Teach Us to Pray
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
The Lord’s Prayer
Psalm 42:8 KJV:
Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
The Aramaic says, “prayer to God is life!”
Psalm 42:8 Aramaic Translation:
The LORD will command his lovingkindness [his mercy, his love] in the daytime, and in the night his song [his praise] shall be with me, and prayers to him are life.
The life and ministry of Jesus Christ was characterized by prayer.
Luke 3:21–22 KJV:
21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Here, we see that the beginning of Christ’s ministry is characterized by prayer.
Mark 1:35 KJV:
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Luke 6:12–13 KJV:
12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
In verse 11, we see that there was a lot of opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 6:11 KJV:
And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
Yet he made time to pray all night before choosing his apostles.
Luke 11:1–2 KJV:
1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
Matthew 6:7 KJV:
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
They were supposed to understand the principles he was teaching them about prayer.
Matthew 6:8 KJV:
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
There is a reason why we should pray, even though God already knows what we need.
When he taught this, he was speaking in Aramaic, which had a lot of rhyming words [Jan reads it aloud in Aramaic].
There are six elements in the prayer. And there are three pairs that are balanced together. If you label them, they go like this:
A
B
C
C
B
A
Matthew 6:9 KJV:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed [holy] be thy name
It starts with praise, hallowed or holy is your name. When you see the small caps word LORD in the Old Testament, it’s a translation of God’s name: Yahweh.
Psalm 7:17 KJV:
I will praise the LORD [Yahweh] according to his righteousness: and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD [Yahweh] most high.
The first concept in what is known as the Lord’s prayer has to do with praise or giving of thanks. That corresponds to “A” above; next comes “B.”
Matthew 6:10 KJV:
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
At this point, it is a prayer of intercession for others because you are desiring for God’s will to come to pass in other people’s lives, now and in the future. You’re asking for God’s will to be done.
Remember intercession? You have a situation, and you have God. You move in between and ask that God’s will be done in that situation.
Philippians 1:3–8 KJV:
3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. 8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels [compassion] of Jesus Christ.
Next, we have the third element, “C.”
Matthew 6:11 KJV:
Give us this day our daily bread
The Aramaic says, “Give us the bread of our need day by day.”
Philippians 4:6–7 KJV:
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
This is to be a lifestyle of prayer, not just a morning prayer. It’s going to God in prayer frequently. We can keep praying until we have that peace.
Matthew 6:12 KJV:
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
In Matthew it says “debts” but in Luke it says “trespasses.” This is one indication that Aramaic is behind even the Greek, because in Aramaic there is one word that means both debts and trespasses. The root word means “to owe.”
Unforgiveness is notorious for getting in the way of answered prayer.
Psalm 5:1–3 KJV:
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD [Yahweh], consider my meditation. 2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. 3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD [Yahweh]; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Those were the two Cs, and now B comes back again about intercession. But this time, it is not intercession for others, but for ourselves.
Matthew 6:13a KJV:
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil [the Evil one].
The Aramaic is better translated as “do not let us enter into temptation.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV:
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Isaiah 43:19 KJV:
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
God will make a way:
He’s an on time God:
Now we’re back to “A” again.
Matthew 6:13b KJV:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
At first, it was the confession sort of faith, but after the prayers are answered, deliverance is received, and you have peace, then you can get to the hallelujah kind of praise. The last few Psalms are called The Hallelujah Psalms. Hallelujah means “praise Yah,” praise God, praise the Lord.
In this prayer, we see two kinds of praise (confession and hallelujah), two kinds of intercession (for others and for yourself), and you have specific petitions and supplications.
Poem: God Answers Prayer by Eliza M. Hickock
I know not by what methods rare;
But this I know: God answers prayer.
I know that He has given His Word,
Which tells me prayer is always heard
And will be answered, soon or late;
And so I pray and calmly wait.
I know not if the blessing sought
Will come in just the way I thought,
But leave my prayer with Him alone
Whose will is wiser than my own,
Assured that He will grant my quest
Or send some answer far more blessed.
This teaching is also available on the Acts Now Fellowship website.
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