And When You Pray

Matthew 6:1-18

God expects his children to pray to him. Most of us, however, are like the disciples who said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” There is honesty in the disciples’ request; they wanted to know how to do something they had already been doing for quite a while. Didn’t they already know how to pray? This admission reminds us, if we’re honest, that prayer isn’t as simple as it sounds. We struggle with self-discipline, with focusing our thoughts, and with knowing what to say. Have I prayed long enough? Is God disappointed in my frail prayer life? Jesus’ response is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. A close study of this model prayer will answer a lot of our own questions about prayer. So today we begin a four-part series on the Lord’s Prayer.