Overview
Learning to pray from Jesus
by Wolfgang Schneider

During the last few years I had at different times written a few studies about the topic of prayer which were published either in our Newsletter Wir vom Weg or in Vol 7 of the Series Licht auf meinem Wege, among them "Prayer – Fellowship with our heavenly Father", "Prayer – the vital element of our life", "Prayer in the church", "Take time to pray", "Praying with the right attitude". Many aspects of this very important topic of prayer are dealt with and are set forth with examples from the Scriptures.

During the course of the last few weeks I was able to learn some tremendous things about prayer, and I am thankful especially to have gained a deeper insight in the meaning of the so-called "Our Father" prayer which is recorded in two of the Gospels. This knowledge and a number of talks with other believers, as well as reading a very inspiring book with the title "Becoming a man of PRAYER" by B. Beltz, have motivated me to a greater degree than before to expand my prayer life, yes – to even structure it completely new in certain areas.

In this study I will set forth some of the important points which have helped me greatly to renew my prayer life and to pray more effectively to God, my heavenly Father.

The basis for this study is really the so-called "Our Father", which is part of an instruction about prayer which Jesus taught to his disciples. This instruction about prayer was first part of the first large recorded sermon of Jesus which he taught shortly after the beginning of his public ministry on a mountain in Galilee (the "sermon on the mount") which we can read of in Matthew 6; furthermore, another and very similar instruction about prayer is recorded from a later time in his ministry when one of the disciples asked Jesus pointedly about the topic of prayer and which we read in Luke 11. At these two occasions, Jesus taught his disciples about prayer, he explained to them how they should pray. This should really catch our attention and cause us to carefully consider what was taught!

Unfortunately, I must confess that during the course of several years of my life as a Christian I did not understand this instruction of Jesus about prayer very well, and also that, partly influenced by teaching which I had received, I did not teach this section of scripture as it should have been done and would have been necessary. At the time acknowledging biblical times and administrations was foremost in my mind and unfortunately the point that these truths of course are still as applicable today as then was somewhat pushed into the background. Also, it wasn't quite as clear to me that these two teachings were far more an instruction for prayer, a guideline or outline, and not a specific prayer prescribed to be prayed. This really became evident and clear to me now as I was able to gain a better understanding after all these years of what Jesus had taught his disciples in order to instruct them on how to pray effectively and successfully. I pray for forgiveness where some due to the lack of instruction during those years perhaps have felt hindered in their growth in Christ, and I expect that all may be abundantly blessed by God, our heavenly Father, as they read and work through this study.

Pre-remarks about prayer

The record in Matthew 6 deals specifically with praying and prayer from verse 5 on. First of all, Jesus speaks of motives and attitude in prayer. Why do we even pray? To whom do we address our prayer? What attitude of heart do we have when we pray? What do we pray for? Jesus' words tell us plainly and make clear how we too as his disciples can and should pray.

Matthew 6:5:
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

"And when thou prayest …" – with this Jesus begins his instruction about the topic of prayer. To the disciples as well as other people in Israel, the idea of prayer was very familiar, prayer was of course regarded as a normal and regular part of life. However, this was no reason for Jesus to not teach about prayer for even the disciples had something to learn and they profited from Jesus' instruction. Jesus spoke first about how one should not pray. He speaks of those people who pray in the synagogues and public places where they can be seen of many other people. The scribes and Pharisees did exactly that, and they "loved to pray", but they did so with a wrong and perverse attitude for which Jesus called them "hypocrites". They wanted "to be seen of men", most likely because they thought to impress people and later on expect something in "response to their prayer" from them as "reward" as Jesus' remark about "their reward" already indicates. The reward was indeed what they themselves "earned" with such a prayer.

Their prayers were certainly "good", the words carefully thought through, the form nicely arranged and well balanced, the whole thing was presented with conviction and by utilizing their rhetoric abilities – and yet, all that was for naught! Jesus called them "hypocrites", and their prayer were actually his example of how not to pray!

Matthew 6:6:
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Jesus emphasized, that prayer is a communication between us and God, our "Father which is in heaven". "Enter into thy closet" is obviously a figure of speech which emphasizes that prayer is a very personal matter which concerns only the one who prays and of course it concerns God. Our prayer is addressed to God as our Father. We pray to Him, the eyes of our heart look to Him, and He will reward us! He hears our prayers and gives us what we may need.

How we do turn to God in prayer, Jesus explains in the words which follow. Again, he explains and speaks about how it should not be.

Matthew 6:7 and 8:
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Our prayer is not to be "babbling" – where we would use "vain repetitions". These "vain repetitions" are the repeated saying of the same words and sentences, and Jesus makes reference to such practices by the heathen whose prayers many times consisted of the repetitious citations of certain "prayer formulas". That is not real prayer for it is lacking the involvement of the heart. Also, it is not necessary that there be a loud speaking for God knows what we have need of even before we would ask. God sees and searches the hearts, He knows the thoughts of our hearts. Our requests, our cares, our desires – we do not have to voice them out loud, and yet God does know what we speak in our hearts. That of course does not mean we can't pray out loud or wouldn't be allowed to pray out loud; there are examples in the Bible of prayers in the church and also loud prayers by individuals.

Also, the truth that God knows what we have need of is not excuse at all not to pray! God is a loving God, and He leaves it up to man to decide as to how much man would like to ask for and acquire God's help in his life. God does not "force" His blessing on us, He does shower His blessings on us when we ask and pray to Him. Therefore it is necessary that we pray to God and that we ask Him and request of Him when we are in need for something.

After these introductory remarks, Jesus gives to his disciples an example of prayer. We should not that this is not really THE PRAYER of the Lord, which the disciples and we in the Christian church were to learn by heart and simply recite. Jesus himself mentioned at a later time and in a different situation when one of his disciples asked him about prayer a very similar prayer which does however differ in the exact wording from this prayer here, but which consists of the very same elements as this prayer when we consider the main points and its outline.

Matthew 6:9:
After this manner therefore pray ye: …

"After this manner therefore pray ye: …" – and the word for "after this manner [outos]“ points to the then following instruction where Jesus then points out HOW (in which manner, with which attitude, in which way) one should pray. It is not a matter of the exact and precise form or the exact wording because that Jesus himself changed slightly at a later occasion.

Matthew 6:9–13:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

What Jesus said later about prayer when he responded to the request of one of his disciples is recorded in Luke 11.

Luke 11:1–4:
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

We see an important matter here – praying and prayer can be taught and in turn of course can be learned! Some may think that praying may be a special gift of God which some believers have been privileged with, but that is not true.

Jesus was the greatest example of a man of prayer. He prayed, and his prayers were always heard and brought the desired results. He knew how one should pray! And he didn't keep this "secret" to himself, but he shared it and taught his disciples how to pray effectively.

Pattern of prayer

When we link these two instructions of Jesus about prayer with each other, we can recognize from the overall view the pattern for Jesus' prayer. This pattern consists of a total of 7 parts. The prayer pattern then is as follows:

We can recognize that Jesus is not as concerned with the exact wording of the prayer, which he would use or which his disciples are commanded to repeat. He gives a pattern, a structure, how prayer may be organized. It is like an outline which Jesus gives and by which we can organize our prayer.

In the book I mentioned earlier, Becoming a man of PRAYER, the author B. Beltz mentions this structure or pattern and he describes the individual components as follows:

Prayer requires getting started, when we become conscious of who we are really dealing with and what this is all about. After that it is necessary that we focus our eyes and our attention on God, that we put all into the right focus. Then we will be ready to pray for certain matters, and again God is first and in the forefront of our minds for it is His Divine intervention, the carrying out of His will in the matters concerning us here on earth. Then follows a praying for our provision, that God would let us have what we need on a daily basis. Forgiveness has a very important part, the awareness and the necessity of our own forgiveness of sins and debt before God, and then in the same way our forgiveness of others on those same grounds. Then a praying for God's protection and keeping from the evil one in temptations is also part of our prayer. And in closing, there is a recognition and confirmation of the greatness of God.

Explanations

The first words which Jesus teaches in this pattern for prayer instruct us to whom we are to pray. We pray solely to our Father in heaven, to God. Jesus directed his prayer to God, and nowhere in the Bible is this instruction modified in any way, such as that we now are to pray to Jesus or someone else. All prayers are directed toward God, the Father of our lord Jesus Christ. We, as believers of the church of God, who live after Pentecost and are born again of God, we also pray to God, our heavenly Father, and we do it in the name of Jesus Christ whom we have confessed as our lord.

Furthermore, we can see that we are not concerned first with our own things but rather with the things of God. Before the prayer is dealing with items concerning "us", the view in our prayer is directed first to those things concerning God – "thy name … thy kingdom … thy will"! This is a remarkable difference to the prayers of the hypocrites in which they themselves and other people are the main concern. The person praying must be conscious and aware of whom he is dealing with, that he actually enters God's presence and is approaching Him.

Even when and where the prayer is concerning us, God is still first. God, His name, His will, His kingdom and rule are to have impact on our lives. Prayer is not to be where we recite a listing of things we want or desire to have apart from His will. We do not come unto God and demand of Him more or less loudly that He should now get busy doing what we already have figured out without Him. Jesus had already pointed out such things in those parts of his teaching which preceded the prayer here. He had emphasized the great importance of meekness and humbleness before God. He had set forth how a pure heart is necessary in order to then do and teach God's will. A walk in righteousness must be far above what the Pharisees were demonstrating. The outward actions are not the decisive element, but rather the thoughts of the heart preceding those actions.

Our love for God should be our motivation for prayer, as well as our wish and desire for Him and for fellowship with Him. He must always be in the center, in the fore front of our prayer, and we pray to Him in accordance with His will. Our desires and what we pray for must be in harmony with God's will – in harmony with those things which He has promised in His Word. This again becomes evident in Jesus' instruction, for each one of those components of his pattern for prayer has a basis and is anchored in scriptures from the Old Testament!

God's will is decisive, and we pray that His will be done on earth. We are concerned with wanting to see God's will being realized in the matters of our lives. Our prayer is not just "as it comes", "non-chalant", "without effort or concern". We do not show up before God like spoiled little brads and demand without any consideration something which is to satisfy our greed of the moment. We cannot come to God like fools, present ourselves in highmindedness and pride before Him and let Him know in a demanding voice what we would like to have. God is not an ATM machine which must give us what we tell it to do! We dare not diminish and demote God in our hearts and become of the opinion that He now has to do what we want Him to do. No! We must come unto Him in meekness, we must give Him honour and show the reverence due Him – we must "hallow His name"! We come unto God in our prayer with an attitude of humbleness and meekness. We acknowledge who is God and who is man. We do not forget who is the Father and who is the child.

After having first spent some time in our prayer to approach God and come unto Him, to come unto His throne of grace, to turn to Him as our heavenly Father, then comes the time to make our request be known before Him. "Give us this day [day by day] our daily bread" is an indication that it is important for us to go to God each and every day. He cares for His own, and there is not one single day when He would not be ready and willing to grant that which we may need. We do not pray once a week, once every month, or once each year, no – it is absolutely necessary that we pray daily to Him! Also, the term "bread" includes all that which we may need for our physical life. All of that God will supply day by day when we ask and pray to Him and when we thank Him for His goodness and grace which He is willing to extend to us.

A very important aspect of prayer follows next: To live out of God's forgiveness for us and to therefore forgive others. We will not pray successfully and effectively if we are not conscious of our own sin which we do commit against God and by which we become debtors before Him and for which we need His forgiveness. Since God forgives us when we go to Him and seek forgiveness from Him, we can and must also practice forgiveness toward others when someone has a quarrel against another. It is interesting that Jesus picks up this point of forgiveness again immediately after the close of his teaching on the pattern of prayer, and he explains it further which leaves no doubt as to the importance of this part of our prayer.

Then follows the praying for God's protection, that He keep us from the evil one, that He save us from the evil of temptations. God of course does not lead us into temptation in a sense that He would try and tempt us to do something evil – no! The expression "lead us not into temptation" is perhaps to be understood as an idiom and in a passive sense so that it would have the meaning of "do not permit us [let us not] be lead into temptation". These would be temptations to do evil, it concerns evil in temptations. God may certainly lead us to be experiencing a trial or proving situation (cp. Luk 4:1,2 – Jesus "was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil."), in which case God always sees to it that there be a way out of the temptation (cp. 1Co 10:13). With prayer we can so to say erect a spiritual hedge of protection, build a wall around us, behind which we are safely protected by God from the enemies.

At the close of this pattern for prayer follows an acknowledgment and confirmation of the greatness and majesty of God, where we declare that He indeed is above all, that He can do all and beyond what we may pray, ask or understand.

Prayer Notebook

A very helpful item for me in the development of my prayer life has been a prayer notebook. I have taken a small empty booklet ( or a binder with lose leafs will do as well); then I divided each page into two columns. The left column which needs to be a little wider I defined to be my "topics" column, the smaller right column I designated to be my "scriptures" column.

Next I divided my notebook into those 7 areas or categories, and above the columns I wrote the category designation as a title. Then I began to make note of different thoughts and points for each of those categories, keeping the ideas and descriptions in my "topics" column and writing down any appropriate scripture references (related promises, exhortation, comfort, etc.) next to them in the "scriptures" column. With time and as I pray every day, I begin to fill in more things I would like to pray for or pray about, and I simply add them to the appropriate category. Reflecting upon those scriptures gives me a strong basis for my praying. Then, as I pray, I simply use my prayer notebook and use the points as reminders, pointers, etc. of what I intend and want to pray for.

Conclusion

I pray that this little study will prove to be an exhortation and a help for each reader to develop their own prayer life in a way where it shall be effective and a tremendous experience of fellowship with the heavenly Father. May it help to bring us to the point in our lives where we too can exclaim with joyfulness what is written and declared so beautifully in Psalm 100:

Psalm 100:1-5
A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

To God be praise, glory and honour in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

 

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Copyright © 2009 by Wolfgang Schneider
Source: http://www.bibelcenter.de · E-Mail: editor@bibelcenter.de
Last changed: 10.02.2009