Key Verse: “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Mat. 6:7-8)
Prayer is one of the most personal and most sacred things we do. Many Christians have strong opinions about prayer—whether we should spend a substantial time in prayer each or whether we should focus on a continuing “conversation with God” throughout the day; whether we should always start with praise or confession; whether we should use a prayer list or not; or whether we should use written prayers or just pray spontaneously.
A written prayer is the issue here. Jesus gave us a model prayer here that is used in various ways in churches today. Some see it as a prayer to be recited word for word, and to many it is deeply meaningful when they use it in that way. Others see it as a general model that indicates the kind of things we should include in our prayers; they tend to believe prayer should not be bound by written words but should be spontaneous cries of the heart. C. S. Lewis takes sort of middle position when he uses this particular prayer and embellishes it—Lewis calls it “festooning.”
We could embellish this prayer something like this. We could take the words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,” and pray like this, “Father in heaven, even though You are Lord over all, thank you for being a loving heavenly Father. You are sovereign, and I bow before Your throne of grace and own You as Lord. I pray that I may always honor the holiness of Your name by living with love and integrity.” We could take the words, “Give us today our daily bread,” and pray, “Lord, thank you for my regular wage, but You know my need for this car repair, and I ask for it now, depending on Your gracious supply.” By going through the prayer like this line by line, we could take great advantage of our Lord’s model prayer.
Other people have suggested praying other Scriptures in a similar way. Take, for example, these words from Phil. 2:14-15, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, . . .” We could pray these words like this: “Father, You know the difficult job I have to face today. Please help me to tackle it in Your strength without grumbling or arguing, even if these are only grumbling thoughts that I don’t express to others. And, Lord, be with Joe as he has difficult people to work with. Help him to shine like a light in that world.”
The prayers in the New Testament or the Psalms make good models to work with. Based on Eph. 1:18-19, we could pray like this: “I pray that the eyes of Sandra’s heart may be enlightened in order that she may know the hope she has been called to, the riches of Your glorious inheritance in Your holy people, and Your incomparably great power for us who believe. Encourage her, Lord, and help her to know that power as she visits the doctor today to get the results of her diagnosis.”
These biblical passages can become guides for our prayers. They are God-approved patterns, expressing His will in different circumstances. And surely God can guide us as we attempt to apply these biblical truths to our own lives and to those we care about. He can lead us to scripture passages that will meet the need.
Prayer: Father, please guide me as I pray and as I try to pray biblically. Lead me to those passages that express the truths I need, and give me confidence that I am praying according to Your will expressed in Your Word. Thank you for the rich store of grace in Your Word.
Author: Lindsay Hislop was raised in southern Scotland and southern Ontario and now lives in the southern United States. He worked in the engineering field for 15 years (mostly in Canada) before pursuing an academic career. He has taught for over thirty years at Columbia International University. He also serves as an elder in his church, where he teaches and preaches regularly. He is married to a wonderful wife Pam and has two terrific children, Holly, who lives in Canada, and Doug, who lives in Columbia. His four grandchildren, Isaac, Madeline, Lindsay, and Dolan, are also pretty special. He likes doing carpentry and odd jobs around the house.
