Lesson 1: © Darlene Davis

I did this study numerous years ago with a prayer-walking group. God keeps bringing it to my heart with the sense that it is to be posted here for those who may need deeper understanding of seeking the Father in the name of the Christ. For this study we will look at prayer and how it is to be done through the teachings of Christ in Matthew 6. I am going to start with verse 9. After we finish the actual outline laid out by Christ, we will look at some things around these verses that also instruct us.

This passage in Matthew 6:9-13 is often called the Lord’s Prayer, but that is incorrect. The Lord’s Prayer is John 17, where Jesus prays for the disciples who would remain after his death and for us who would follow their testimony to Christ. It is a good prayer to read to get a feel for the relationship Jesus had with the Father, and how they communicated together.

This passage in Matthew that we will be looking at is actually The Lord’s Model Prayer. It was a tool for instruction in the proper way to address God and what types of things to pray about.

First we need to understand the reason Jesus covered this subject in this way. One of his disciples asked Him, “Teach us to pray?” It was the custom of the day for teachers to give an outline of instruction in prayer and other such spiritual disciplines. Matthew 6:9-13 is such an outline. It is not meant to be prayed by wrote, though we do that quite frequently, but to give the major categories our prayer should cover as well as the attitudes necessary to rightly relate with God.

With that said, let’s begin to break this down to its basic points as we seek to understand this teaching of Christ.

“Our Father” – Stop! That’s our first point in the outline.

Prayer is relational, relating to God as a child addressing their father. That requires that God be our Father just as He was the Father of Jesus. So the first place to begin if you have not already done so is to learn how to become His child. If you do not know God as Father yet, please contact me or go online to Here’s Hope.

If He is your Father, then the first thing to do as you begin to address Him is come into that attitude of a child coming to her Daddy-God.

Read Matthew 18:1-4. What importance does Jesus give to this childlike attitude before God?

Those who come to God with the faith and trust of a child are highly sought after by God.

Read Matthew 7:7-11. What hope does this give you in this Father-Child relationship?

The Father always desires and does what is best for the child of His heart’s desire.

Today give focus to your relationship with Father God. Praise Him for it. Find time throughout the day to sit in His lap and just enjoy your Daddy.