Why We Pray Muestra

The Reward of Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer is one of the most well-known and consistently practiced passages of Scripture. Throughout the world, for the past two thousand years, Christians have followed Jesus’ model for how we ought to pray, reciting the Lord’s Prayer in cathedrals and homes.

Prayer is an essential aspect of any relationship with God. It is our communication conduit with the divine. Like so many things meant for good, we often twist them to serve ourselves, and prayer is no exception. We use prayer as an opportunity to list our demands before God, missing the part of communication that involves listening. Alternatively, we pray loudly in the presence of others, turning prayer into a performance for their benefit rather than focusing on God.

It is what Jesus alluded to during the Sermon on the Mount when He addresses the issue of prayer. He tells us how to pray and what to pray. Most importantly, He tells us why to pray: Prayer leads to our great benefit.

We often overlook the promise of reward leading into the Lord’s Prayer. God is saying that if we pray correctly, not as a performance before others but as communion in secret with God, we will receive a benefit. A treasure. A reward.

What is the reward? It is multi-faceted. The first reward of prayer is intimacy with God. Spending time with Him, we get to know Him better. But the Lord’s Prayer also brings us into intimacy with our family and friends. The Lord’s Prayer reflects a theme of the Sermon on the Mount. It teaches that our fellowship and walk with God depend upon how we treat others.

The Lord’s Prayer equips us to seek harmony with others and to live with a forgiving spirit. To choose a perspective that leads to a life full of blessings and absent offense. Part of this is reasonably practical. Forgiveness brings freedom from being controlled by anger or bitterness.

Prayer is not a performance nor an obligation. It is the path to rewarding relationships with God and with others.