Pray with Jesus

We know we should pray to Jesus. But he also invites us to pray with him. In his revolutionary Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us how to pray. Found in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9-13, he lays out a humble yet profound model often called The Lord’s Prayer. The simple guide below is an attempt to walk in that teaching with him. It uses the easy to remember acronym PRAY as a framework for engaging with this core prayer of our  faith.

Use this guide to develop a daily prayer rhythm in your own life, for your small group, or share with your congregation.

PRAISE
Our Father in heaven, holy is Your name.

-Begin by praising God for who He is and what He has done.
-Orient yourself in the ultimate reality that is greater than your current situation.
-Thank him for the ways that he has demonstrated his love for you, from creation to the cross and even into this moment you find yourself in.
-Meditate on the beauty of his character, holiness, strength, grace, sovereign wisdom and redeeming love.

REALIGN
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

-Surrender your will to His.
-Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate places where you are resisting, disobedient or out of alignment with his will.
-Pray for the wisdom to know his will and the courage to obey it.
-Pray for patience to wait and trust if you can’t understand his will.
-Pray for his Kingdom to be seen and experienced in your community.
-Ask how you can be an active participant in that reality.
-Ask him to reveal what ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ looks like for your local context and everyday life.

ASK
Give us today, our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

-Ask God to provide for the things you need. He already knows what you need even before you ask, so don’t be afraid.
-Bring the desires of your heart, the anxieties of your spirit and the longings of your soul to him.
-Ask God to provide for others as well.
-Repent for any sin in your life and ask for his forgiveness. His grace is free and extravagant and it is for you. He does not cautiously ration grace, he lavishes it on us. Not because we deserve it, but because he is love.
-Ask God to empower you to forgive others. Who do you need to forgive? You have been forgiven freely. Now who is next?
-Pray for those who have hurt you. Ask God to cultivate a spirit of genuine love in your heart toward them.

YIELD
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

-Remember that Jesus is King over everything. Reaffirm that he is King over every part of your life. Reorient your vision of the world through that overarching reality.
-Confess the areas of temptation in your life and ask God to deliver you. What are you wrestling with now, today? His grace is strong enough.
-Ask God to empower not just forgiveness, but freedom in his grace.
-Everyone faces temptation. God will never lead you into it, his grace will lead you through it. Ask him to show you the way through.
-Thank Jesus for his sacrifice that makes salvation and obedience possible.

*We realize that many others across the years have created and recreated similar frameworks using this simple, obvious acronym. Our goal here is not to be clever or original, but helpful. We first used this framework around a decade ago in a local church context and have since encountered many wonderful variations. One of our favorites is found in Pete Grieg’s book, How to Pray. We highly recommend it for a deeply helpful and extensive exploration of this approach.

**by Matt LeRoy for Love Chapel Hill