“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name…”— Matthew 6:9
Are you looking for a way to improve your prayer life? What is a good model for prayer? How do you use the Lord’s Prayer as a guide?
If prayer is simply talking to God, how complicated can it be? Not very. But unfortunately, we tend to complicate things. The more complicated something seems, the more we feel it is effective; the less complicated it is, the less effective. Jesus knew this would be the case with prayer also, so He gave us a guide on how to pray. He also did this for the religious leaders at the time who had made prayer a mystery and a show. Jesus knew that a show was the last thing prayer should be. After all, why would you want to “show off” before an all-knowing and all-seeing God? Prayer should be simple and from the heart. Length, elaborate language, and volume should not determine the value of an individual’s prayer, but rather truth and faith. Fortunately, Jesus gave His disciples a good model for prayer that we also can use. But first, He taught them how not to pray.
Don’t pray for show, but make prayer a private, intimate dialogue between you and God (Matthew 6:5-6).
Don’t focus on the length, but rather focus on your heart (Matthew 5:7-8).
How do you pray using Matthew 6:9-15 as a guide?
“Our father” – Acknowledge him as your Dad– approachable, reachable and reasonable.
“Hallowed be your name” – Recognize His holiness. He is like no other. Set apart. Awesome.
“Your kingdom come” – Invite Him into your life, family, business and community.
“Your will be done” – Make way for Him to take over. Completely surrender to Him.
“On earth as in heaven” – Desire heaven on earth. Long to model heaven until you enter heaven’s gates.
“Give us this day our daily bread” – Demonstrate your daily dependence upon Him for your provision — your customers, your revenue, the line of credit, great ideas, favor with men and all that you need.
“Forgive us our debts” – Acknowledge your shortcomings and limitations. Repent of known and unknown sins.
“Forgive those who are indebted to you” – As he has released you, release others. Clean your conscience of all grudges. Let go of the hurts, the pains, no matter who it is.
“Lead us not into temptation” – Request guidance and wisdom to avoid situations that will cause you to sin (lust of the flesh, lust of eye and the pride of life).
“Deliver us from the evil one” – Acknowledge that you have no power over the devil and request protection from the attacks of Satan. Plead the blood of Jesus over yourself, your family and your business.
“Yours is the kingdom” – Recognize that the earth and everything in it is His. You are His.
“The power and the glory” – He is most powerful and able to do anything He chooses.
“Forever” – There are no limits to “the power and the glory” of His kingdom.
“Amen” – We agree with what has been said. It is done, so be it.
Jesus concludes His instructions with an interesting point:
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).
The key to prayer is not what you say, but rather it is the condition of your heart. Consequently, if your heart is not right, your words are meaningless and irrelevant. But if your heart is right, you can say very little and move God’s heart. Go ahead. Release those that you are holding grudges against, whether they are family members, neighbors, friends, customers, vendors, partners or competitors. Release them so you can make the way for your unanswered prayers to be heard and answered by your Daddy.
My prayer for you today is that God will guide you to pray a radical prayer that will move His heart in your business and family.
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