Prayer is for Praising

The only other expression besides petitioning in the Lord’s Prayer is praise or adoration. Jesus begins in verse two, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” In Matthew’s account of the same prayer, the prayer ends with praise and affirmation, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13).

Prayer is a means for us to express our love and esteem to the Lord. A husband that loves his wife must articulate that love somehow to his wife. The more he treasures her, the more the need to communicate it. Praise and worship is no different. It must be expressed; it must find an outlet. Joy is never quite satisfied unless it is able to express itself in praise and delight.

In summary, prayer is the means, which the Lord has given us to express our hearts’ needs to Him, namely the need to praise Him and desperately depend upon Him in all things. Therefore, the lesson of Luke 11:1-13 is that if we are going to be mighty in prayer we must be mighty in need.

Preparation for Prayer

Since the Lord has invested much of His glory in the praying of Christians, we must not be haphazard about prayer. There should be some forethought and preparation to praying. While our Lord is a constant friend and loves us so intimately, we should not revere Him any less for this and treat Him as a common friend. Respect and honor must be the decorum of prayer. Awe and a godly fear must adorn our hearts as well as our speech as we speak with the Universe’s Creator. As well as attitude, which we will say more about, there are a few other things that we can do to aid us to incorporate prayer as a staple in our life.