There are a lot of different ways, it seems, to pray, and a
lot of different things one can talk about while praying. How then, are we to know how we ought to
pray? The disciples asked Jesus that
exact question, after once again observing him at prayer, and were given a
response similar to, but not the same as, the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer, as it is commonly known,
comes from Matthew 6 and was given by Jesus during the Sermon on the
Mount. This prayer template/example that
Jesus shares privately with his disciples is a shorter and slightly different
version of that famous prayer.
What do
we learn from the fact that Jesus answers with a similar but shorter and
slightly different version of his most famous prayer when his disciples ask him
how to pray? The topics in both prayers
highlight for us that there are small number of broad topics included in any
prayer, regardless of occasion, and the differences between the two tell us
that Jesus was not interested in locking his disciples into a specific, word
for word, prayer that they need to repeat, but instead a template from which their
own prayers could be created. The three
primary topics in the prayer are: The power/glory/dominion of God, the frailty
of humanity (whether moral or physical), and the love/mercy of God in response. These three topics cover pretty much any
prayer that you or I would need to make.
Whether our prayers are public or private, out loud or only in our
minds, we can always praise God for being God, ask God for help in our
distress, and thank God for his loving kindness.
The one
thing that Jesus doesn’t do when asked by his disciples, “teach us to pray”, is
to tell them specific things about when, where, or for how long, they ought to
pray. This isn’t a chore to be checked
off of a daily list, but a conversation with our heavenly Father. It ought to be regular, and it ought to be
sufficient, but what that means will vary significantly from person to person
and from time to time in our lives. It
doesn’t benefit Christians to compare their prayers habits because it only
leads to pride for those who prayer more/longer, and to discouragement for
those who pray less/shorter. In the end,
it is not quantity as much as quality that God desires, as we know from our own
lives, a meaningful conversation is far more important than simple banter.
The
prayer example itself given by Jesus highlights our ability to call God, “Father”,
our hope for his kingdom’s eventuality, our daily dependence upon him, our need
for ongoing forgiveness from God to us, and from us to others, and our need for
God’s guidance in our future. These are
all standard things that we ought to be focused upon as disciples of Jesus
Christ.
To
those for whom the prayers of the Bible, like the 23rd Psalm, or the
dozens of prayers recorded by virtually all of the Bible’s main characters,
feel especially poignant, go ahead and repeat them, utilizing the wisdom of others
to aid your prayers, such prayers are recorded for a reason. At the same time, don’t neglect to speak to
God in your own words, drawing upon what is weighing upon your God, for God has
gifted you too with the Holy Spirit, you can call him Father as you simply have
a conversation with your Creator.
To watch the video, click on the link below:
that was a good message Randy. tom
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