Lord, teach us to pray, Jesus’s disciples asked. This simple prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples, can also show us how to talk with God in prayer.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
MATTHEW 6:9–13
Jesus taught his disciples to call God “our Father.” It is this intimate father/child RELATIONSHIP that makes prayer possible. As children of God, we come to his throne expectant and unafraid because we are accepted in his beloved Son (Hebrews 4:15–16). Because we are his children, we can speak with our heavenly Father often—he loves to hear our prayers!
Worship—to honor and adore God—is the highest privilege of the Christian. We who have experienced the miracle of his saving grace can PRAISE HIM for his greatness and love. Throughout the day, we can offer praise and thanksgiving as he showers us with his blessings. “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness” (1 Chronicles 16:29).
“YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN”
As God’s children, we long for his righteous reign throughout the earth. But HIS REIGN must first begin in our own lives. We are made sensitive to his will for us as we prayerfully read and meditate on the Word of God. Even as we pray, God exposes our spiritual condition and brings our desires into conformity with his will (Romans 12:2).
“GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD”
We are DEPENDENT upon God for all of our needs— spiritual and material. And, like any loving Father, he desires to richly bless us. Nothing is too great for his power; nothing is too small for his love. He invites us to shar