Prayer

If you look at the ten commandments ¹ in the Old Testament you can see that four of them have to do with our relationship to God...

• You shall not have any other gods before me.
• You shall not make any carved images [fake gods].
• You shall not take my name in vain.
• Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy [set aside time in your life for God]

...and the other six commandments have to do with our relationship to others.

• Honor your parents
• Don't murder
• Don't commit adultery
• Don't steal
• Don't give false testimony [lie] about your neighbor
• Don't covet [wish you had for yourself] your neighbor's stuff or his wife.

 In addition, if you look at the other 600 plus laws recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, you will see that they all derive from the principles described in these ten.

While Jesus was here on earth living among us, a lawyer asked him what he thought was the greatest commandment in the Law, Jesus said,

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. ²

By quoting from the Law itself ³, Jesus made the point that the Law, summarized by the ten commandments, is all about loving (getting along with) God and your neighbor. And That is how Jesus lived out his life while he was here.

So you are asking, what does all this have to do with Prayer? "Getting along with" someone, whether God or your neighbor, involves communication. The best way to get to know someone, or to resolve a problem you have with someone, is to talk to them, and then listen to them. Think of prayer as our means of talking to God, or talking with God. And then God talks to us in several ways:

• Through his WORD, the Bible, his written message to us.
• Particularly through the words and life of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels.
• We discussed in a previous post that Jesus is the Son of God, God in the flesh, so Jesus' words are God's words.
• Through his Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
• That could be through some other disciple or follower of Jesus who has a word of encouragement or a word of good advice for you.
• Or through a family member who cares about you.
• Or through your own thoughts as you listen to and think about God's written word.

 In the gospels of Matthew and Luke Jesus gives us some examples of prayers that can help us understand how to pray.

The Arrogant Prayer

In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus gives us two different examples of people praying . He describes the prayer of a Pharisee who thinks he has everything under control. This man seems to be praying a boastful, prideful, self centered prayer to himself and about himself, a  prayer.

• "Thank you that I am not like these other people: swindlers, sinners, adulterers, or even this tax collector."
• "I fast twice a week.
• "I give a tenth of everything I get."

The Humble Prayer

Then Jesus gives an example of a humble prayer by a man who acknowledges his weaknesses. Compare the demeanor and words of this man with those of the Pharisee.

• He stood far off.
• He would not even look up to heaven. 
• He beat his chest (in sorrow and humility).
• "God be merciful to me, sinner that I am."

And notice the comment that Jesus made about these two men:

"I tell you that this man (the humble tax collector) went down to his home justified (that is, forgiven by God) rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Think about this last sentence. What do you think Jesus meant?

The "Model Prayer"

Jesus basically teaches over and over again that humility is the best and most rewarding lifestyle. In another setting (Matthew 6:5-14), maybe two years before the above incident, Jesus is speaking to his disciples and some others and he also addresses the subject of prayer. As in the other incident, he contrasts loud boastful prayer and quiet, humble, personal prayer. Then he gives his disciples (and us) an example, an outline of how we should pray. This is traditionally called "The Lord's Prayer",and it is a prayer, but it is more that that. It is a guide to lead us to a humble and meaningful prayer life. Here is the prayer with a few thoughts to consider.

• Our Father in heaven, Holy is your name.
• Our - we are all in this togehter.
• Father - A family member who loves you; he adopted you as his own
• Holy - he is the head of the household, worthy of respect
• Your kingdom come
• He is in control; better things will come. 
• Your will be done. 
• He has your best interest in mind and knows better than you what you need
• God’s will over your will - it will be better for you in the long run
• Seek his will.
• Give us this day our daily bread.
• Give us - Meet our basic needs
• Daily - Trust god daily to take care of you
• Forgive us our debts...
• Acknowledge our debt, obligation to God
• That we have failed to live up to his standard
• Forgive our debts - when we have fallen short of God’s standard and/or hurt or failed other people.
• As we forgive our debtors
• How can we ask for forgiveness if we are not willing to forgive others?
• Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
• Lead us - this is not suggesting that God causes temptation, but is a rhetorical way to ask for God’s protection from sin.
• Temptation - protect us from our own selfish desires
• Deliver from Evil - protect us from outside evil influences.
• We acknowledge that we need God’s help, we cannot avoid sin on our own.

Notice that in verse 14 Jesus specifically emphasizes the part about forgiving and being forgiven.

“For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins."

If we receive and understand forgiveness, we will also be inspired to forgive others. Think about how these things are intertwined and cannot be separated. Prayer is directly linked to our daily relationships with God and with the people around us.


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1. Exodus 20:3-27

2. Matthew 22:37-40 (NET)  

3. Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)
Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7
ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4