My personal prayer life used to be inconsistent and difficult, until I realized why. I would be asked to lead a prayer before a Bible study or dinner, and I just didn’t know what to say. Or, when I was in my room, ready to pray to God privately, I just didn’t know what to say. Then, after I did begin to pray, I ran out of things to say after about ten seconds. Sound familiar?
Here’s why I struggled so much: I simply didn’t know how to pray. One of the most humble moments in the Bible is found in Luke 11:1:
Now it came to pass, as He [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
In this lesson, we’ll explore how Jesus taught His disciples to pray, using the acronym P.R.A.Y.
The first half of verse 2 says:
So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.”
The P in PRAY stands for Praise. Jesus tells us to start our prayers with praise. We ought to recognize God as our Father and appreciate our relationship with Him. Hebrews 4:15–16 says:
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus is the reason why we can even approach the throne and that we can approach the throne boldly. We’re not coming by our own credit or merit, but our High Priest, Jesus, invites us to come.
Giving praises to God helps us set our perspective on who we are talking to. God is hallowed. That means He’s holy. Yes, Jesus calls His disciples friends, but we must not approach God as if He’s, like, our best buddy. He is our God, and when we can recognize that, we will approach the throne with much more reverence. Here’s a small list of reasons why God deserves to be praised:
- He created everything and sustains us (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:15–16; Job 12:10).
- His attributes are infinite—He’s all-knowing (Psalm 147:5), all-powerful (Psalm 115), and ever-present (Psalm 139).
- His love is deep and is shown through the gift of His Son (John 3:16).
In the next part of Jesus’ model prayer, He says we ought to pray:
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
Now, our Lord is teaching us to make Requests, which is the R in PRAY. These requests are broken up into two different groups:
- The Kingdom needs, and
- Our needs
Often when we pray, we tend to pray for ourselves only, but Jesus taught us to pray for God’s kingdom and His will.
For instance, Paul prayed for the Jews’ salvation (Romans 10:1) and Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done over his own (Matthew 26:39). When we pray, we should always make mention of things that God wants and avoid only focusing on ourselves. This includes praying for evangelism, good works, and spiritual growth among disciples.
The second request that should come up in prayer is our own needs. Using Paul and Jesus as examples again, Paul prayed for his thorn to be removed (2 Corinthians 12:7), and Jesus prayed for the cup to pass, meaning that he shouldn’t die on the cross (Matthew 26:39). Even though God said no to both of these prayers, they both saw it appropriate to pray for something they wanted, and it wasn’t wrong or sinful for them to ask.
God may respond to our request by saying yes, no, or wait. We saw God say no to both Paul and Jesus, but He did say yes to Elijah who prayed for rain (James 5:17–18) and Hannah prayed for a son (1 Samuel 1:11, 19–20). Sometimes, God’s timing is different, as seen with Abraham. In Genesis 15, the promise of a child was given to Abram because he asked God for one, and his prayer was answered in Genesis 21, which was 25 years later! We must trust God’s wisdom and timing.
Jesus continues the model prayer, saying:
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
The A in PRAY stands for Ask for forgiveness. The ability to ask God for forgiveness is one of the greatest blessings of being His child. John writes in 1 John 1:6–9:
If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God knew we would still struggle with sin, even after coming to Him. He has given Christians a way to be continuously washed in the blood of Christ.
Jesus gives us an example of how we forgive others, saying, “For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” In Luke 17:3–4, Jesus also teaches:
Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, “I repent,” you shall forgive him.
When others sin against us, we must first lovingly call that sin to their attention. Then, if and when they repent, we forgive them. As Christians, we are not commanded to be perfect; we are commanded to be faithful. How many times has God offered to forgive you? You must be willing to extend that same grace to your brothers and sisters.
Jesus finishes the model prayer with:
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
How’s your spiritual walk? Are you praying about it? Did you know that The devil is always trying to lead people—including you and me—astray.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8
Despite Satan’s eagerness to take us down, God is with us. Jesus teaches us to pray to be led—not into temptation, but into deliverance from Satan’s schemes and traps. The Y in PRAY stands for Your walk. Pray for help with your temptations.
When Jesus’ friends were failing to listen to Him and were falling into temptation, Jesus said to them:
Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Matthew 26:41
When we pray to God about our struggles and ask him to help us through them, they become easier to deal with. When you’re about to face something you know you have struggled with in the past, pray:
Do not lead me into temptation,
But deliver me from the evil one.
Maybe the first part of that prayer will be when you come to your senses and realize you shouldn’t be going to that place or associating with those people. But if the situation is out of your control, surely knowing that you have asked God to guide you and that He hears your prayer, will give you strength.
When the disciples in the first century humbly asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray,” He gave them an answer we can follow in the twenty-first century. Remember the simple acronym of P.R.A.Y. every time you’re about to approach the throne of God:
- Praise
- Request
- Ask for forgiveness
- Your walk
Follow Jesus’ model prayer, and you will notice a strong and powerful change to your prayer life, and odds are—if you’re like me—your 10-second prayers will turn to 10-minute prayers.