Let us look at Step 11, Part 3, as we look into the 12 Steps with God

Step 11 – Prayer – We seek through prayer and meditation to know God’s Word and grow in Christ, praying only for the knowledge of His will for us and power to carry that out.

We have committed two lessons to the matter of assimilating the Word of God into our lives, but now want to focus on the issue of prayer. Prayer is a vitally important element of drawing close to God, and distancing ourselves from the sin in our lives.

In today’s lesson, we want to talk a little bit about how one formulates prayers. Often Christians are assumed to know instinctively how to pray, but the truth is, we all must be taught. And no one is a better teacher of how prayer should be done than God himself.

Jesus said, “Pray then like this.” Take note…Jesus commands prayer to be done in this fashion.

Matthew 6:9-13, “Pray then like this:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

You might have also recognized Jesus mandates a prayer format, not a specific prayer. He said, “Pray like this.”  So, what is the format?

1. Exaltation of whom we address.

• Our Father in heaven…He is to be adored, highly respected. Our God is omnipresent, not just living in heaven, but in all places, all of the time. To identify His superiority over humanity, we acknowledge His legitimate residence in glory as heaven.
• Hallowed be your name…God is not like His own creation. We are all marred by sin and its consequences. God is innately pure, righteous, and glorious; which in His very essence, separates Him from us. So, it is natural that His identifying feature (His name) would be unlike ours, for He is eternally superior to us.
• Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…This is God’s world, and He has a plan for it. He will establish a one world government and will eventually reign as humanity’s King in heaven. As God’s desires are accomplished in heaven, so are they to be done on this earth. God is sovereign, everything is under His control – His will is accomplished, sometimes with our efforts, sometimes without.

2.         Petition from whom we address.

· Give us this day our daily bread…We ask for His help to even have today’s meals. His resources are vast, and He can not only feed you today, but clothe you, house you, transport you, or occupy your time. He is able to meet the needs of this day, and so we ask.

· Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…We are asking God to be kind in forgiving us our sins against Him, just like we have shown kindness in forgiving those who have sinned against us. Herein is a huge personal dilemma. If we are going to ask God for His forgiveness, we MUST forgive others.

· Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…When we petition God, knowing that He is righteous, good, and holy, we might assume that He would lovingly keep us from sin and its influence in our life. The reality is, God can strengthen us through these trials/temptations. This final plea is for God to keep our exposure to elements of wickedness to a minimum, making the spiritual battle more manageable.

Finally, you may have noticed the traditional phrase, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, Amen,” isn’t in the quote.  The reason, it is believed not to have been said by Jesus.  There are several other variations of these, but you get the point. We are only concerned with Christ’s actual words.

The pattern prayer is a great place to start…but there are other truly rich and compelling examples of prayer throughout the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. These are a several of my favorites…

Philippians 4:6-8, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

· Fret and worry indicate a lack of trust in God. All difficulties are within God’s purposes and gratitude to God accompanies all true prayer. Inner calm or tranquility is promised to the believer who has a thankful attitude based on unwavering confidence that God is able and willing to do what is best for His children

Colossians 1:9, For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

· This word for knowledge is not an inner impression or feeling, but a deep and thorough knowledge of the will of God that is finally and completely revealed in the Word of God.

Consider and Confess:

1. We recommend taking the Lord’s Prayer as a template and fashion your own prayer according to the given pattern. How can you acknowledge God’s sovereignty when you speak to Him? What words can you use to exalt Him?

2. Long before you ask for anything in prayer it is important to get your priorities and focus right. How does exaltation of God get you spiritually ready to petition?

3. When you do go to God with requests, what are they? Are they extravagant? Are they legitimate? Do they reflect a godly heart and perspective?

4. Good prayers do not have to be long and theologically deep. The model prayer we looked at focuses on truth and honesty. How can you develop your prayer life to follow that pattern?

5. You have heard the old saying: “Practice makes perfect.” While that is not a Biblical quote, we do believe that the more you talk to God and spend time with Him; the more fulfilling your prayer life will be. Why do you think Paul said, “Pray without ceasing,” in I Thessalonians 5:17?
6. Have you ever prayed with someone who has an extraordinarily rich prayer life? If not, we recommend that as a good way to develop your own habits in prayer. If so, have you noticed their general patterns in prayer? How do they normally speak to God?
7. Do you believe prayer is important? Why? Why not?

Looking Forward:

Having talked about how to pray, in our next lesson we want to dwell on the need for and effects of prayer. We believe that God is sovereign, and that He is in absolute control of His creation. But this prompts a question: then, why pray? Do our prayers matter?  Do they make any difference? We’ll answer these questions next time.

An addendum to last week’s lesson…

The pattern prayer is a great place to start…but there are other truly rich and compelling examples of prayer throughout the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. These are a several of my favorites…

Philippians 4:6-8

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Fret and worry indicate a lack of trust in God. All difficulties are within God’s purposes and gratitude to God accompanies all true prayer. Inner calm or tranquility is promised to the believer who has a thankful attitude based on unwavering confidence that God is able and willing to do what is best for His children

Colossians 1:9

For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

This word for knowledge is not an inner impression or feeling, but a deep and thorough knowledge of the will of God that is finally and completely revealed in the Word of God.

Ephesians 1:15-19

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

Spirit of wisdom…understanding – Paul was praying that believers will have the disposition of godly knowledge and insight of which the sanctified mind is capable, so as to grasp the greatness of the hope and the inheritance that is theirs in Christ.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened – A spiritually enlightened mind is the only means of truly understanding and appreciating the hope and inheritance in Christ and of living obediently for Him.