Prayer is incredibly powerful. As the poet Lord Tennyson put it: ‘More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.’ A great preacher Oswald Smith said: ‘when we work, we work. When we pray, God works.’ James 5:16 tells us ‘The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.’
But how can you learn to pray effectively? How can you pray in a way that will bring change to you and your circumstances and to the world around? Prayer can be just a matter of saying prayers, vain repetitions that Jesus criticized the Pharisees for. But Jesus also taught that real prayer would get answers (Matthew 6:6-8). What Jesus was saying is that there is a wrong way to approach prayer and a right way. And the right way is outlined in a prayer that is familiar to people all over the world.
It is called The Lord’s prayer. This is the answer he gave to the disciples’ request ‘Lord teach us to pray.’ The Lord’s Prayer can be used as a prayer in its own right. But clearly something more is involved in developing fellowship with God than merely saying a prayer which can be got through very quickly. The Lord’s Prayer is in fact a model prayer, a kind of scaffolding on which we construct our prayer life. Jesus was giving a list of themes that would bring structure to our prayer life. The words of the Lord’s Prayer are an outline of topics that summarise the types of things we should pray about, and the order with which we should approach them.
It is an inspired ‘pattern’ that helps us plan our prayer and to pray about things that we can easily forget. Often people say ‘I don’t know what to pray for’ or ‘I start to pray but my thoughts wander all over the place.’ One second you are trying to talk and listen to God and the next you are compiling shopping lists or imagining where to go on holiday. The Lord’s Prayer will help focus you. It will give you direction and momentum in prayer. Praying the Lord’s Prayer each day will help you to develop a consistent prayer life. This approach to pray will open you up to the presence of God and His blessings and purposes in your life. If we are in a real hurry, we can use the outline for a few minutes, or at other times we can spend longer, an hour or more, considering each section that Jesus spoke about.
The opening words, ‘Our Father in Heaven’ show we should start to pray by focussing on our father in heaven, rather than our needs or current circumstances. This is what Jesus constantly did throughout his time and ministry on earth. He knew that his identity, security and destiny were each totally and inseparably linked to his father. He always prayed to His father. He continually talked about His father. He honoured His Father above himself. And He lived and died to obey His Father (John 14:31).
One of the most amazing truths about being a Christian is that we also can know Almighty God, the Creator of the universe, as our Father. Many people can accept God as great and powerful being, but they struggle to understand that they can be his son or daughter. Coming to terms with God as father requires a big adjustment for many people - just as it was with the Jews who saw Jehovah as awesome yet somehow unreachable.
For some people of course the image of what a father is like may be far from positive because of their past experiences. So many people feel like orphans. Countless people have had either no father, through abandonment or bereavement, or an abusive, poor or non-existent relationship with their father. This may be a direct result of the lack of fathering that their own fathers experienced. Millions have little experience of love and affirmation from their father. Consequently, they carry many emotional and spiritual scars that can blight their lives and relationships.
Well whatever experience you may have had of an earthly Father, everything changes when you understand what our father in heaven is really like and come into a personal relationship with Him, through Jesus. There are many aspects of our Heavenly Father that we could mention but we will focus on just a small number:
1. He is a loving Father (1 John 3:1; 1 John 4: 9-10; Ephesians 2:4-5; Ephesians 3:17-20)
2. He is a righteous Father (John 17:25; Matthew 5:48; Deuteronomy 32:4)
3. He is a Father who comforts us (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
4. He is a generous Father
a. Your heavenly father wants to provide for your physical needs (Matthew 6:31-33)
b. Your heavenly Father also wants to provide for your spiritual and emotional needs (Luke 11:13; Romans 8:15)
Apply
God is a loving Father (1 John 3:1). The very nature of God is love and God the Father wants us to know and feel His love. Our heavenly father is the greatest and best Dad of all (1 John 4:9-10). The apostle Paul, who had such a strict religious background, came to a profound and transforming revelation of the love of God to him. He knew that he had been a terrible sinner and violent persecutor of Christians but because of God’s grace and mercy he discovered ‘In love he predestined us to be adopted as sons’ (Ephesians 2:4-5). It was so great a love that Paul wanted everyone to experience it for themselves (Ephesians 3:17-20). Today many need to become convinced about God’s love to them personally. Maybe this includes you. Many people have head knowledge but not heart knowledge of God’s love. That’s why there is so much insecurity, striving and competitiveness. It’s time to get rooted in the Father’s love. This revelation of God as a loving heavenly father will literally revolutionise your life, your attitudes, actions, decisions...everything!
Jesus refers His Father God in His prayers as a righteous and perfect Father (John 17:25; Matthew 5:48; Deuteronomy 32:4). In other words, there is no darkness, trickery or manipulation with God. Human fathers may let you down or put you down, but God your Father is utterly reliable and trustworthy. He wants the best for you.
God is a Father who comforts us (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). We often associate comfort with mothers but comfort can also come from the presence and care of a father, and most notably with God our father. He knows how to bring healing and strength to us in our times of greatest need.
And God is a generous Father. God is a giver who wants to give you more blessings than you can imagine. Your heavenly father wants to provide for your physical needs (Matthew 6:31-33). Your heavenly Father also wants to provide for your spiritual and emotional needs (Luke 11:13). So how can this wonderful Father become ‘our Father’? To know God as our father requires that we must be adopted as His sons and daughters. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, gave His life’s blood to make this possible for you. When we commit our lives to God we can be free to enjoy fellowship with our heavenly father without fear of condemnation (Romans 8:15). So then this is how we should begin our daily prayer times, with a true appreciation of a loving, righteous, comforting and generous God, our Father in heaven.
