Praying Like Jesus

Be Blessed and Inspired
Aug 22
3 min read

There may have been times when you struggled with how to pray, wondered what to say, questioned how often you should do it, and wondered if you’re doing it right or wrong. But hopefully your confidence and desire to approach our Heavenly Father in prayer are growing and increasing. As we look at Jesus as our example, I hope that you come to understand there is no absolute rule for praying correctly.

The Lord’s Prayer is beautiful and perfect on its own. It is divinely inspired and it’s available for us to ponder and repeat for ourselves. And it can also be used as a template, a format, a launching pad, and a springboard for our own detailed and heartfelt prayers. We can memorize it and pray it word for word or use the topic sentences to guide the course of our petitions. Sometimes we may touch on just one or two subjects, other times we may cover the entire content.

God also desires that we pray authentically and not absent-mindedly from rote. Each line and phrase from Jesus’ prayer is a reminder and jumping off point for all the possible things we can share with the Lord—remember it’s a conversation. The following devotions in this series (and the lessons in my book, “Come to the Father: Drawing Near to God Through Prayer and Scripture”) will build upon Jesus’ prayer. We’ll see how it can be personalized to suit our own lives and what we are currently going through. Although it is always good and beneficial to include and start with worship and thanksgiving. God deserves the glory, and it changes our perspective.

Matthrew 6 records that when Jesus taught His disciples about prayer, He used the phrase, “when you pray,” rightly expecting that they, and we, do it consistently. Jesus assumes that prayer is a regular part of a believer’s life. He knows that it is vital for us to abide in, walk with, talk with, and stay connected to the Father. Even Jesus, the Son of God, spoke with His Father often. Prayer was His direct line to Heaven and was the source of His strength, power, and wisdom as He walked this earth. If Jesus lived a prayerful life, then we surely need to as well.

Let’s pause and recite the Lord’s Prayer together:

You can say it from memory or find it in Matthew 6:9-13. I’m going to include the ending from the NKJV:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,¹⁰your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.¹¹Give us today our daily bread.¹²And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Thank you for praying with me.

Jesus’ prayer opens with the lovely reminder, that God truly is our Heavenly Father. He holds the world in His hands yet loves each one of us dearly. He is the One we approach as a child. Knowing that God is good gives us a desire for His will to be done not just in Heaven but on this earth as well. We long for His kingdom to reign in our hearts and to live our lives surrendered to His will. That is truly the good life! And in prayer we gladly profess it!