Every Christian must ask, as Jesus' disciples asked Him, "Lord, teach us to pray." Jesus' response to His disciples is the timeless answer for every believer in every circumstance of life. What Christians commonly call "The Lord's Prayer" would more accurately be called "Christ's Model Prayer for the Believer." In this series we focus on each of its phrases, as well as the Jesus' often-overlooked preamble, in which He gives us four key characteristics of Biblical prayer.
Precise and correct knowledge of God's will comes through two inseparable means.
The Biblical order - and the reasons for it - are quite specific: We are to pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit.
Much of the problem of prayer in our time is the lack of reverence. Does this reflect today's growing irreverence for fatherhood, both human and divine?
How can we ever justify seeking to advance the kingdom of our own self-will when Jesus himself submitted to the Father's kingdom priorities?
James and Job both tell us a great deal about the true meaning of submission to the will of God.
Many postmodern Evangelicals chafe at the idea of utter dependence upon the Father for everything.
Does "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" mean that we are saved by this work? No, Jesus had something else in mind: God's anger with an unforgiving spirit.
The last part of Jesus' model prayer is perhaps the most misunderstood. Ironically, it is also a prayer that most Evangelicals cannot honestly pray.
Jesus' model prayer for believers confronts us with life-changing questions.