I was always told that proper prayer must be offered in Jesus’ name and since I wanted to pray properly, that is the way I prayed, just like in the Charley Pride song, “In Jesus’ Name.” 5 A lyric selection follows.įather open up my eyes to your wonder all around,įather let me see the good and beauty of this day,įill my heart with love for my fellow man,Īnd if I’m tempted Father, Father save my hand,įather give me strength to do what I must do,įather give me courage to say what I must say, 4 As indicted above, the Bible clearly shows that there is a wrong way and a right way to pray. If you want to pray effectually for things, you must pray according to the revealed will of God. It shows, however, that prayer should not be a blank sheet of paper on which you can write whatever you want. Just approach prayer with personal humility and show proper respect to God. All those things need not be in the same order, nor even those specific thoughts, because elsewhere in the Bible it is shown that the disciples, and even Jesus, himself, did not strictly adhere to those specific words or thoughts when praying. And we can request any favors or needs, in line with his will and divine plan. Give thanks for the things he provides and ask forgiveness of our sins, as well as protection from evil. This is the outline for our approach to prayer praise God and ask that his will and kingdom be forthcoming. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.Īnd don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Jesus tells his disciples to pray like this: And he gave a model prayer, sometimes called the ‘Lord’s Prayer,’ in verses 6:9-13. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Jesus also speaks about what we should do concerning private prayer.
Don’t be like them” (Matthew 6:7-8, CJB). And he goes on, “And when you pray, don’t babble on and on like the pagans, who think God will hear them better if they talk a lot. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get” (Matthew 6:5).
For instance he says, “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. Here Jesus describes the attitudes and behavior he wants of his followers.” Read the complete account at Matthew 5-7, in which he also tells of ways not to pray. “The ‘Sermon on the Mount’ is Matthew’s great account of Jesus teaching to his disciples. Let’s take a closer look at what the Bible says and what God expects from our prayers. I have already written about part of this prayer problem, 3 when used in a public forum, but a lot of questions were received, including those about private prayer, so, as a result, a deeper study is necessary. Is it really that easy? No, of course not, but must we pray using a certain outline or put the words in a certain format? Must we always say, “in Jesus’ name I pray” or “in Jesus’ name, amen,” at the end of our prayer? Well, a lot of people think so. After all, didn’t Jesus say, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13, NLT). 1 They think it is easy – just ask God for something and tack on the words “in Jesus’ name” at the very end, like it is a magical phrase, and then sit back and wait.
With this attitude, they should call it ‘ask and hope’ instead of calling it prayer. This may seem like a silly question, but does it really matter how we pray? Think about it, most people pray because they want something they send up a prayer and ask God for a favor or item and hope for the best.