Prayer is key

6 minute 15 seconds read

This is the third in a series of talks by Simon L, National Director of Pioneers Australia, at the Horizon ’24 gathering. This article focuses on prayer, one of four key ingredients essential to the momentum of the gospel throughout the nations.

Introduction

Many of us have perfected the art of the attentive stare! Having heard it all before, we glaze over and retreat to our happy place! We can be tempted to use this stare when we hear another discussion about prayer. But please don’t switch off as nothing of any lasting spiritual value happens without prayer.

Most of us have been taught that prayer is preparation for the battle. For Jesus, prayer was the battle. We think we should pray so that our day will go well. But for the Lord Jesus, prayer was the work, and the day ahead the reward. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he sweated drops of blood as he made petitions to God. And when the crisis came, he went steadfastly to the cross and rose from the grave in triumph. For Jesus, prayer was the battle itself.

Learning to pray from the Master

Luke writes that the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-4). We usually ask of someone the best that person can give us. We ask an accountant to teach us how to manage our finances; a pianist to teach us how to play; an academic to teach us how to do research; a coach to teach us to run or jump or dive or swim. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. And because prayer was central to Jesus’ ministry, he wanted it to be central to theirs.

You hear all kinds of definitions of prayer, such as prayer is having a conversation with God, or prayer is praise, or prayer is worship, or thanksgiving. Each definition has merit. But none quite gets to the crux of what prayer really is. Prayer is asking God for something.

Let’s have a closer look at what Jesus teaches as captured in Matthew 6:9-15.

Our Father in heaven. That designation sums up the entire basis of the Christian faith. When we come to God, we are to address him as Father. Not everyone can call him Father yet, hence why Pioneers exists to bring the gospel to the nations! But we can because Jesus assures us that we are his children. Interestingly, in the Old Testament God is referred to as Father only seven times – and in every case it is the entire nation of Israel speaking to God. As far as we know, there was never a time when Abraham or David or Ruth or Moses or Daniel or Esther or Jeremiah fell on their knees and dared to speak to God that way. But when we come to the New Testament, we read 275 times or more that God is our Father.

Then Jesus tells us six things we are to ask of our Father in heaven.

1. May your name be hallowed

This is a request. God’s name is not hallowed today, it’s blasphemed. This request would take every thinking Jew to Ezekiel 36:16-23. You’ll find powerful words there. God takes his name very seriously! Father, make your name sacred!

2. May your kingdom come

One of the great philosophical questions has always been: is the world going anywhere? Or is everything simply matter and energy and chance and nothing more? Does the universe have any ultimate meaning? And the answer in Scripture is that history is moving towards that great event when people from every tribe and nation and language will worship the living God as part of that great Messianic kingdom promised throughout the whole of Scripture; when Christ shall rule over a kingdom that will never fade. A time when human beings and angels will join to sing his praises, when every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That is where history is going, no matter how dark it looks right now. It’s in the darkness of today that we look forward to the light of that future day!

3. May your will be done

In heaven, God’s will is done perfectly, immediately, joyfully. No delay, no second-guessing, no meetings, no committees to debate the pros and cons of God’s will. We are to ask for the coming of the kingdom of God in all its fullness. I am convicted about that. I don’t pray enough for the coming of the kingdom in all its fullness as I should. There are things I want to achieve before the end. But in Romans 8, we read that all creation is groaning as it waits for the coming of the Lord. We are supposed to be asking for the kingdom to come.

4. Give us this day our daily bread

This is about all of us together. Our Father. Our daily bread. Asking him for provision. It speaks of the essentials we need. The word ‘daily’ used here is not used elsewhere in the Bible, nor in other Greek literature. It means ‘enough for the day.’ No more. No less. We turn to God for the things we need, believing he will supply. Notice it’s our daily bread. If he gives you more than enough, it’s so you can share. If God gives you two loaves, you give one away … because you are praying for our daily bread. If you have two, and your sister has none, you have one for eating and one for sharing.

5. Forgive us our sins

Forgive us…as we forgive those who sin against us. This one is so important Jesus explains it (v 14-15). He’s saying you can’t walk with God if you refuse to forgive people who have wronged you. If you have unforgiveness in your heart toward someone else, you can’t be walking intimately with God. And if that’s a problem for you, it’s a problem for us. Because we are in this together. Our Father, our daily bread, our sins. Augustine called this the terrible petition…and trembled. There is a link between the way I forgive others and my asking forgiveness from my Father in heaven.

6. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

The Lord Jesus isn’t suggesting that our Father will lead his children into temptation. He is not the author of temptation! Here is a literary tool that uses negation to express the contrary meaning. It’s a way of saying something positively by stating it negatively; for instance, when we read that ‘not a few people gathered,’ we know it means that lots of people gathered. And we know that ‘he who comes to me I will not cast out,’ means ‘I will welcome all who come to me.’ When we pray like this, we are saying Father we know you alone have the power to protect us from the traps of Satan himself. If left to my own devices, I will stray into temptation. We realise that behind every temptation is the tempter. Behind every lie is the liar. Behind every deception is the deceiver. What Satan wants to do is convince us that God is not our Father but our enemy. He wants us to think that our little kingdoms matter, not his kingdom; that our will should be done, not his; that our little names should be established. The evil one whispers to us, ‘Forget about forgiving others – just don’t worry about temptation’. And in doing that, the enemy seeks to separate us relationally from God. His aim is to weaken God’s people and render God’s gospel carriers – such as Pioneers – powerless.

Conclusion

When the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray, he taught them to make requests of God. And every Greek word for prayer in the New Testament means to ask.

Can you relate to requests like the following?

Father, we want these dear people to know you – please open eyes and hearts to the gospel.

Lord, we are crying out to you for more workers – please send more.
Father, our team situation is messy – please pour out your comfort and joy and strength and encouragement.

Lord, help us. Father, last year it was a financial problem, this year it’s a health issue – please remind us of your faithfulness.

Now some will say that asking God for things is narcissism! But what is the primary purpose of prayer? Is it not to glorify Christ? As Scripture testifies:

‘And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.’ John 14:13