“This, then, is how you should pray.” (Matt. 6:9)
Expanded Passage: Matthew 6:5-15
Many books have been written about prayer. There are thousands of pages, millions of words, and that’s encouraging news. Beyond the books, there have been sermons preached, classes taught, seminars developed, and even retreats designed to teach people how to pray. How wonderful that so many people have studied prayer and want to share ideas that helped them enrich their lives! How wonderful that so many more have wanted to learn further about prayer so they can be effective warriors!
Despite all the books, sermons, classes, seminars, retreats, and even mentored teaching, all the words that have been devoted to prayer over the last several hundred years, Jesus himself simplified the teaching on prayer to fewer than seventy-five words. Have you considered that? Our millions of words can never surpass his handful!
“This, then, is how you should pray,” Jesus said. The model he gave was brief, but it can be described with two simple terms: personal and powerful. Jesus knew we would complicate prayer on our own. We complicate most things! Jesus instructed his followers that the Father wants us to pray personally, from our hearts, and to pray powerfully for his Spirit to move.
We could spend hours discussing postures, words, locations, times of day, acronyms for remembering what to include, and much more. But if we’re praying personally and powerfully, we’re already following the model Jesus provided.
Pray from your heart and ask the Spirit to empower your prayer.
Bekah Shaffer lives in Kokomo, Indiana, and enjoys endless coffee, scrapbooking, speaking, and planning adventures with her husband, Ryan.
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
