“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10 (NKJV)

In verse 9, Jesus moves from assuring us that God hears us, to teaching us how to actually do it. He is teaching us how to “pray.” We will break this prayer up, very naturally, into two sections. The first (verses 9-10) is focused on God. The second (verses 11-13) is focused on our needs.

This prayer is often, mistakenly, called the “Lord’s Prayer.” It is not the Lord Jesus’ prayer. His prayer is in John chapter 17. This is the Lord teaching us how to pray.

1. At what age did you first hear of this prayer? Did you memorize it?

2. What could be a better name for this prayer?

I want to begin with the word “pray.” “Pray” is from the Greek verb “proseuchomai” and it means to “petition, or to ask.” The word comes from two Greek words that mean “to ask for” and “favorable towards.” It is the idea that you are asking God to be favorable towards you and your need, or towards what you are asking Him to do. This means, perhaps obviously, that prayer is fundamentally going to God in need. It is asking Him to not only notice our need (this is what Jesus already assured us of), but it is asking Him to step in and help. It is in this way that we see one of the many benefits of prayer; it puts us in the right relation to God.

3. What are some other benefits of prayer?

4. What does it mean to be in the right relation to God?

What do I mean? I mean that prayer places us under God, in need of Him. Real prayer solves one of man’s greatest problems. Humanity’s problem has always been the same. We exalt ourselves above God! We have done this since the very beginning. Back in the garden, Adam and Eve did not just eat fruit, they exalted themselves and their desires above God and what He wanted. They denied Him and chose themselves! In so doing, they unknowingly followed the example of the serpent who enticed them. Isaiah chapter 14 tells us that Satan exalted himself above God, “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14:13-14, NKJV). Adam and Eve, and every person since, have done the same thing. Prayer fixes this. It is intrinsically humbling. It places us under God, looking up to Him in need, as a young child to their father. We need prayer.

5. Explain how prayer can be affected by pride.

Now that we understand the place prayer puts us in, we can begin to ask correctly. Jesus says “pray” like this. What follows is something of a roadmap, a template, or a format for prayer. First, there is a warning. This is not designed to be rehearsed and recited. Jesus was not telling us, “These are the specific words you use.” It is not wrong to memorize this prayer, but Jesus was not giving us a script. He was teaching us a “formula” if you will, a structure to prayer. You will see it as we go; but it is not the specific words, it is the focus behind those words that Jesus is teaching.

6. What are some of the elements you notice in this prayer?

First, He says “pray” to your “Father.” This means to begin in prayer with the recognition that the One you are speaking to, who is God, is also your Father who loves you. So again, the words “our Father” are not required at the beginning of every prayer. It is the recognition of who we are speaking to that is needed. I do this. Before I begin to pray (publicly or privately), I always pause to recognize who I am talking to. It is my Dad who loves me.

7. Is it okay to pray to Jesus? The Holy Spirit? Mary? A deceased relative?

Next, is the recognition that God is above us and holy. Jesus says, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed is Your name.” “Hallowed” comes from the Greek word “hagiazo” and means “to be separate, set apart.”

In this word is the recognition that there is no one like the Lord. He is infinitely above and beyond all. Everything else has been created, He alone is eternal. Everything else is limited; He is limitless, all-knowing, and all-powerful. He “alone is God and besides Him there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:35). From first recognizing Him as our loving Father, we then stop to remember that He is God, that He is holy, and that He is above and beyond all things. Here again, we are placed in our right position beneath Him, looking up to the One who is God and who loves us.

8. What are some other words that could be used to open prayer while recognizing the greatness of God?

From here we are to remind ourselves that this Earth is not all there is. Verse 10 reminds us that a true “Kingdom”exists and is coming. “Coming” is from the Greek word “erchmai” and means “to come to be.”

His “Kingdom” will one day come and overtake the “kingdoms” of this Earth (Daniel 2). This coming Kingdom is His. It is a Kingdom that will endure forever and where He will rule and reign as King always. The prayer here, for this “kingdom come,” is a prayer asking for His ways and His will to become reality in my life. It is a prayer to our King to bring His ways into our life, marriage, family, parenting, pursuits, and desires. Make no mistake, His kingdom will come one day to this Earth, but before it does, it is meant to come into our lives individually. Every believer’s life is meant to be a display of His Kingdom! It is a place where Jesus rules as King, His ways are our ways, His will is our will, and His work is our mission. In the same way, we read the words “Your will be done.”

9. What does it mean that His Kingdom is meant to come into our lives individually?

“Done” comes from the Greek word “ginomai” and it means “to be brought into.”

This is a prayer that asks for what He wants to be accomplished in our lives. It is saying, “Dad, I want what you want. What you want is always best. Have Your way in my life.” At the end of the day, these are prayers for growth. It is asking Him to grow us, change us, and make us different people. It is asking for our lives to be what He wants them to be. It is asking for Him to make us like Him. This is a request He always answers.

10. Have you prayed this prayer? When?

Now, in terms of our prayer “roadmap,” verses 9 and 10 have us looking up, reminding ourselves who He is and what He wants. In the next chapter, we will look at verses 11-13 where we are told to bow our heads to ask for our needs and the needs of others. It is in this way that Jesus is giving us a pattern in prayer. The order is:

• Look up before you look around.
• Worship before you ask.
• Remind before you request.

It means to pause before we ask for anything to remind ourselves who we are talking to. Then, we are to let who He is fill our hearts and flood into our circumstances to bring us to a place of worship.

Jesus would say, “So, pray like this: I stop to recognize that you are both my Father and God. You love me and are supremely holy. May your ways become my ways in everything.”