Week 36: Matt. 6- Jesus Teaches How to Pray

Jesus Teaches How to Pray

As a family, read Matthew 6.  Afterwards, share the following discussion.

What happened?

Jesus was teaching His disciples how to grow in their understanding of God.  In the middle of His Sermon on the Mount, one of the disciples asked a great, but simple question:  “How do we talk to God?”  So, Jesus taught his disciples to pray something like this:

“Father in heaven, holy is your name.

Your kingdom come, and your will be done.

On earth as it is in heaven,

Give us this day our daily bread,

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that have sinned against us,

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, Forever. Amen.”

Now, this is the long version from both Matthew 6 and Luke 11.  But each part of the prayer is really powerful.  The first part tells God how great He is – that is worship! In the second part of the prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to simply ask God for what they needed, like daily bread.  Then, in the last part, Jesus taught them to focus on God for strength and direction so they could be obedient to God and follow Him.

Why is this important to us today?

When we pray, we talk to God. God wants us to tell Him when we’re hurt, how we feel, and ask Him for what we need. But the prayer that Jesus modeled isn’t just listing a bunch of things that we want.  Prayer is a conversation with the Lord that involves listening to Him for guidance and direction.

Talking to God allows us to see things the way He sees them.  And when we see things the way God sees them, then we will want to do what God has asked us to do.  In other words, when we talk to God, we learn what God loves, and then we want to do what God loves to do. Jesus wants us to learn to pray, just as He wanted His disciples to learn.

Spend a few minutes talking about what you just read by answering these questions together:

1. Go back and look at the parts of the Lord’s Prayer. Give an example of each part.

2. Why do you think Jesus taught the disciples to praise God at the beginning of prayer? What other examples of praising God for who He is can you think of?

3. What are ways that God speaks to us today?

How can we better follow God this week?

Take time this week before each meal to pray the Lord’s Prayer as a family. Then, think about the parts of this model prayer and put it in your own words. What praise can you give God? What needs do you currently have? In what situation do you need direction and guidance? Then, practice listening for God’s direction as you read Scripture and obey what He tells you to do. If you take this prayer challenge, you will be amazed at how God uses this prayer to help you grow as a follower of Christ!