Have you ever wondered whether you pray like Jesus taught? Do you wonder if you are praying the right way or saying the right words when you prayed? If we want to know how to pray correctly, then we should look to the Bible. The Lord often spoke of prayer in the Bible, and we can see exactly how to pray as Jesus taught. Jesus demonstrated to us what to pray for, who to pray for, and when to pray.
In the Bible, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus explained how we should pray by giving us an outline. He gave us a model or sample prayer that we call The Lord’s Prayer.
“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.”
Matthew 6:9-13 KJV
When Jesus taught us to pray, he tells us not to pray to be showy. He doesn’t want us to repeat the same prayer over and over (“vain repetitions” ). Jesus taught us the Lord’s Prayer, and this outline demonstrated four components of a good prayer. To easily remember each part of the prayer, we should think of the acronym PRAY.
Pray Like Jesus Taught By Praising God
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
Matthew 6:9 KJV
When we begin our prayer, we start it with praise and worship to God. Our worship demonstrates that we have faith that God exists and that we know his character.
Praising God builds our faith. When we praise God, we remind ourselves that we are speaking to the God of the universe, and we declare our beliefs by faith. We praise God and pronounce that He is loving, holy, all-knowing, and all-powerful.
We call on God by name. Jesus demonstrated that we should address God as our Heavenly Father. We recognize by faith that God can answer our prayers and thank Him for the blessings He has already given. When we remember what God has already done, we should be able to praise and worship God in advance for hearing and answering our current prayer request.
Pray Like Jesus Taught By Repenting
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Matthew 6:12 KJV
When we pray, we must make sure that we are in right-standing with God. To have a right standing with God, we must repent, which means to ask for forgiveness. Praying from a forgiven state is critical because the enemy likes to convince us that God will not hear our prayer if we have sinned. The Bible teaches that all have sinned, and while sin separates us from God, Jesus has given us a way to repent and be forgiven.
The Bible teaches that the “prayers of the righteous availeth much.” To be righteous, we only need to repent and accept the forgiveness given to us through Jesus. We achieve righteousness simply by asking for forgiveness and believing by faith that God forgives us.
Knowing that God forgives us of our sins, we must be willing to forgive others who have sinned against us. God does not want us to be bitter, angry, or judgmental of others. We are all a work in progress. God sees our hearts, and he wants us to pray for each other so that He can intervene.
Pray Like Jesus Taught By Asking God The Father
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
Matthew 6:11 KJV
When we pray, we can ask God to meet our needs. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray for our physical needs, forgiveness, and guidance. We can ask God about anything important to us as long as we pray within God’s will.
We can see from Jesus’ example that He prayed often. Jesus prayed before eating, before a great trial, and he prayed for others. When we pray like Jesus, we can pray alone or in a crowd. There are times when we need to pray by ourselves, and yet the Bible lets us know that there is strength in numbers.
Pray Like Jesus Taught By Yielding
“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.”
Matthew 6:13 KJV
When we conclude our prayer, we should end it similar to how we started, which is by praising God and exchanging our desire with His will. As we pray, we yield by surrendering to God and giving him permission to reign in our life. We accept and trust God’s plan, wisdom, and timing. Yielding to God’s will protects us against praying for something that God would not see as best for us.
End Prayers In Jesus’ Name, Amen
The last few words of our prayer are “In Jesus’ name, Amen.” When we end our prayers this way, we proclaim our faith in the Gospel story of Jesus. We are stating that we understand that because Jesus died and rose, He granted us access to come to God in prayer.
A SIMPLE EVERYDAY PRAYER
As we start each day, we should begin with a prayer. I have written a simple pray for today to help. Pray this prayer aloud or in your thoughts from your heart.
