Dear God, am I doing this right?

When you pray, only one of three things will happen: God will either say "yes", "no" or "maybe/later". Do you ever wonder why some people seem to hear nothing but "yes" while others hear nothing but "no"? If you do, you're not the only one to ever think about that. There are many people who try to figure out the exact words, in the right order, in the proper posture at the appropriate time to maximize the efficiency of their prayers. Was prayer meant to be a ritual? Do you ever wish you could just walk up to Jesus and ask Him how to pray?

You're in luck. In Luke chapter 11, we get to learn from Jesus how to pray.

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his desciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: " 'Our Father in heaven, holy is your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.' " Luke 11:1-4

Instead of copying Jesus' prayer, we need to understand what he's saying in his prayer so we can have a powerful prayer life. The first thing that Jesus begins his prayer with is Our Father in heaven. He doesn't start by saying, "Almighty God and creator of the universe" which God is. He says "Our Father". He's talking to someone that he has an intimate relationship with. He's talking to someone that he loves, not just someone he can get something from.

Next Jesus says, holy is your name. Jesus is conceding that God is holy and if we're going to have an intimate relationship with a Holy God, then there are going to be some moral implications. When we go to God in prayer typically, we want him to care about us, but we don't want him to care about our character. To have a powerful prayer life, we need to allow God to invade every aspect of our lives.

Then Jesus switches gears and says your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Here Jesus is recognizing that God's kingdom is big and his will is in action. In fact God's story has been a freight train through the history of the world, including now forward. As for us, we're either on that train or we're not. Our lives are either aligned with Him or they're not. Our prayers are either in God's will or they're not. If they are, then we may get a lot of "yes' " from God. But if we hear a lot of "no's", then we need to get back in alignment with Him.

Give us each day our daily bread. We may live very comfortably in our country where we don't have to worry about where we'll sleep tonight or how we'll eat, but Jesus is saying that our dependence needs to remain in God. That being in God's presence is a daily occurrence, not just one day a week (most weeks).

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. This is a reminder that we receive grace from God. We're all sinners deserving of death. God doesn't want us to go to him with a "look how good I'm doing attitude." We're not to look at others like we're smarter, better, or more righteous than anyone. Sin is sin and we're all sinners. But we receive grace from God so that we can have a relationship with Him. That grace came at a price, and we should recognize and remember that by going to God in humility. And when we receive His grace, we should give the same grace away to others.

If you forgive others. If you choose love over bitterness, generosity over greed, servanthood over self-centeredness. If you choose to pray not for what God can do for you but what God can do through you. You will begin to live a life that is powerful. And your prayer life will not only change you, but the world around you. You can live in intimate communication with God. That is Jesus' invitation to you when he taught you how to pray.