A distinct pattern quickly emerges when you begin to examine the life of Jesus: He frequently spent time talking to His Heavenly Father through prayer. The question needs to be asked, “How can we learn to pray like Jesus?”
Mark writes in his gospel that “very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed”. Luke adds that Jesus, “often withdrew to lonely places and prayed”.
The reality is that prayer does not come naturally to us BUT it is something that we can learn. On at least one occasion, Jesus was asked to teach His followers how to pray. We often call His answer the Lord’s Prayer:
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.” – Matthew 6:9–13
Now this prayer was intended to be a model for how we are to pray. The Lord’s Prayer gives us a pattern that we should incorporate in our prayer time. Jesus’ model for prayer moves in two directions: 1) it moves in the direction of God, 2) it moves in the direction of our needs.
We begin by addressing God as our Father, asking Him to exalt His name & extend His rule in our lives. After worshipping God, we ask for His daily provision, daily pardon, and daily protection.
Here’s a simple pattern that I was taught to help me better understand prayer and consistently spend time talking to God. My hope this helps you as well.
“Our Father in Heaven”
“Hallowed Be Your Name”
“Your Kingdom come. Your will be done…”
“Give us this day our daily bread”
“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Keep in mind that prayer is a spiritual muscle that grows as you use it. If we want to learn how to pray like Jesus, we need to exercise our prayer muscles. The more you pray, the more you know how to pray, and the more you desire to pray. So, start with 5 minutes a day if that is all you can handle, and commit to doing it every day for a month. I believe you’ll be amazed at where it goes from there.
Tina Kirschner says:
Excellent article Pastor Eric!