21 Days of Prayer ChallengeSample

Day 15: How does Jesus teach us to pray?

From Pastor Roger Theimer

In church, I remember we all prayed the Lord's Prayer together one time. When we said "Amen," I was startled. We had finished, and I had not thought about a single word I was saying. Instead, I was designing in my mind the workbench I was going to build that afternoon. Ever happened to you?

The Lord's Prayer is beautiful. It's a blessing that we all can recite it together. No doubt Jesus made it that simple so we could repeat it. But there is so much more to it!

Jesus' disciples noticed Jesus' deep prayer life, so they asked him, "Lord, teach us how to pray!" His response was the Lord's Prayer!

Jesus gives the Lord's Prayer as one to be recited, but also it is so much more! It is a pattern for praying. It can be divided into five focused areas of prayer. It is like a pathway with five pauses along the path. When we pause to pray at each of these focus areas, the depth and breadth of our prayers increase tremendously. Each of these five focus areas will be a topic in this week's devotions. But, for now, let's simply highlight them.

1. We begin with Praying with Praise, or "Our Father who is in heaven." We praise God for who He is.
2. The next stop is Praying for Priorities, or "Your kingdom come, your will be done." We pray for kingdom priorities.
3. The third focus is Praying for Provision, or "Give us this day our daily bread." We pray for physical needs.
4. The fourth pause is Praying for Pardon, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others." We pray for forgiveness.
5. The final stop is Praying for Protection, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil." We pray for spiritual protection.

Jesus told His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?" I think Jesus was saying, "Couldn't you pray for one hour?" If Jesus asked you today, how would you answer? "What would I say for an hour?"

This pattern of prayer will help. If you spent 12 minutes at each of these prayer pauses on the pathway of the Lord's prayer, you would have prayed for a full hour! Time will fly. Also, your recitation of the Lord's Prayer will be filled with new meaning. So get ready for your prayer life to deepen!

Day 15 Challenge: Find a small notebook or journal and make it a prayer journal. Put the five focus areas of prayers on separate pages. As you pray through items this week, write some prayer thoughts or scriptures that help you pray in that area. Use the prayer journal for ongoing focused prayer.

Prayer Prompt: For anyone who does not have a relationship with Jesus