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Christians follow a praying Savior. Throughout His ministry, Jesus frequently withdrew to seek God in prayer (Matt. 14:23; 26:39; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16). Observing this, His disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Jesus’ answer included perhaps the best-known and most widely used prayer in human history—the Lord’s Prayer.
While many know the Lord’s Prayer by heart, it is much more than a prayer to recite. It directs the structure, content, and priorities of Christian prayer. For what kinds of things should Christians pray? In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray for God’s name to be honored, for God’s church to flourish, for God’s commands to be obeyed, and for God’s providence to be respected. It directs us to God to supply our needs, forgive our sins, and protect us from temptation and the devil.
Each petition is like a heading in a book, under which we elaborate our own specific praises, confessions, and needs. Hallow God’s name with praise for His wonderful attributes and works. Pray for God’s kingdom to advance through you, your pastor, supported missionaries, and fellow church members, and for unconverted friends to be brought to the King. Name your needs in prayer for daily bread, and so on. Christians have used the Lord’s Prayer in this way for centuries. Brief resources such as the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q&A 98–107) and longer ones such as Thomas Watson’s The Lord’s Prayer can help you fill the petitions with your own personal praises and requests.
The Lord’s Prayer helps us pray even before we reach the first petition. The preface—“Our Father in heaven” (Matt. 6:9)—teaches us that prayer begins with God. That may sound obvious, but stop and think about your own prayers. What sets their trajectory and priorities? Is it God’s name, character, and work? Or is it your own felt needs? Our desires and needs have an important place in prayer, but the Lord’s Prayer shows us that we will pray for them rightly, and confidently, only if we begin with God.
First, the Lord’s Prayer teaches Christians that God is our Father. The entire gospel is built into the opening two words: “Our Father.” Christians have been born of God and, through faith in Christ, have the right to become children of God (John 1:12–13). Christians have received the adoption as sons and the Spirit of God’s Son (Gal. 4:4–7). In prayer, Christians address God with the same name used by God’s only begotten Son. Prayer begins with God, who, through the gospel, is our Father.
What confidence this gives us in prayer! If sinful earthly fathers know how to give their children good things, how much more does our Father in heaven (Luke 11:9–13)? He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). “The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (Ps. 145:9). But He is not just good in general. He has been especially and extraordinarily good to us who believe. He is our Father. He has given us His Son and, in Him, forgiveness, righteousness, and salvation (Rom. 8:32). He has given us His Spirit, by whom we cry out: “Abba! Father!” (v. 15). He has given us faith, by which we receive Christ and all His mercies (Eph. 2:8–10). He has shown us compassion (Ps. 103:13). Indeed, we can say with David, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you” (Ps. 16:2). Like the best earthly fathers, but infinitely better, our Father is able and ready to help us. How could we ever tarry in bringing Him our requests? Begin your prayers with this great gospel name and tell our Father all your many needs.
Second, the preface to the Lord’s Prayer teaches Christians that God is gloriously great and perfectly holy. We pray to “our Father in heaven.” God is in heaven. He is above all creation. “Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?” (Ps. 113:5–6). He is everywhere present. “Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you” (2 Chron. 6:18). He accomplishes all His holy will. “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Ps. 115:3). He rules over all. “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool’” (Isa. 66:1). And He is perfectly holy (Pss. 11:4; 20:6; 89:5; 102:19). Prayer begins with the infinite God, who reigns in holiness from heaven.
God’s heavenliness teaches us to pray with reverence and hope. Banish irreverent thoughtlessness and the heaping up of empty words and “be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth” (Eccl. 5:2). Away with all hypocritical and man-focused praying (Matt. 6:5), for “the Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds” (Ps. 33:13–15). Confess your sins to Him. “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God[,] . . . hear the prayer of your servant . . . , confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you” (Neh. 1:5–6). And pray with hope, because your heavenly God sees all, knows all, and is able to accomplish all His holy will. Nothing is too hard for Him (Gen. 18:14; Jer. 32:17, 27).
When you forget God, it is easy to doubt and hard to pray. But the Lord’s Prayer won’t let you do that. Begin your prayers with God—our Father in heaven—and follow Christ in laying all your cares at His feet.