getting God to do what we want Him to do. Prayer is about communing with the God who loves us so much that He gave His Son for us. What we desperately need to do is to have a relationship with Him that is filled with reverence, as well as intimacy.
We must come in submission depending on Him concerning today, concerning our past and concerning our future. We need to say, “Lord, have your way. I want your kingdom to come. I want your will to be done.” This is not surrender to blind chance or an impersonal fate; it is the surrender of love to the ONE who has loved us with an everlasting love. This kind of intimacy is a privilege. Have you surrendered to Him? Are you receiving His love and affection for you?
