Introduction

Jesus gave us this prayer as a model for our prayers. It’s a good thing to memorize this passage but I don’t advocate its repetitive rehearsal before God as a substitute for praying from the heart. In verse 7, Jesus criticized pagans for believing they are heard because they repeat their words again and again. I see in this prayer 7 topics or themes to guide our prayers. I have found this prayer to be like a map that travels through 7 areas. Hopefully, following the acrostic “PRAYING” will enable easy memory and practice.

I have been guilty (and maybe you have too) of approaching prayer in very much the same way we approached Santa Claus as children. We take our list to God hoping He will give us what we want because we have been so very good. That seems to summarize the prayer life I learned and practiced for most of my life. Even my praying was an attempt to make God happy and entice Him like me more.

Before looking at the 7 topics of the model prayer I want to consider 4 important truths about prayer.

The first truth is this, we approach God as a Father who already loves us more than our imagination can possibly grasp. Christians are different from Old Testament believers in this way. We do not approach God with reluctance and fear for coming without worthiness. God, by adoption, is now our Father. To remind us, adoption is not a function of duty or obligation. Adoption occurs willfully and without coercion. Adoption is a choice. A Father is what God has chosen to be toward us.

His love for us is too great to be measured. Our earthly fathers (even the good ones) don’t begin to compare. He is never moody, never tired. His resources and willingness to act are unlimited.

God loves His adopted Children to the point of allowing His “begotten” Son to die for us! If He was willing to give the maximum, why then would we concern ourselves with asking for smaller things like healing and resurrection? The relocation of a little stone, like Everest, is nothing to Him. Such things are not difficult for a God of His magnitude. They are less costly than the gift of forgiveness. They are less than what He has already offered. There is nothing we can ask which causes God to shrink back and say, “Well, that’s a little ambitious of you!” You were brave enough to ask forgiveness through the death of His Son, why go little now? We can be the incredible release of power on the world because God is our Father.

Still another truth is this: We are not merely children, we are children in good standing. Our worthiness to ask is imparted. Our right to ask was always a gift and not something we earned. Our privilege to continue asking remains a gift and not something we maintain by heroic acts of superhuman faith. We are (in this very moment) able to approach God on the basis of a good reputation and standing. Do you think God is waiting for you to change before He will answer you? Do you believe yourself to be in a divine corner wearing a “dunce” cone on your head waiting for the punishment to be over?

You and I have a problem realizing we didn’t earn this right standing. But that’s never been true. We never deserved God’s grace in the first place. Neither our right to be children or our right to ask Him was ever ours on the basis of good behavior. Our pride wants our standing with God to be something we have earned and deserved. But it isn’t and it never will be.

Our standing before God is a gift. Our worthiness came as an undeserved gift from God but it is ours nevertheless. It is our gift to stand (and not cower) in His presence.

James 5:16 (NLT) says, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” I used to believe that meant God only hears the prayers of those who were continually living lives of sinless perfection. I have come to understand now that it means you and me. You and I are that “righteous person.” We are the ones who are “holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault” (Colossians 1:22 NLT)

Despite our imperfections, we wear the righteousness of Jesus. It is now our right and privilege to approach the King of glory. We come as children whose place it is to ask. We are not outsiders who intrude into God’s presence. As royal children, we are welcome to roam into the throne room. We are not a bother to Him. He invites us to ask. Our requests are heard and considered. Our standing with God is perfect. Our goodness is by Jesus’ name. That is the reason so many habitually close their prayers with the phrase, “In Jesus’ name” though sometimes we don’t attend to the true meaning of it. It is why we are commanded to “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:16 NLT

You know about your thoughts and actions. I know about mine. They are graphic and shameful. Together we hope no one discovers the truth of our shame. But this isn’t the way God sees His children. He knows and loves us still. We approach God the Father as children who are already in right standing with Him. He will not say, “I can’t do that for you because you don’t quite deserve it.” He may deny our request because it is not in our best interests. He may deny it because we lack the maturity for it. He does not, however, deny his children because they are undeserving. If “deserving” had any place in the equation, we would not be His children at all. It is by grace we have been saved. It is by grace we make our requests. God’s dealing with us is always through a filter of love (what is in our best interests) balanced against what is in the best interest of His name and reputation (His highest love).

Prayer that is pregnant with expectation and faith is what I ho to be our normal pattern. God is not resisting our prayers because we lack worthiness. By Christ, we are completely worthy. He does not go deaf to our requests because we are out of place to come boldly. He is our Father. God does, however, resist answering because our prayer lacks faith. We must believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

A third truth to understand is this: Prayer doesn’t inform God - not even a little. We sometimes approach God as though He were rather ignorant about what occurs in His creation. He is never unaware. Prayer is about informing us who pray. God already knows what we need (verse 8). God already has a plan. God doesn’t need a list from us. The real truth is we don’t even know what to ask (Romans 8:26). Our prayers are uninformed. We are dependent on Him to know what we need and how to pray for it.

My final point before we begin is just this: We are not trying to change God and bring Him to see things the way we see them. He will not be changing His mind. He will not come around to our way of thinking. He does, however, invite us to cry out with the persistence of one treated unjustly. I might, after the 3rd or 33rd request of my child, become impatient and even angry. God isn’t like that. Prayer doesn’t change His opinion but instead changes ours. He is going to work for His Kingdom interests and for the interests of His Kingdom citizens regardless of our tears or the weight of our words. If you’ve had a child, you may understand this better than most. You expect tantrums and refuse to give in to them when the object of their affection is hurtful or not advantageous to family life.

If God is going to act on a pattern and do His own thing, is there any sense in praying at all? Yes. Absolutely. Beyond any residue of doubt. James teaches us that there are things we lack because we have not asked for them. Again, asking is no guarantee that we will receive it. But sometimes a lack of asking is a guarantee that we will not receive.

Prayer is therefore never about changing God and always about changing us. We certainly ought to cry out in our moment of need in expectation of rescue. It’s okay to tell Him we’ve had enough and how unjust His silence appears to us. However, while we wait on Him to move, we ought also to align ourselves with His purpose and character. In what appears sometimes to be God’s silence and poverty of action, it’s good practice to remind ourselves that He is anything but apathetic and unmoved.