Learning the Jesus Way of LifeSample

What It’s Like When God Is in Charge (Part 4)

Pray: Jesus, give me the faith to go where you go, do what you do, trust what you say, and love how you love. Today, I commit to following you. Amen.

Yesterday, we learned whatnot todo when it comes to prayer, fasting, and giving to the poor. Today, we are going to learn how to pray from Jesus Himself.

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:6 NIV

First off, prayer is not a performance we put on to earn the approval of people. Prayer is a conversation with our Heavenly Father. It’s about intimacy, honesty, and openness. God sees our hearts and hears our prayers no matter where we’re praying from.

“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” Matthew 6:7 NIV

When you pray, talk to God like you’re talking to a friend. You’re not writing an essay for college or updating your resume for a job interview. You’re going to a loving Father who wants to hear what you have to say.

“Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:8 NIV

Question: If God knows what we need before we ask Him, then why should we ask Him at all? Doesn’t that seem kind of pointless?

Here are four reasons why prayer is never pointless:

1. Prayer is an act of obedience. “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV
2. Prayer strengthens our relationship with God.One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. Luke 6:12 NIV
3. Prayer makes us more like Jesus.During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Hebrews 5:7 NIV
4. Prayer has the power to change things. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16 NIV

So far, we’ve learned that prayer isn’t a performance to show others how spiritual we are; it’s a conversation with God. And we’ve learned that prayer isn’t pointless; it’s powerful and effective. Now, we’re going to get really practical as Jesus answers the question “How should we pray?” In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus says:

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, …’”

Jesus is telling us to begin our prayers with adoration: deep love and respect for God. He’s a good Dad and a righteous King. He is completely holy and worthy of our worship. So come to Him with gratitude in your heart and honor in your words.

“‘… your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’”

Next comes intercession:calling out to God on someone else’s behalf. Pray for the rule and reign of God to take root in our lives, our families, our churches, our cities, our nations, and our world. Ask for the will of God to be done in all the places where it’s not currently being done.

Where is there darkness? Where is there injustice? Where is there pain? Where is there suffering? Pray for God to show up in these places and for the Holy Spirit to work on behalf of the people affected.

“‘Give us today our daily bread.’”

Then, bring your petitions to God. Ask Him for what you need. He is your Father and He cares about you. So, bring your cares, your worries, your wants, and your needs to Him.

“‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.’”

After that, Jesus invites us into confession: agreeing with God about our sins and asking for forgiveness. The word “confess” means to agree with. We agree with what God says is good and true, and we freely admit when we’ve failed to live up to God’s standard. Confession is a refusal to keep our wrongdoing tucked away behind closed doors. It’s an intentional choice to bring our secret sins into the light of God’s love so we can experience freedom and forgiveness.

In this line of the prayer, Jesus includes a very challenging thought: “as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

We’ll tackle that one a little bit later. Until then, let’s look at the last line of this prayer:

“‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”

Matthew 6:9–13 NIV

Finally, Jesus teaches us to approach God in submission: choosing to accept His authority over our lives. Our sinful and selfish desires will try to lead us into temptation. They will entice us to disobey God and disadvantage others. The best way to resist the pull of our sinful desires is to submit ourselves to the direction of the Holy Spirit.

After concluding this prayer, Jesus tells us:

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14–15 NIV

Jesus wants us to know that forgiveness is a really big deal, and that our ability to receive forgiveness from God is tied to our willingness to offer forgiveness to others. When we refuse to forgive others, we are shutting off the flow of God’s forgiveness to us. Because the love of God, expressed in forgiveness, is not meant to stop with us. It’s meant to move through us so it can be shared with others.

Pastor Eugene Peterson interprets these verses this way: “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part” (Matthew 6:14–15 MSG).

So, when you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. Instead, pray like Jesus, because it’s in doing the work of prayer—adoration, intercession, petition, confession, and submission—that we actually become like Jesus.

Application: Pray through the Lord’s Prayer (the prayer of Jesus we studied above), slowly. As you move into each section, bring your own words of adoration, intercession, petition, confession, and submission to God. Use this passage of Scripture as a template to help you talk to God, because that’s what prayer really is: a conversation with our Creator.