The Lord’s Prayer is contained in two books of the Gospel. The guide for prayer which our Lord Jesus Christ gave unto us in Matthew, laid more emphasis on how the prayer of a Christian ought to be. Matthew 6:5 KJV “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” Firstly, a prayer should be done with the right motive. God is more concerned with the state of our hearts, therefore for every seemingly good act done, if the motive behind it is wrong then the act does not count before God. I the LORD search the heart (Jeremiah 17:10a KJV). For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7b KJV). If our actions towards men are examined by God, how much more when we come to Him in prayer. Christ described those who come with the wrong motive as hypocrites. Praying with the wrong motive is almost the same as not praying at all because it isn’t acceptable to God. Remember Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis, who brought sacrifices before God. Outwardly, both should have been accepted by God but God looked beyond that and accepted only that which was brought with the right motive.
Matthew 6:6 KJV “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Another important point to extract is that prayer ought to be a reflection of a genuine and personal relationship with God. Praying in your closet where no one can see you, where no one knows what you are doing, shows how invested you are in God. You are concerned about having a one-on-one encounter with Him, free of distractions or external pressures. It may be easier to appear to be godly in public when there are people watching or people who will hold you accountable. But when you are all alone, are you still concerned about God? Do you take out time for Him?
Matthew 6:7-8 KJV “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.” These verses are anchored on the two preceding verses. For it is when you come with the right motive to prayer and when you establish a personal relationship with God that He will be more inclined to your needs. When you come with the right motive, you already know that God is not after the length of your prayer or the number or quality of words used. And as God is all-knowing, when you have a good relationship with Him, He will supply all your needs.
Matthew 6:9 KJV “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven...” When the proper foundation has been laid for prayer, all you need to do is to come to the place of prayer with confidence. This confidence is fuelled by faith. Christ directing us to address God as our Father is to show that we truly believe and recognise that we are His children. In fact, we may say that at that point, Christ was confirming what He came on earth to do—which was to reconcile us to God and restore us to the level of sonship which was lost in the Garden of Eden.
There is a certain level of confidence in a father-child relationship. A child is expected to feel comfortable when approaching the father and in addition, the child comes with the confidence that the discussion will have a fruitful outcome. “Our Father” means I know that God exists, I am a child of God, I am talking to my Father, I believe in Him, I know He loves me, I know He is always there for me and I can approach Him at any time, I am meant to rely on Him for all things, I am to maintain a constant relationship with Him, I believe that my prayer will be heard, I believe that I will get a response, I believe that God is capable of handling whatever I am coming to Him for, I know that He has my best interests at heart because He is my Father, I know that even if the outcome isn’t what I want or expected, it will be what is best for me.
On the other hand, the implications of the opening words of that prayer are the main emphasis of the account in the book of Luke. Luke 11:1 KJV “And it came to pass, that as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” The disciple asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus venturing into that prayer therefore, serves to teach us that prayer is constant communication with God just like the constant communication we maintain with our earthly fathers.
Prayer is one of the most important aspects of the life of a Christian. Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation (Matthew 26:41a). Continue in prayer (Colossians 4:2a). Within the span of time Jesus walked on earth, He was known to be a man of prayer. The Scriptures record different instances where Christ prayed. If Christ Himself acknowledged how important prayer is, how much more we, who are mere mortals. If we profess that we are true followers of Christ then we must pray. Men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1b).
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