The Essential Elements of Prayer

THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF PRAYER BLOG by Vince Wilcox

I've recently published a short, verse by verse devotional on The Lord's Prayer. This week, we're sharing an excerpt from it on the essential elements of prayer: foundational concepts for how we approach this passage as well as how we approach worship service planning. Whether or not you're a subscriber to Discover Worship—for a very limited time—we'd be honored to give you a free downloadable PDF copy of this 80-page study. Click on the button below to access the PDF. Or, if you'd rather get a Kindle or paperback version of the study, they're available at Amazon.com.

Matthew 6:9: “This, then, is how you should pray...”

Day in and day out, Jesus’ disciples saw him steal away to spend time with his Father. They understood that his supernatural power and peace came from prayer. They not only wanted to have what Jesus had, they wanted to become what Jesus was. To walk in his footsteps meant they would have to join him on their knees.

Throughout Scripture, we see prayer as having several distinct but interrelated dimensions: praise, pardon, and petition.

Praise

Prayer often begins with praise—acknowledging who God is and responding in worship. The more we meditate on his character and compassion, the more we will want to glorify him for who he is. The book of Psalms overflows with praise and adoration:

Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always. (Psalm 105:1-4)

But focusing on God’s sinless character will have an uncomfortable consequence: we will become profoundly (and perhaps painfully) aware of our own sinfulness. Like Isaiah in the presence of the Lord, we will cry out, “Woe to me...I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).

Pardon

The good news is that Christ has dealt once and for all with our transgressions (Hebrews 7:27). Scripture says that we may now “...approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Nonetheless, the apostle Paul instructs believers to carefully examine themselves to make sure they are right before God (1 Corinthians 11:28). Like David, we ask the Lord to sanctify our hearts: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).

We therefore respond to God’s Spirit with contrition and confession. As the apostle John writes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

As believers in Christ, we receive the pardon that he provides us through his blood. We thank God for his mercy and forgiveness. We celebrate the unmerited favor and freedom we experience in Christ.

Petition

Having given God the glory he is due and aligned our hearts with his, we’re ready to bring our petitions before him. To ask God for something without first esteeming him and examining our motives is like the immature child who is more interested in what his parent can give him than in his relationship with his parent.

In Matthew 6:32-33, Jesus says that his Father knows what we need before we ask, but that he requires us to seek his Kingdom and character in order to receive it.

Prayer is therefore not telling God what’s on our minds and persuading him to change his. Rather, effectual prayer happens when God tells us what’s on his heart so that we might actually have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Prayer is therefore not a "to-do" list for God as much as a "to-be" list for us. When our hearts and minds are aligned with the Father, then Jesus makes an incomprehensibly audacious promise. He will answer our prayers:

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:12-14)

In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 16:23-24)

The most challenging thing about prayer is the spiritual discipline of living in congruence with the will of God. We are so accustomed to walking “in the flesh” (Galatians 5:17) that even our prayers can be self-serving. But when we “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), we can’t help but pray prayers that the Lord has already determined to answer.

John, the same apostle who recorded Jesus’ teaching on prayer, understood the deep connection between living in God’s will and having our prayers answered:

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. (1 John 3:21-22)

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15)

Praise, pardon, and petition are three essential elements of prayer that we will encounter in our journey through the Lord’s Prayer.

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