What Is Prayer?

The most common New Testament word for “prayer” means “to come to.”  Thus Christian prayer is a  way we “come to” God.

There are many ways we come to God. We come to God in worship. We come to God each time we sing a Christian song. We come to God each time we receive the sacraments. We come to God each time we make confession and receive forgiveness. Each time we pray, we also come to God.

Make no mistake. The only reason we can come to God is because He came to us first. We don’t come to God because we are good. We don’t come to God to earn His favor.

The Bible tells us that the only reason we can come to God is because God came to us first. If Jesus had not graciously forgiven all our sins, we could not even think of coming to God. Because of Jesus—and Jesus alone—we can freely approach God with all our wants, needs, thoughts, desires and deepest ponderings of our heart.  That’s why Christians pray “in Jesus’ name.”

Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except by Me.” (John 14:6). God hears and responds to every prayer Christians offer in Jesus’ name. But God does not hear the prayers of those who do not pray in Jesus’ name.  God does not hear the prayer of those who are not Christian. Prayer is only acceptable and valid if it is offered exclusively “in Jesus’ name.” That is one of the distinctive marks of Christian prayer.

Biblical Prayers

There are many prayers in the Bible. In the Old Testament, Moses sang a prayer when God drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1ff). The Prophet Isaiah sang many prayers, too (cf. Isaiah 12). The Book of Psalms contains many prayers written by King David and others.

The New Testament also contains many prayers from St. Paul, St. John, Jesus mother, Mary, and others. The Gospels record other prayers of Jesus. These prayers include Jesus’ seven words (that is, “prayers”) from the cross and His High Priestly prayer in John 17.

The Lord’s Prayer

We can find the  Lord’s Prayer in both Matthew 6 and Luke 11. Even though the situations described in Matthew and Luke are very different, the Lord’s Prayer is  essentially the same. By teaching the Lord’s prayer in both places, one thing Jesus was demonstrating was that the Lord’s Prayer can be used in any situation.

We can also use the Lord’s Prayer in any—and every—situation.

How Should We Pray?

Like us, the disciples wanted to know what to say when they prayed.  “Lord, teach us to pray,” they asked Jesus in Luke 11:1. The Lord’s Prayer is Jesus’ response to their request. By telling His disciples how to pray and what to pray for, He also taught us how to pray.

What did Jesus teach His disciples regarding prayer? Some of the things He taught His disciples regarding prayer include…

1) Our prayers should not be meaningless repeated phrases and formulas.

2) We should not use prayer to “show off” how spiritual we are.

3) We need to ask God to protect us from Satan so that our faith will not fail.

4) Praying for those things that we really need (e.g. “daily bread”)

5) All our prayers should focus on what God wants in our lives.

Did you know that the Lord’s Prayer teaches all of this—and more?

Discover the joy of the Lord’s Prayer. Because of Jesus, we can boldly come to our loving God
with all our needs.