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THE LORD’S PRAYER: A PATTERN FOR EFFECTIVENESS

April 11, 2025

Pray, then, in this way:
 “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”] Matthew 6:9-13

Jesus supplies us with a beautiful model for prayer. It is not meant to be a rigid formula, but instead a pattern to show us what features to include in our prayers.

  1. HONOR GOD FIRST. When we start our prayers by acknowledging God and letting Him know how much we respect and revere Him, it reminds us that He is our source for all. It helps curb any unbelief as we submit our earthly lives to His will.
     
  2. ASK HIM TO MEET YOUR NEEDS. “Give us this day our daily bread.” This is both for our spiritual and our physical lives. Whatever the “daily bread” you need, you can bring it before God, knowing He “will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
     
  3. FORGIVE. Jesus has us both acknowledge that we need to be forgiven and that we need to forgive. We are fallen beings without Jesus – and we need to show mercy and forgive others.  
     
  4. ASK HIM TO DELIVER YOU FROM EVIL.  God does not tempt us – the devil does. James 1:13 says: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” But God will deliver us from every temptation and provide a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13).

PRAY THIS OUT LOUD:
God, I honor Your name. Whatever is going on in heaven, please bring it onto earth. Let Your perfect will be done in every situation. Feed me, help me, and guide me. I refuse to be bitter, so I ask You to forgive my debts as I forgive my debtors. I will not carry bitterness any longer. And God, I trust You to deliver me from temptation, from the tempter, and from all evil. Help me to walk on track with You. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

God bless you,
Pastor Jeff Perry

hal·lowed, adj
To make holy. Set apart for holy or religious use. Treat or keep as sacred. Consecrate. To respect greatly, venerate, revere. 

Copyright © 2025 St. Louis Family Church, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Weymouth, Richard Francis. The New Testament in Modern Speech. James Clarke & Co., 1903. “Stronghold, N.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, C. & G. Merriam CO., 1971, p. 2266.