Prayer is challenging for many of us. We’ve committed ourselves to incredible levels of busyness and elevate entertainment over substantive conversation with God. The great pastor and theologian Martyn Lloyd-Jones once commented on the struggle of prayer. He said,
When a man is speaking to God he is at his very acme [pinnacle]. It is the highest activity of the human soul, and therefore it is at the same time the ultimate test of a man’s true spiritual condition. There is nothing that tells the truth about us as Christian people so much as our prayer life.
God has shown his kindness to help us pray in two (at least) ways. The first through giving his son, Jesus, as the final sacrifice for sin, destroying the barrier between man and God. When the historian Luke wrote his gospel, he describes a literal, historical miracle with monumental significance in its symbolic meaning, “And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” (Luke 23:45) (Matthew and Mark add, “from top to bottom.” (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38))
No human sacrifice is ever again needed (or could be given) to approach God personally in prayer. Jesus is our only mediator—no human mediator is needed!
Another kind gift from God is that Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. (Matt. 6:9-13; Lk. 11:2-4) Jesus gave us a model prayer that boasts earth-shaking, self-denying, heaven-pursuing content that informs our prayers. But as I understand it, Jesus’ main goal is to give our self-promoting human hearts a model for how we are to pray — a disposition of our hearts that opens the gate to fields of green pastures where love for God and others can thrive, watered by prayers with the Almighty God.
God, who knows our needs before we ask, invites and commands us (with a loving tone) to talk regularly and often with him: declaring his honor and our love for our Heavenly Father which leads us supernaturally to desire that the worship in God’s kingdom be accomplished here on earth as we trust him to care for our needs and the needs of those we love. We seek him for forgiveness which empowers our forgiveness of others who’ve hurt us and ask for protection from the evil one (Satan) so we’re not led into temptation.
Would you carve out time today to talk with your loving Creator? Each verse of Matt. 6:9-13 can be stated in a variety of ways, ushering in limitless possibilities for heart-deep, fruitful conversation with the Lord.
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 [sins] as we forgive our debtors. And deliver us from the evil one so that we may not be led into temptation.
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