WHAT TO PRAY FOR
TEACH US TO PRAY. Jesus’ disciples observed his devotion to prayer. They heard him and discerned his unique confidence and his earnest perseverance in prayer. They appealed: “Teach us to pray.” This is when Jesus taught them the words to the prayer traditionally called “The Lord’s Prayer.” (Luke 11:1-4 and Matthew 6:7-15).
PRAY WHAT MATTERS TO GOD. This example of Jesus teaches us to honor our Father in heaven. All who pray petition God. Jesus showed that we should first petition for God’s kingdom and for God’s will. He also encouraged us to pray for our daily food, which implies prayer for our needs. If our personal desires are motivated by covetousness then we are asking wrongly (James 4:1-4). God really cares and provides for us, so Jesus encouraged asking. Our great spiritual need is forgiveness, but our Father forgives us when we willingly forgive others who have wronged us. This issue is close to our Father’s heart because it shows that what matters to Him matters to us, that we care deeply about salvation and reconciliation.
INTERCEDE AS PRIESTS. Christians are priests of God for the whole world, just as the nation of Israel was called to be a kingdom of priests for all the nations of the world (Exodus 19:5-6 and Revelation 5:9-10). The fruit of our lips in praise to God are sacrifices of our priesthood that pleases God (Hebrews 12-16 and 1 Peter 2:9-10). The priestly ministry of Zachariah in Luke 1:5-17 illustrates the privilege and power of the role of intercession by priests of God. His duty was to tend the altar of incense during the time of prayer, to intercede for God’s people and other great concerns according to the will of God. He certainly interceded for the redemption of Israel, but he also prayed for a child. The Lord gave him and Elizabeth a child who would prepare God’s people for redemption by turning the hearts of parents and children toward each other and toward God. This child, John the Baptist, would introduce Jesus as the Messiah to Israel. Anna the prophetess is a great example of a devote woman of Israel who devoted herself to worship, praying and fasting to bring about God’s desire for the consolation of His people (Luke 2:36-38). The world’s redemption is not yet complete, and God seeks men and women who will devoutly intercede until God’s desire for blessings of redemption for all the families and nations on earth is complete.
THE CHURCH’S CALLING. What a great calling God has granted to His church to intercede as priests on behalf of the whole world, even the leaders of the world. The rulers of our nation and the world require wisdom to rule with justice. The Apostle Paul urges us to intercede for the salvation of all and for peace and safety that will support the dignity of all who worship God (1Timothy 2:1-8). Most of all God desires salvation for all, and He has bound His desire to our devotion in prayer. In prayer we work as intercessors with Jesus, the mediator of humankind’s reconciliation with God. Yet the church will fail in this great calling if it succumbs to the indignity of angry disputes. The church spends time praying or disputing, but it cannot do both.
PETITIONS THAT MATTER. Clearly the salvation of all matters to God; therefore, it matters that we petition the Lord of the harvest of souls for workers, and that we pray for the confidence and success of the workers (Matthew 9:35-38 and Colossians 4:2-6). The fabric of our petitions should be meaningfully stitched and laced with praise and thanksgiving to our Father and the beloved Son of God, who is the purpose and design of our creation. For this reason it matters that we pray that the church mature in spiritual wisdom; gain wisdom though suffering against evil; and learn to fully appreciate and articulate the immense significance of Christ for this creation (Colossians 1:9-23 and James 1:2-8). Indeed, a mark of understanding the significance of our King’s rule will free us to love our enemies and to pray for those who contemptuously mistreat us (Matthew 5:43-48). When we pray for those who are physically and spiritually sick, we should pray earnestly like Elijah, believing that Christ built his church to be the steward of the house, power and blessings of the kingdom of God in this age (Matthew 16:13-20, James 5:13-20, Ephesians 1:15-23, and Ephesians 3:14-21).
THE LORD’S PRAYER. The Lord Jesus really did pray a prayer for his disciples and the whole world that unveils our heavenly Father’s purpose and pleasure (John 17). Jesus prayed this prayer with solemn earnestness on the night of his betrayal while he observed the Passover with his disciples. Thus Jesus revealed what mattered most to him. The part of this prayer recited often in the teaching of the church is Christ’s prayer for the unity of his disciples so that the world may come to believe in him. The church has interpreted unity as a doctrinal and institutional unity, idealizing the eternal life that makes unity possible and enjoyable when doctrinal and institutional unity is imperfect, even illusive. Christ prayed that we would find in him the same oneness that he enjoyed with his Father because of his Father’s love for him and for them. To realize and understand the Father’s love is to experience and enjoy the glory Jesus knew, which is the eternal life that comes from knowing the only true God. Christian doctrine meaningfully reveals this truth, and the institutional church should facilitate our mature understanding and practice of this truth. Alas, has the church really joined its heart together with Jesus in understanding unity as he understood it, so that we can pray his prayer with understanding and earnestness?
