Praying for our Father’s Glory

Jesus gives us a basic model of how we should pray. This is no legalistic prescription. Our different personalities, different circumstances and needs may cause us to pray in different ways. When we examine how we pray it brings us back to our hearts — Why are we praying in the way we are praying, whatever that way may be? The ultimate aim of our prayers is always our Father’s glory. We pray that his Name will be kept holy, his kingdom will come and his will be done in our lives and in the world around us. All to worship and glorify our Father in heaven.

I believe that faith, hope, and love should form the foundations for our prayers and guide our prayers. Faith — We believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our faith enables us to pray. Because we believe we worship and glorify God in and through our prayers. Hope — Out of our faith flows hope. We believe God’s Word. We accept his promises. We trust that God will fulfill his promises. We believe and trust that God answers our prayers. We believe God’s kingdom is coming and his will is being done. This gives us hope and purpose in this life. Love — God loves us. We love God. Through our prayers, we adore God, delight in God, fellowship with God, praise and worship him. Because of love, we pray for our others, believers, and unbelievers, even for our enemies.

1. Talk with God

When we pray we talk, speak, with God, and listen to God intentionally, consciously, purposefully. Our minds and hearts are engaged, actively involved when we pray. That’s why Jesus tells us not to be like and pray like unbelievers. They babble on using meaningless sounds or meaningless words. They keep on repeating sounds, words or phrases with no meaning. They speak for a long time using many words.

Sometimes we are guilty of doing the same. In one prayer we keep on repeating the same prayer request over and over again so much so that it becomes mindless repetition. We repeat the Lord’s name over and over again as if his name is a magical formula.

Jesus is not against repeating prayers. He himself prayed three times in the garden repeating the same prayer. He teaches us the power of persistent prayer through the parable of the persistent widow in Lk 18:1-8. The Bible also teaches us to pray continuously, without ceasing.

Jesus is warning against mindless prayer. That is prayer where we recite the words without thinking; mindless, mechanical, automatic repetition. The mind is not engaged in intentional, purposeful speaking with God. Sometimes that is how we recite the Lord’s Prayer, from memory, without thinking, without taking the words seriously.

We don’t have to convince or persuade God to hear and answer our prayers. There’s no need to impress God with our prayers. Psalm 139 speaks of how intimately God knows us. Our Father in heaven already knows everything we need. There is no need for us to keep on babbling with many words like this. We believe, we know that He knows our needs already. So we present it to him, talk with him about it. We trust him with our lives and needs.

When we try to convince and persuade God to answer our prayers through all kinds of prayer techniques and methods, do you see what we are doing? We try to persuade God to do our will. God is not impressed or persuaded by the mechanics of our prayers — the words we use and how many times or how long we pray. God wants to know what is in our hearts — are we poor in spirit, repentant, meek, humble? Do we believe? Do we trust God? Love and adore Him?

So, it does not matter if you pray a simple, short prayer or a long prayer with eloquent words and speech. The question is — is your mind, heart, and soul engaged with God? How is your heart?

2. Our Father in Heaven

When we pray we must begin in the right place. We speak to God, call to God, and not just any god but the one true, living God, our Father in heave. The words “in heaven” are not so much about where God is as it is about who God is. These words speak of God’s authority and power as the Creator and Ruler of all things. These words combine fatherly love with heavenly power. And with these words, we express our faith in God. He is our personal, loving and powerful Father.

This is amazing grace that we can call the all-powerful Creator and Lord of the universe, Father. Yes, God is our Father, but he is also the Lord God Almighty, Yahweh, the Great I Am, righteous and holy. Therefore, we must live and follow him with reverent fear and awe. Thus, the next prayer, “hallowed be your name.” Let your name be sanctified. May we keep your name holy. May we treat your name with reverence and respect. We should treasure and love his name more than any other name.

When we pray we must approach God with the right frame of mind and the right heart attitude. So we must prepare, focus, fix our minds and hearts upon God. We must orient our lives and world around him alone. We will give first priority to God’s glory, God’s concerns, God’s will, God’s kingdom. Our needs take second place. However, because we have faith, believe in God as our Father, we can trust him, and commit our needs to him. And we live with this hope, we know, that he will answer our prayers according to his will, according to what will serve us and his glory the best.

Do we stand in awe of God? How do we approach the throne of God? There is a real danger of overfamiliarity with God. He becomes our buddy. Yes, Jesus is our friend, but he is also Lord. “In your hearts revere Christ as Lord” (1 Pet 3). When you have a hard time to focus on God, to be in awe of him, begin your prayers and devotions by reading Revelation 4 slowly and envision that awesome scene of God on his throne. And if your heart is in the right place, if you are poor in spirit, you will be in awe, fall down in awe, and say with the living creatures around the throne, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

3. Your Kingdom Come

Because God’s glory is our first priority we pray for his kingdom to come and for his will to be done. When we pray, your kingdom come, we are not asking for God’s kingdom to come into existence. The kingdom is God’s royal rule over the whole universe from eternity to eternity. He rules as the sovereign Lord over all of creation and over all of history, past, present and future. But in this world, there are places where other kingdoms, other lords are ruling, even in our own hearts.

In Jesus Christ God’s kingdom came into the world in a new and special way. The kingdom with all its blessings and salvation is real and available to us through faith. As followers of Jesus, as kingdom people, we pray that God’s kingdom will come in our hearts. That Jesus will rule in our hearts and lives.

We pray that his kingdom will come in all the places in the world and in all the areas of our lives where the kingdom is not yet present and realized. We ask that the other rulers and kingdoms be displaced and brought under God’s rule. We pray for his kingdom to come in our homes, towns, city streets, workplaces, schools, etc. We pray that God’s kingdom will grow and be made visible through the church’s witness and mission. We pray that God’s kingdom will come in the hearts of unbelievers. And we pray fervent hope that Jesus will return soon, and God’s kingdom be restored to its full glory in the new creation.

In this life and in this world we are the hands and feet of Jesus and his kingdom. Therefore, we must spend time in prayer to discern where and how God is at work, where and how is he calling us to join with him in his kingdom work and mission.

4. Your Will Be Done

Therefore we pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God’s will is being done in heaven. Ps 103:20-21 — “Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.” God’s will is being done in his creation. Ps 148:8 — “lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding.” Ps 147:15-18 — “He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.”

Everything is in his hands. It may seem as if the world is spinning out of control but take note — “His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Dan 4:35) When we pray, your will be done, we confirm that everything is in God’s hand, that He is doing his will. We affirm our faith and trust in God.

But we also pray that God’s will will be done in our hearts and lives. How many times are our prayers actually focused on our will and what we want? We must follow Jesus’ example of praying and submitting to the Father’s will — “May your will be done. Not my will but yours be done.” (Mt 26:42; Lk 22:42) Look at Paul’s answer when the elders tried to dissuade him from going to Jerusalem — “Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” (Acts 21:13-14) Are we willing to submit to God’s will like that, even if it means that we may die for the Name of the Lord Jesus?

That’s what it means to pray this prayer, your will be done. His will must be done first in our hearts. How will we know God’s will? By offering our “bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Ro 12:1-3) By abiding in Christ, walking in step with the Holy Spirit, studying his Word, by praying and fasting. “Then he will equip us with everything good for doing his will, and he will work what is pleasing to him through Jesus, for his glory” (Heb 12:20-21).

Then we also pray that God’s will be done in this world and in other people’s lives. Our love for others compels us to pray for them. And we will not just pray for the physical needs others may have. If they are believers, we pray that they will grow fully mature in Christ, that they will make disciples, and that they will glorify God in everything they do. If they are unbelievers, we pray for their salvation, that they will come to know Jesus Christ and experience the amazing grace of God’s love and salvation. But be ready — God may use you to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to them. It does not help to pray for them all the time, but then you don’t share the good news with them.

We pray in faith with hope and love. We pray to worship, honor and glorify our Father in heaven. His glory, his holy Name, his kingdom, his will, must be the focus and priority in our prayers. Even when in supplication and intercession we pray for ourselves and others, those prayers ultimately serve our Father’s glory. How is your heart when you pray? Are your prayers serving the Father’s glory? Are you ready and willing for God’s kingdom to come in your heart and for his will to be done in your life so that you will work and live to glorify the Father and honor his Name in everything you do?