Pray This Way

Brenden Ashby
09/08/24 - Sun AM

Pray In This Way

Brenden Ashby

Jesus knew that His followers would need help learning how to pray, so He taught the fundamental principles of prayer in the Sermon on the Mount. Those principles are recorded in the model prayer Jesus said in Matthew 6:8-13. So, what are those principles?

The first is that prayer builds relationships. Throughout the model prayer, Jesus uses “we” and “our.” These collective pronouns remind us that we are not alone in prayer. We are united with other believers and Jesus when we address our Father in prayer.

The second principle Jesus taught was that prayer reorients priorities. Jesus' model prayer continues with the words “Your will be done” and “Your kingdom come.” The focus is on God’s will, not ours. So, in prayer, we reorient our priorities back to God and away from ourselves.

A third principle Jesus taught is that prayer is an exercise in simplicity. The model prayer is plain and humble in its requests. Its content is readily understood or explained to children. While we may sometimes struggle to grow in prayer, its basics are accessible to all believers.

The fourth principle taught by Jesus is that prayer participates in grace. Everything about prayer is grace! We get to talk with God because of His graciousness. And our greatest needs and requests in prayer can only be met by His grace.

Jesus taught us how to pray so we may build our relationship with God, keep our priorities right, stay humble, and always be appreciative of God’s grace.