“And now, join me in a word of prayer.” We have all heard this many times in our lives. We have heard sermons about why we pray, what to pray for, when and how to pray and our attitude towards God as we go into prayer. Prayer is talked about a lot in the Church, and for good reason! Jesus showed examples of prayer in His life and taught us how to pray. The Early Church committed themselves to prayer. The Jewish faith was built upon regular and organized prayer. But what exactly is prayer? Is it talking or talking with listening—or something else?

In Matthew 6:5-15, Jesus speaks to His disciples about how to pray. In this passage, Jesus presumes that people are already praying. The babbling Gentiles are praying, the hypocrites are praying and Jesus expects that His followers will also pray. Prayer for Christians is not an option—it is an assumption.  

In this passage, Jesus also gives us a model for how prayer should look for His followers. We call this “the Lord’s Prayer.” There is nothing inherently magical about the specific words that Jesus used. The Lord’s Prayer is not a formula to get extra blessings from God. Instead, what Jesus gives us is an example of how we can deepen our relationship with God through communication. Prayer is a relationship with God. 

An important thing to remember is that God already knows what you will pray and what is on your heart. When we come to God through prayer, the point is not so much about the words that we pray or even specific requests. God wants you to pray because God wants to spend time with you. God wants to hear from you. God wants you to trust Him with your cares and anxieties. He also wants to celebrate and rejoice with you. God desires to have a relationship with you and the best way to engage that is by opening yourself in faith through prayer.  

Sometimes we get stuck in our faith or we find it hard to love our neighbors.  Jesus teaches us the answer to these problems is to connect with God through prayer. If you are struggling in your faith, perhaps simply praying or meditating on Jesus’s words in the Lord’s Prayer might be a helpful starting place to connecting with God in a new way. 

Dig Deeper:

How does viewing prayer as communication and relationship change your desire to participate in a more active prayer life? 

Jesus teaches that prayer is integral to being one of His followers. What are some other activities that Jesus teaches are necessary to being a follower of Jesus?

What does this passage teach you about loving your neighbor?

• June 1: Matthew 6:5-15
• June 2: Genesis 3:6-13
• June 3: Matthew 5:43-48
• June 4: Matthew 7:7-12
• June 5: Matthew 21:18-22
• June 6: Luke 6:27-37
• June 7: Luke 18:1-8
• June 8: Mark 11:22-25
• June 9: Psalm 102
• June 10: Psalm 103
• June 11: Psalm 105:1-7
• June 12: Psalm 17
• June 13: Psalm 51
• June 14: Psalm 55
• June 15: Psalm 141
• June 16: Psalm 145
• June 17: Psalm 118
• June 18: Psalm 4
• June 19: Psalm 5
• June 20: Psalm 91
• June 21: Psalm 139
• June 22: Romans 8:22-27
• June 23: Colossians 4:2-6
• June 24: 1 Timothy 2:1-10
• June 25: John 15:5-8
• June 26: Philippians 4:4-7
• June 27: James 1:2-8
• June 28: James 5:13-18
• June 29: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
• June 30: Ephesians 6:10-20