How to Pray – Lord’s Prayer

Pray / By

Lord’s Prayer

Lord Jesus taught disciples how to pray, and this will give us guidance or more like principles in praying to God.

We can study deep into Lord’s Prayer, or rather what Lord Jesus taught disciples on how to pray. However, we will only list the key points as for now.

Lord Jesus taught and said,

Matthew 6:9~11 (WEB)
Pray like this:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
Let your Kingdom come.
Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors.
Bring us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen”

The most important of this all, as per my understanding, is the very first 2 words.

  1. Our Father

God is our Father.
God has many Names. Creator of heaven and earth, Almighty God, Healer, Provider, and many more great, majestic, and Names to show forth Who and How Awesome God is. Yet instead of all these great Names of God, Lord Jesus told us to come to God, calling and addressing the God Almighty, “Our Father”

This is the very first few words and I think the most important of them all. Because if we know that God is our Father, then basically we know how to pray.

Come like a child coming to a good and best Father Who loves the child so dearly. So dearly that He gave and sacrificed His own Son, Christ Jesus, to pay for our wrongs and penalty of sin (John 3:16)

  • Romans 8:32 (NKJV)     He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
  • Matthew 7:11~ (NKJV)   If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Remember this too, that when Lord Jesus prayed, every time he first said, “Father”. Only one time, He did not address Father God, “Father”. It will be interesting to find out when it was, and why?

  1. In Heaven
  • Acknowledge that God is God of Heaven, the Highest place, and Earth too.
    So Trust God Who is Mighty and Able. The One Who knows what is the best for us, and the best timing. 
  • Fear God Who is able to destroy the evil but by His mercy, save those who repent and turn to Him
    Matthew 10:28, Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
  1. May your name be kept holy
  • While God is merciful and will forgive our sins if we confess, we cannot take God’s grace for granted. We need to be sincere and honor God. God knows who respects and honors Him in heart
  1. Let your Kingdom come.
    Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
  • God has His Will, Plan, and Purpose for our lives and for everything.

    Isaiah 55:9 (ESV), For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

    So we should come to God trusting in God, and surrendering to God’s way, and His Will for God knows what is best for us. Remember the lives of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, David, Daniel, Paul, etc
  • Luke 22:42,   “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
  1. Give us today our daily bread.
  • We can ask God for our needs and desires

Matthew 7:7,    “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Phil 4:6~7, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

  1. Forgive us our debts,
    as we also forgive our debtors.
  • We need to confess our wrongs and pray, asking God for forgiveness and cleansing. However, Lord Jesus is telling us always to have the right standing before we even ask for forgiveness, This right standing is to ensure that we have forgiven all who did wrong against us. It is very important to God, because God expects us to forgive others since God has forgiven us who did far more wrong towards Him than anyone could ever do against us, and God has sacrificed His own to save us, that is, including the other person. This is illustrated so well through the parable of the unforgiving servant that Lord Jesus spoke in Matthew 18:21~35.

Matthew 18:35, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

  1. Bring us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one
  • We easily fall into temptation and can fall into sin. Furthermore, the enemy, Satan’s desire is to pull us away from God and down into eternal condemnation which is destined for Satan himself.

We need to keep looking to God and depend on God’s covering and protection. While we are weak and no match to fight against demons and Satan, we need to always remember that as long as we are on God’s side and it is God Who protects us and give us the victory.

There is absolutely nothing that can ever come close to even contend with God. God’s angels are enough to fight Satan and also able to overcome.

Revelation 20:1~  Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

  1. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen
  • Ultimately, we need to acknowledge that God is God.
    We need not just to recognise but confess and proclaim, that is, basically praising, exalting and worshiping God, that :
    • All the Kingdoms, dominions, earth, universe and all that is in it belongs to God. God is the owner of all things
      • Genesis 14:19, God Most High (El Elyon), Possessor of heaven and earth,
      • Psalms 24:1~The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein ).
    • This means God has rights over everything including our lives.  
    • All power belongs to God. This is declaring that God is not just having rightful ownership over everything, but also has the power to do anything that He wills. Of course, what is important here is, His Will. God has every right and power but being the merciful, gracious God, He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities (Psalm 103:10 WEB). He provides good thing where we do not deserve at all (Ps 103:4~)
      • Psalm 103:4~ crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
    • All Glory should be unto God. For it is God who created us and all things, all belong to Him, Who has power to do anything. So how could anything or anyone, who are created and being sustained by the mercy and grace of God claim any glory?
      all things are given from above. Nothing that we have apart from what God has given to us.
      • John 3:27, A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven
  • This, too, should lead us to revere and also to fear God. Many do not quite understand the fear of God. Why need to fear God when God is loving, kind, merciful and gracious? But at same time we need to know God is just, true and holy. God will not be mocked. God will not just let sin go unpunished because that goes against His nature.