Prayer - Who, What and Why?

Prayer is a powerful agent for transformation and change, but as Christians today we do a terrible job of accessing it.

I was having a conversation with a friend about prayer one day. She’s been a saved Christian for several years, so I was a little caught off guard when she asked me, “how DO you pray?” I realized that even I am grasping at getting prayer right. Luckily, Jesus answered that question for us in Matthew 6:5-15.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to you Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Then this is how you should pray:

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

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

There is a lot to unpack here, so I’m going to do my best to stay focused and organized. The first thing I want to do is break down WHY Jesus said what he said.

In verse 5, Jesus is calling out the Pharisee’s for their actions in public, not their heart. They were all about the show, the rituals, the legalistic actions of faith…but faith is about heart, not works. When he says “they have received their reward in full” he means they’ve received their public acknowledgement here on earth – and that prayer didn’t get any bonus points in Heaven.

Verse 6 is focused on how God wants you to pray – in secret and alone with God. (This doesn’t address the power of prayer with multiple people. There are several places in the Bible that discuss this, and that’s probably for another post.) He doesn’t want you creating a spectacle around prayer – prayer is about spending time with your Father in Heaven…and just like here on earth, a little one on one time goes a long way.

In verses 7-8, Jesus is addressing the way the pagans pray. I can’t help but giggle at the memory of Elijah watching the prophets of Baal call out fruitlessly for an entire day. He mocked them, claiming that maybe Baal was busy, or relieving himself. (You can find this powerful story in 1 Kings 18, beginning in verse 16.) The point is, God already knows what you need – he just wants you to spend some time with him and ask!

Verses 9-13 you’ve likely heard before, it’s the Lord’s Prayer. What you should understand is, it’s less about the words (although they succinctly encompass everything we should be asking for) and more about the pattern. Verse 9: Praise to God; Verse 10: Acknowledging God’s will on earth; Verse 11: Request for provision; Verse 12: Request for forgiveness; Verse 13: Request for protection.

Jesus ends this chat clarifying that forgiveness is only granted by God, when you are also forgiving those who have sinned against you.

My favorite prayer acronym (there are many) is P.R.A.Y. – Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield (aka: obey). It’s a simple format to follow and remember that encompasses everything Jesus taught us. The other tidbit I learned was to speak God’s words back to him. Search scripture for the Bible verse that addresses your request and speak it back to him. He loves to know that his children know his Word.

A word of caution: we often go to God in prayer asking for his blessing on our plans – rather than realizing that God’s plan is the only plan he’s interested in. Coming to God with a mentality of “changing his mind” is the first critical misstep we tend to make. Scripture is clear that we can go to God with our requests:

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. – John 14:13

But it’s also clear about the fact that our requests should be for the glory of God, not the glory of ourselves.

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. – James 4:3

So what’s the point of prayer if you can’t get what you want? The Bible tells us that when we seek God, and trust in him, he will fulfill the desires of our hearts. When you’re truly connected to God through prayer, your path will be made straight because God’s desires for your good become your own.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. – 1 John 5:14

Sometimes, it takes God a while to answer; think about the Israelites living as slaves in Egypt. They were in captivity for over 400 years before God sent Moses to save them. Then they wandered the desert for 40 more years – not because God didn’t want to deliver what he promised, but because they weren’t ready to receive what he promised. God sees your heart – your deepest intentions – and until those intentions are pure and focused on him, he will withhold what you aren’t ready for.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I’m praying the thoughts come out faster than the words can. Scripture explains this phenomenon, too.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. – Romans 8:26-27

Jesus said it was important for him to leave the disciples so that the Spirit could come and be with all of us, all the time. He convicts us, he comforts us, and he intercedes for us. God has many promises in the Bible, one of them being if we call on him and seek him earnestly, he will answer our prayers. Don’t be afraid to access the power given to you by the Holy Spirit.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14