The Lord’s Prayer

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Galatians 4:19 (NKJV)  My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,

  • Christ formed
  • Fruit

Galatians 5:22 (NKJV)  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Model Prayer

Luke 11:1-4 NKJV Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” [2] So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. [3] Give us day by day our daily bread. [4] And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”

  • Not verbatim
  • No parrot

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He taught them what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”

When you consider that Jesus was the greatest miracle worker who ever walked the earth and the greatest preacher who ever lived, it is amazing His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray.

Why didn’t they ask Him to teach them how to work miracles or how to preach and amaze the people with their doctrine?

They knew His prayer life was even more powerful than His miracles or His doctrine.

Indeed, it was His union with the Father that gave Him the power to work miracles and His authority to speak as no man had ever spoken before.

Jesus told them repeatedly that it was His Father who was doing the miracles through Him and that His doctrine was not His own but the Father’s. The same holds true today.

John 15:5 (NKJV)  I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Jesus said that without Him we can do nothing.

There are many things we should do in addition to praying, but there is nothing that we can effectively do without prayer.

Prayer is one of the main ways of abiding in Him.

Luke 11:2-4 (NKJV) 2  So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

  • Although every believer prays this verbatim, what Jesus gave was actually an outline that covered how to approach the Father and what subjects we could discuss with Him.
  • He doesn’t want to hear the same memorized prayer from all of us.
  • He wants to hear what is on our hearts and minds because He wants a relationship in which He can help us and bless us in any way He can.
  • Praise

1 Samuel 30:6 (NKJV)  Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

Psalm 100:4 (NKJV)  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.


3  Give us day by day our daily bread.

  • Petitions

Philippians 4:4-7 (NKJV) 4  Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5  Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1 Samuel 30:7-8 (NKJV) 7  Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8  So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

Mark 7:25-30 (NKJV) 25  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. 26  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27  But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 28  And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” 29  Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

  • Healing and deliverance are here spoken of by the Master as “the children’s bread”
  • So, if you are a child of God, you can surely press in for your portion.

4  And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”

1 Samuel 30:9-10 (NKJV) 9  So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. 10  But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.

Luke 6:46 (NKJV)  “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?

Motives

Luke 19:1-10 (NKJV) 1  Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2  Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5  And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7  But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” 8  Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” 9  And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10  for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)  But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Matthew 21:28-31 (NKJV) 28  “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29  He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30  Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31  Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.

Unity

Psalm 133:1 (NKJV)  Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

Acts 2:1 (NKJV)  When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Romans 16:17-18 (NKJV) 17  Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18  For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

1 Corinthians 3:3 (NKJV)  for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

  • Unity
  • Praise
  • Petition
  • Answer

Acts 4:24-31 (NKJV) 24  So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25  who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? 26  The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.’ 27  “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28  to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. 29  Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30  by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31  And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Today you can pray and expect to receive answers from your Father. He is ready and willing to answer your prayers. How do you know? Jesus said so! Your prayers are the key to living a powerful Christian life.

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