How to Pray

How to Pray

Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the         

kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Here, Jesus gives us specific direction on how to pray. How amazing is that? 

This is the exact format for prayer that Jesus tells his disciples to use. 

Our Father which art in heaven,  hallowed be thy name.  1. Start prayer with 

praise and worship. The prayer proclaims that God is our Father. The King 

James Bible uses the word “hallowed”.  And the word means to honor God as 

holy. Or special because He is sinless and all-powerful. The first step to any 

prayer is to give God glory and honor and praise, for who He is, and thanks 

for what He has done.   

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 2. I call this 

the perfect prayer, because it is always answered.  When we ask for his will to 

be done, the answer is always yes.  I John 5:14,15 states; "And this is the 

confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according 

to his will he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we 

ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.  

How do we pray according to or in alignment with God's will?  God desire are 

found in the pages of our Bible. So, turn the words of God’s Word into 

requests.  Make the prayers found in God’s Word your own. Pray God’s 

promises back to him. By using the Scripture as the basis for your prayer life, 

you’ll be sure to pray in an approach that honors God and then you can know 

that His answer will be yes!

Give us this day our daily bread. 3.  Ask for your needs-not wants.  Jesus' 

example show's us God our heavenly Father yearns for his children to 

depend on Him for their physical needs.  But Jesus also quoted; "It is written, 

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out 

of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4 KJV  This verse show us we need daily 

bread in the sense that we need God to daily walk with God and allow Him to 

guide us. So, pray for both His physical and spiritual provision in your life 

and the lives of those you love. Pray for the things that you need and thank 

Him for all that, He has already blessed you with.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 4. Confess your sins 

and ask God for help in forgiving others.  What would God say to you, if he 

read our social media posts?  The way we talk about others and post on social 

media should show you how badly we need the help of the Holy Spirit to 

always give forgiveness to others and we need God's forgiveness.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  5. Pray for safety, 

protection and freedom from sin.  Paul put it this  way; Don’t worry about 

anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and 

thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, 

which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your 

hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7 

NLT  Paul also in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 gives us a lofty goal. "Never stop 

praying."

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.  

6.  End with a reminder of who is your King.  A reminder of who you live for.  

A reminder it's not about you, but Him!

Amen.  7.  "Amen" is a Hebrew word that means "truly" or "so be it." When 

we say this at the end of a prayer, we are agreeing with the prayer. We're 

asking God to please let our prayers be one with Your will and therefore 

may it be as we have prayed!