Do You Know How to Pray?

Matthew 6:9-13

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a]’

We always here "when all else fails pray". But do you know how to pray? Jesus' sermon on the Mount was one of the most significant sermons during his three year ministry. It was during this time that he laid out the basics of the attitudes and attributes for those who would follow him. During the sermon Jesus gave a blueprint for how we ought to pray. For any prayer ought to have the primary six components. When broken down the prayer consists of the following:

1. Acknowledging God as father and recognizing his holiness
2. His kingdom come: God's kingdom is already here but til we come into the fullness of it
3. His will be done: meaning that his will is more important then any other requests we have because his will is supreme
4. Our Daily bread- that God meet every need that we have (not the wants but the needs because there is a difference)
5. Forgiveness of sin- that God forgive us for our sin because we all fall short every day in some way whether in thought or deed and also that we forgive those that have sinned against us. This is key because if we ask God to forgive us but we are unwilling to forgive our neighbor, why then should God forgive us?
6. Protection- We pray for protection when we are enduring trials but also from the enemy of our souls.

Every prayer ought to have the six components in some way shape or form. If you did not know how to pray before, start out with the Lord's Prayer above as it is called and then as you come into deeper relationship with Christ, you will begin to develop the comfort level you need to speak to him in your own words. If you know how to pray but for one reason or another have become lazy and complacent in prayer as we can all sometimes be, this is a reminder on how to come before God in complete humility.

Let's go from "when all else fails pray" to "before we do anything be sure to pray".