Jesus, our Lord, prayed often. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught about prayer. It was an important element in His life, He loved to stay in contact with His Heavenly Father, and He taught the crowds about prayer. First of all, He taught them to pray in private. He encouraged His followers not to be like the hypocrites who loved to pray standing up to be seen. According to our Lord, it is better to go into a room, unseen, close the door, and pray to the Father. Then, your Father, seeing what is done in secret, will reward you.
Jesus also taught that, when we pray, we ought to not babble on like the pagans. Do not think that your prayers will be answered because of your many words. We do not need to approach prayer in that wordy manner. God already knows what we need before we pray. Jesus also teaches that we should come before the Father with a forgiving heart (Mark 11:25). And Jesus taught that we should come with a right heart before God (Luke18:10-14).
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presented a model prayer to the crowd, which we now know as the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer was meant to be an example of how we ought to pray:
First, He addressed His prayer to the Father. There are three persons in the Trinity, but Jesus taught us to address our prayers directly to the Father as He did.
Next in His prayer, Jesus worshipped the name of God - Hallowed be thy name
He prayed that God’s Kingdom would come – Do you remember to pray for God’s order in the world to prevail?
He prayed that God’s will would be done here on earth the same way it is done in Heaven
Next was prayer for daily needs – give us our daily bread
Forgiveness for others and forgiveness for ourselves
Delivery from Satan’s temptations.
Jesus then went on to tell the crowds that they must forgive others in order for their Father in Heaven to forgive them. Notice the many elements of Jesus’ model prayer…
- Worship
- Praying for God’s Kingdom to be established here on earth
- Praying for God’s will to be done
- Daily Needs
- Forgiveness for sins (self and others)
- Deliverance from temptations
Jesus was laying out for the crowd the things they ought to pray about and the attitude they ought to pray under. God knows our hearts. We cannot fool Him. He knows when our hearts are right with Him and He knows when our hearts are centered on Him. And… He knows if we are just praying for show in front of others. Come to Him with a pure heart.
Responding to God: Praise God and worship His holy name. Pray for God’s Kingdom to be established here on earth and that His ways will prevail. Pray for a pure heart, centered on Him and His work. Pray for a heart full of love for God’s people. Confess your sins before Him and ask that He help you avoid future temptations. Commit to daily prayer time with God.
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