Prayer is not “free form.” Jesus gave a specific pattern by which we are to structure our prayers. The prayer that our Lord taught His disciples is the model or pattern prayer for the believer. It is a template over which we form our own reverent requests.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on 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 glory, forever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13)
There is no activity in the life of a believer that does not require a prayerful attitude. Christianity is living by faith in the Creator God who dwells in us, and prayer is God’s means for us to draw upon Christ’s miraculous life.
Two things this prayer is not:
(1) It is not and was never intended to be a ritual prayer to be formally and liturgically recited. Compare the translation of the Living Bible: Luke 11:1b reads, “Lord, teach us a prayer to recite just as John taught one of his disciples.” In a footnote to this verse the translator has added the word, “Implied.” But this translation is a product of religious tradition that does not have its roots in what this passage was intended to teach.
(2) It was certainly never intended to be used as an amulet or special words to protect someone when in danger.
A five-year old girl attended a formal wedding with her grandmother. Although she had been in Sunday school, this was her first time in a formal church service. During the wedding, the minister said, “Let us pray.” Every person bowed his/her head in prayer. The little girl looked around and saw all the heads bowed and all eyes turned toward the floor. In her confusion she yelled out, “Grandma, what are they all looking for?” Some seem to be looking for the wrong thing in the Disciple’s prayer.
Some reasons why the passage does not refer to a prayer to be ritually recited:
(1) Matthew 6:5-7 is a warning against praying in a repetitious manner. Ritually repeating this prayer would be in conflict with that warning.
(2) Matthew 6:9 adds the words, “in this way.” This is the Greek outws which could very well be rendered, “in this manner” or “after this manner.” What follows is to be taken as a model or pattern.
(3) In the rest of the New Testament, this prayer is never repeated, though its pattern or principles are followed.
(4) This understanding fits with the warning of Isaiah 29:13 which the Lord quoted against the religious externalism of the Israelites of His day.
“You cannot pray The Lord’s Prayer
And even once say ‘I’.
You cannot say The Lord’s Prayer
And even once say ‘My’.
Nor can you pray The Lord’s Prayer
And not pray for another,
For when you ask for daily bread
You must include your brother.
For others are included
in each and every plea –
From beginning to the end of it,
It never once says ‘Me.’”!
– Author unknown
The ways God responds to our desires and petitions:
1. God can give you your petition but not your desire (Ps. 106:15)
2. God can give you your desire but not your petition (Gen 18:17-33)
3. God can give you neither (Matthew 20:21)
4. God can give you both (Judges 16:28 –29)
Some of God’s choices when we pray:
1. Sometimes answers are Direct-Genesis 24:15
2. Sometimes answers are Delayed John 11:1-45)
3. Sometimes answers are Denied–II Corinthians 12:7-8
4. Sometimes answers are Different -Romans 1:9—11; 15:29-33; Acts 25:10,11; 26:31-32)
Some of the ways God works in answer to prayer:
1. Convention – The ordinary providence of every day that weaves the strands of our lives and circumstances. (Martin Luther called this “The left hand of God.”).(e.g. Joseph’s life. )
2. Intervention – The miraculous working of God (Red Sea, Lazarus raised, etc.)
3. Innervention – Circumstances remain unchanged but God changes us
(2 Cor. 12: 7-8)
