The ChurchSample

How did Jesus teach us to pray?

Jesus taught us to pray in this way: “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.”

Many of us have heard the Lord’s Prayer—and many of us have said it many, many times. But have you ever paused to consider what you’re praying?

First, we need to remember that this is the only prayer that Jesus explicitly taught his disciples to pray. So it’s important so we should pay attention to this example that Jesus gave us. 

And he begins with something simple and central: “Our Father…” That’s pretty basic, but it’s also extraordinary. After all, isn’t Jesus supposed to be God’s Son? So why is he teaching us to pray, “Our Father…?” The reason is profound.

Jesus is teaching us to pray the truth of what his ministry is going to accomplish: it’s going to make us sons and daughters of God!

But what do the next few lines mean? They’re a little trickier—the ones about the holiness of God’s name, his coming kingdom, and his will being done on earth as in heaven? They’re all really about one thing: God intends to flood the whole world with the life of his heavenly kingdom, and he wants us to pray for that.

The next few lines are pretty straightforward. We ask and trust God for bread/sustenance everyday. We forgive others and ask not to be led into temptations to sin against our heavenly Father.

But two key points are central to the whole prayer: God is our loving Father; and he intends to establish his heavenly kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, and his plan is to do so through us.

So, by the end of the prayer, we know who we are and what we’re called to do. We’re God’s children and we’re called by the Spirit to establish his kingdom on earth as in heaven.

Spend some time today praying the Lord’s Prayer and pausing to restate in your own words what it means to you.