The Lord’s Prayer
MidWeek Pulse Session 2 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Teach us how to pray
Teach us how to pray
Welcome to MidWeek Pulse this session tonight we are going to focus in on the Lords Prayer. I have for years felt that the biggest issue in the church is our lack of prayer. We have forsaken prayer because we don’t understand it. We have forsaken prayer because its easier to do something else. However to the early church prayer was the priority. It was not an after thought. It was all that they had. Every Religion has a prayer time. In the muslim world the call to prayer trumps all over things. In the the hindu world prayer is the constant focus of the life. In the world of the monk and monastery the call to prayer is at all hours. Yet in our christian world in our busyness we have neglected the place of prayer. Prayer is not just a good thing it is so vital that we can’t do anything without it. Prayer is as vital as oxygen and water. So we are going to dive into a place where Jesus gives us his prototype of prayer. This is the answer to the question teach us to pray
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
The disciples did not ask how to lead someone to Jesus, they didn’t ask what it meant to create moments of intimacy they didnt even ask when he was going to give them freedom. They asked Him teach us to pray.this question is what sets up the prototype that Jesus used to teach them to pray. Now we in our western cutlure struggle to understadn what it means to pray through or to spend a signifigant amount of time in prayer. So i want to break down the lOrds Prayer. If a jewish man was reading the Lords prayer they would understand that it would take roughly an hour to pray through it. Now when most people hear that they sturggle because we can’t even pray 5 minutes and are running out of words thats why the Lords prayer gives us a guidline to pray though
In Western culture, when we are given a prayer, we treat it like a script: memorize it, say the words, check the box, and you're done.
Jesus was a Jewish rabbi teaching Jewish disciples who already knew how to pray. He wasn’t giving them words to repeat mindlessly; He was giving them a structural skeleton.
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
He was giving them something like a blueprint
Think of an architect’s blueprint. The architect doesn't hand you a finished house and say, "Live inside this piece of paper." They hand you a blueprint that outlines the rooms—the kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms. You have to walk into each room, furnish it, and spend time there. The Lord's Prayer is a 7-room mansion of prayer. Jesus is saying, "Walk into Room 1, unpack it. Walk into Room 2, unpack it." That is how an hour disappears effortlessly.
The Pharisees used prayer like a stage. They prayed out loud for all to hear in public squares, using long, flowery, repetitive rhetoric. To them, prayer was a tool for social status and proving how "holy" they were. It was vertical in name, but horizontal in audience (aimed at human ears).
When you break the Lord's Prayer into its 7 natural movements, you aren't "begging God for things for 60 minutes." You are spending:
10 minutes looking at His Face (Praise & Relationship)
10 minutes aligning with His Heart (Kingdom Priorities)
10 minutes bringing your Daily Life (Provision & People)
10 minutes building a Hedge of Protection (Spiritual Warfare)
When we rush through the Lord's Prayer in 15 seconds, it's a monologue—us talking at God.
In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
This opening section isn't just a polite nod or an address label on a letter to God. It is the foundational stance. If you miss this room, the rest of the prayer collapses into a performance or a grocery list.
Jesus is tearing down the intimidation of religion and replacing it with the security of adoption. The word Abba isn't stiff or formal; it's an intimate, relational term (like "Dad" or "Papa").
Before you ask God for a single thing, you must remember who you are talking to. You are not a panicked beggar knocking on a stranger's door; you are a child walking into your Father's kitchen. It immediately shifts your posture from anxiety to absolute confidence.
When Jesus adds "in heaven," He is reminding us of the sheer scale of the God we serve. Earth is messy, broken, and chaotic—but our Father rules from a throne completely untouched by earthly panic.
When you pray, you are bridging earth and heaven. You are bringing the reality of heaven’s peace and authority right down into your earthly mess.
How do you hallow His name in real time? You use His covenant names to fight your current reality:
Feeling broken? “Lord, hallowed be Your name—You are Jehovah-Rophe, the Lord who heals me.”
Facing financial walls? “Lord, hallowed be Your name—You are Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who provides.”
Battling fear or chaos? “Lord, hallowed be Your name—You are Jehovah-Shalom, my peace.”
“When you start your prayer time, do not start with your problems. Start by anchoring your soul in His identity.”
Thank Him that you have legal, family right to call Him Father.
Acknowledge His throne—that He is in heaven, completely in control of whatever chaos is happening in your world today.
Praise His character—speak His names out loud until your faith rises higher than your stress.
Your ticket into the day is thanksgiving and praise. You can spend 5-10 minutes just thanking him and praising him. It is the call of all of us. You can push through this part but you are missing some of the best time. When my kids begin to tell me all the things they are greatefull for it lifts my heart and makes me happy and I want to do more. If I as an earrhtly father have those moments how much more does our heavely father.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Once you have anchored your soul in the identity of the Father (Verse 9), Jesus immediately forces a major shift in focus. This verse is where our personal agendas go to die and where true spiritual breakthrough begins.
To pray "Your kingdom come" is a deliberate act of abdication. Every single day, we wake up and naturally act as the king or queen of our own little worlds. We want our timeline, our comfort, our preferences, and our plans to reign supreme. When you pray this verse, you are stepping off the throne of your life and saying, "Lord, I am stepping down. You take over."
: Larry Lea teaches that this is where prayer turns from a wish-list into a warfare against self-will. Ricky Spindler one of my mentors often emphasizes that you cannot pray for God's power while blocking His authority. Aligning with His will is signing a blank check to Heaven.
Some ways to pray though this section
Identify an area where you’ve been white-knuckling your circumstances. Say out loud: "Lord, I give up my right to control this situation. Your will be done here, even if it hurts my pride or disrupts my plans."
“Your Kingdom come in my marriage.”
“Your Kingdom come in my parenting.”
“Your Kingdom come in my workplace or ministry.”
This is about the exhange of what you see vs what God sees. We are realising the authority of Heaven into our lives and not the authoirty of the earth. We are exhanging our will and our focus for His. We are building his agenda on earth. Remeber we sadi last week that prayer is the legal pipe that creates the space between heaven and earth. it sis how God moves into our lives. So this exhange is not about what we wnat but submitting what we want to him
This is not just another feel good moment but a full exhange of ideas. A full release of His Kingdom. You have already acknowledged Him as He is teh King supreme over all but now you are exahnigna dn coming into submission of His Kingdom Come His will be done. This is where we go off the rails most times becasue we fail to focus on what is so vital here.
Give us this day our daily bread.
After you have anchored yourself in the Father's identity (v. 9) and surrendered your life to His rule (v. 10), Jesus invites you to talk about your actual, everyday life. This verse is where the spiritual rubber meets the road.
self-sufficiency is the enemy of intimacy. When we have enough money in the bank, security in our career, and control over our schedule, we tend to forget we need God. Daily bread forces daily dependence. Jesus is calling us out of the modern American trap of trying to build a self-made fortress where we don't need God until an emergency hits.
Larry Lea teaches that many Christians fail in prayer because they are too "spiritual" to bring their real, messy, physical needs to God. They think God only cares about souls and revivals, not rent payments, car repairs, or physical health.
Notice Jesus doesn't say, "Give us our monthly surplus" or "Give us our yearly investments." He says daily bread. God wants you to bring the granular, gritty details of your life right into His kitchen.
Ways to pray through this
Acknowledge where you've been relying on your own strength, hustle, or bank account instead of trusting God for today.
“Lord, I need provision for this bill.”
“Father, I need physical strength to get through this week.”
“God, I need wisdom for this specific decision at work.”
: Rest in the reality that God’s grace isn't given for next year; it’s given for today. You only need enough grace for the next 24 hours.
One area I like to focus while I am praying through this is during this time I focus on his word his written scripture the Word of God its the word that brings nourishment. It is this time that I reflect on His word and His promises He has spoken. YOu can at this time if you need a moment you can read some scripture and pray through that. YOu can work through a verse and jsut pray through it.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
If verses 9 through 11 are about getting your relationship with God right (His name, His kingdom, your daily needs),verse 12 hits the pause button to deal with horizonal relationships. This is where the prayer moves from private devotion to communal reality, and it is often the room where people want to turn around and walk right back out.
When Jesus uses the word "debts" (or trespasses/sins), He is talking about the moral and emotional weight of wrongs committed against us—and by us. He is establishing an unbreakable link: Vertical mercy requires horizontal mercy.
Larry Lea emphasizes that unexpressed unforgiveness acts like a massive clog in the plumbing of your spiritual life. You can spend 40 minutes praising God and praying for your daily bread, but if you are nursing a bitter grudge or an unresolved offense, your prayer life hits a brick wall.
Ricky Spindler often hits hard on the truth that unforgiveness is a prison sentence we serve, thinking we are punishing someone else. Jesus isn't saying God's love is conditional—He is saying that a heart full of bitterness and retaliation is fundamentally incapable of receiving or reflecting God's grace. You cannot hold a tightly clenched fist of anger toward someone else while trying to open your hands to receive from Heaven.
How to Pray through this
You stop trying to justify your bad attitudes, sharp words, impatience, or selfish choices.
Take a moment of radical honesty before God. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you your own blind spots. Clean the slate.
This is the hard part. Jesus doesn't say, "Forgive them if they apologize first" or "Forgive them once the pain goes away." He ties our reception of grace directly to our extension of it.
Pause and let the Holy Spirit bring names or faces to your mind. Who has hurt you, offended you, or let you down? Consciously, out loud, choose to break the agreement with bitterness. Say, "Lord, they don't deserve it, and I don't feel like it, but by an act of my will, I release them to You. I cancel their debt."
One thing that a pastor friend of mine does is called teh debt ledger. Lets look at it
DEBT LEDGER
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Let’s step into the final major room of the blueprint: Verse 13: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (Note: Many ancient manuscripts and translations also include the traditional doxology closing: "For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.")
If the previous rooms were about anchoring in God's identity, surrendering your will, claiming your daily needs, and clearing out relational debris, this final room is about putting on your spiritual armor and standing your ground.
This phrase can sometimes trip people up. God doesn't tempt people to sin (James 1:13 makes that clear). In the original language, it carries the weight of a plea: "Lord, keep us out of the testing grounds where we are weak, protect us from our own blind spots, and don't let us walk into traps." It is an acknowledgment of our own frailty—knowing that left to ourselves, we will stumble.
Larry Lea emphasizes that you cannot effectively fight the enemy in your own strength. When you reach this point in your hour of prayer, you are stepping behind the shield of God. This is where you draw a protective hedge of prayer around your mind, your family, your purity, and your integrity.
Ricky Spindler often points out that the enemy loves to catch believers off-guard when they are distracted, exhausted, or prideful. Deliverance isn't passive; it is an active reliance on God's power to rescue us from the subtle traps and direct attacks of the enemy. You are moving from asking for provision to declaring protection.
Acknowledge Weakness: Confess your vulnerability to the enemy's traps.
“Lord, I am weak. Keep me out of situations where my flesh is vulnerable.”
Deploy the Armor (Deliverance): Explicitly ask for deliverance from the specific pressures or spiritual attacks facing you and your household right now.
Father, deliver my mind from anxiety and fear.”
“Deliver my marriage and my children from the traps of the enemy.”
“Guard my eyes, my thoughts, and my integrity today.”
The Faith Bookend (The Doxology): End your hour not by whining about how big the devil or your problems are, but by shouting out how big your God is. Close with the traditional declaration:
“For Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever! Amen!”
So often as we try and create moments we speed through things.
We can focus as we pray this is to remember that
The first section is all about hIm
The next section is all about our relationship to Him
The next section is his provision to us
We then move into our part
finally our focus is on those around us and spiritual warfare
In his book Pray Like this Ricky Spindler gives us this blueprint
The Lord’s Prayer is both a model and a map — Jesus’ own blueprint
for approaching the Father. It forms a pathway of worship, surrender, trust,
forgiveness, and spiritual warfare. Pray slowly and intentionally through
this pattern, allowing Jesus to teach you how to pray as He did. Worship
His Divine Attributes
“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed by thy name...” Take a moment and draw
your attention toward God. This is the beginning of all prayer, so take your
time. Vocally express your adoration to God. This means to acknowledge
Him for His holiness, love, mercy, power, presence, wisdom, provision,
Word, Spirit, etc.
Surrender to His Will
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done...” Declare that you want to do
God’s will. Then ask Him to reveal His will for you in all areas of your
life. Ask for the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control) to be present in your
thoughts, words, and actions.
Let Your Requests Be Made Known to Him
“Give us this day our daily bread...” Daily cast your burdens/pressures
on the Lord. See yourself placing situations, problems, and decisions
into His capable hands. Pray for specific needs that you have--the more
specific you are the better.
Ask for and Extend Forgiveness
“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors...” Take a moment and
ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Where did you draw closer to
Christ and where did you move away from Him? Ask for forgiveness if you
sense any separation. Pray for relationships in your life that have
challenged you. Ask the Holy Spirit to put an attitude of forgiveness in your
heart ahead of time.
Resist the Enemy
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one...”
Clothe yourself intentionally with the armor of God — piece by piece.
Put on the helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, belt of
truth, shoes of peace, shield of faith, and sword of the Spirit. Pray for
God’s covering over your health, finances, family, workplace, ministry, and
church. Stand firm against the enemy’s schemes, trusting God to deliver,
protect, and strengthen you.
