How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life

He leads me …

But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray [in seclusion]. (Luke 5:16, AMP)

Our prayer time with the Lord is critical to our development as Christians. When we see in the Psalms how David opened out his emotions to God, we may look at what he said and think that we could not pray like that. But the Lord wants to hear what is honestly on our heart.

Jesus’ disciples were familiar with the regularly repeated prayers of the Torah, and in some church services today we can find a similar presentation. It is great when we start and we sincerely mean what we say, but over time if we are not careful the sincerity fades. Maybe the disciples felt the same, because they went to Jesus, as we find in Matthew 6, and they said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’

The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13) is Christ’s response. While many of us know the prayer off by heart, we do not have to keep repeating it for long to realise that the words are a summary of what to pray rather than a prayer in its own right. Let us look a bit more deeply at what Jesus was directing us to.

‘Our Father in Heaven,

Prayer is a conversation with God, and like every conversation it begins by addressing the person we are speaking to by name. Jesus begins with ‘Our Father in Heaven’ so that it is clear who we are talking to. If we prayed, ‘O wise one’ that could be anyone. It also helps us to focus on who we are talking to. We are not talking to the US president or the Queen of England. The Lord is so much more than they are, but He also knows us better than anyone else does too.

Think about this. How does it affect our relationship with the Lord? With awe? With respect? With love?

Hallowed be Your name,

This follows closely on from the previous comments. To hallow is to consider something or someone as holy. This aspect of the Lord’s Prayer directs us to God’s holiness. In Mark 14:36, Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6 we are encouraged to call Him ‘Abba Father’. This is like saying ‘Daddy, Daddy’, and encourages us to have a relationship where we can pour out our heart if we need to, and also learn from the very best teacher that there is.

At this stage in the Lord’s Prayer it is a good opportunity to spend some time praising God for who He is (His characteristics and names) and to take time to freely worship and adore Him from our heart.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

The kingdom of God is the place where God reigns, and is both future and present. When we pray this we are recommitting our will and life to God’s rule. When we follow Jesus, we are living in and working towards the kingdom of God. We can pray that as we are in His kingdom, He guides us in what to do, so that people see something of Jesus through us.

We should pray for our development of character and holiness using the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 5:1-12; Galatians 5:22) as a guide. Another key is to pray for guidance and power with our daily work and service to God (being very specific in our prayers).

This is also where we can thank the Lord for the good things that have happened in our lives and also for those around us as we work in with Him. We can also pray by name for His kingdom to come in the form of salvation for those who He has lead us to pray for. It is really critical to pray for His kingdom to come for those who need it – the suffering, the poor, and also in the issues in both our community and nationally. We are told to pray for our leaders too. Not just in the church and our managers at work, but our local politicians (council) as well as those leading our country. Probably more important, is to pray for the people who advise the politicians, so that the best decisions are made for the benefit of the people who they represent.

We should not forget to pray for any missionaries and mission efforts that the Lord puts on our heart as well as for His kingdom to come in the form of revival and spiritual awakening in our church and our nation too.

In all of this we should follow the example of Jesus, who in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed, ‘not my will, but yours be done.’ When we see that right and wrong are frequently blurred, and the future is so unreliable, it can be hard to know how to pray clearly for the correct solution. But the one thing we can know with absolute certainty is that God knows what He is doing, and the safest place we can be is in the centre of His divine will.

To stay in His will we should do what Proverbs 28:13 and Psalms 66:18; 139:23-24 show us, and search our thoughts and attitudes, as well as carefully examine our words and relationships for where we have gone wrong and then confess any sins that become clear to the Lord.

Give us today our daily bread.

Bread has always been a customary part of man’s diet and we should remember that Jesus is the ‘bread of life’ meaning that He provides both our physical and spiritual needs. (Philippians 4:19)

Jesus was saying that we should not hesitate to ask God to meet all our needs – not our wants. We may not want to bother God with the little things we need, but as James 4:2 says, ‘You do not have because you do not ask God.’ So we should never hesitate to ask God for what we need.

At this point it is a good to take a few moments to thank God for past, present, and future blessings.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Jesus teaches that everyone who comes before God’s holy presence needs to have their sins forgiven. Sin is a debt owed to God which cannot be repaid by us. (Matthew 18:21-33). So it is important to admit our sins to the Lord. Then by our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we can be justified by God (just as if we have not sinned). This then puts us back in God’s will.

Whoever receives the forgiveness of God is placed in a new relationship with Him that allows for us to forgive others. This is critical because to pray for forgiveness for ourselves without extending forgiveness to others means that the Lord will not forgive us (Matthew 6:14, 15).

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

Testing and trials are signs which show the effect of evil. While God does not tempt us, He may allow trials and temptations to happen to encourage us to come to our senses like the prodigal son in the pig food (Luke 15:16). 

Because Satan opposes all the truths that God represents, to be delivered from temptation and/or the evil one is important so that we do not fall away from our relationship with the Lord. Looking to God to deliver us is most likely to be the only way we can be totally released from these influences.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Because we have made several requests for God’s help, we now finish the Lord’s Prayer by recognising that the only real answer to all the troubles in our life, as well as general life around us is the establishment of God’s kingdom under the authority of the only One who has the power to do everything the right way. For this and all that He is doing, He really deserves all honour and glory.[1]

Please note - The plan is to adopt these examples for prayer in the form of a love relationship guided by our Spirit. They are not meant to be a rigid formula.

[1] 8 Keys to a Powerful Prayer Life, Marilee Pierce Dunker, World Vision; https://www.worldvision.org/christian-faith-news-stories/keys-powerful-prayer-life-2021

The Lord's Prayer: A Prayer For Life, Ron Mills, Ministry Matters; https://www.ministrymatters.com/worship/entry/1983/the-lords-prayer-a-prayer-for-life

Drawn from Restoring Our First Love by Dr. Gregory Reed Frizzell, Published by Gregory Reed Frizzell January 2010.