“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” —Matthew 6:6

The best coaches in life don’t just help people learn new things; they help people unlearn old things that could be impeding their progress.

When I was a little league baseball player, I learned how to switch hit—bat from both sides of the plate. I had always been a right-handed hitter but when I became a left-handed hitter, I became more productive and fundamentally sound in my swing. One of the reasons for that progress was that I didn’t have to unlearn the bad mechanics of “swinging wildly” from the other side of the plate, which I had picked up early on due to the lack of good coaching. My left-handed swing became a “sweeter” swing because it was built on the foundation of better “mechanics” without having to first spend time undoing or tearing down an old faulty foundation.

Those first disciples of Jesus had to unlearn ingrained religious mindsets and spiritual beliefs that were getting in the way of them becoming more conformed to the image of Jesus. For that to happen, they had to unlearn some things they had picked up along the way—particularly with notions about prayer. In Matthew 6, Jesus addresses these notions.

The hypocrites spotlighted a kind of prayer life that was about impressing others in the synagogues and publicly on the street corners (v. 5), but Jesus pointed his disciples to a “secret” private room of prayer that was “rewarded” by the Father (v. 6). It’s interesting to note that the Greek word for “room” in verse 6 is also translated “dispensary” (where medicines or supplies would be distributed) and “storehouse,” where hidden treasures would’ve been found. Prayer doesn’t just ask for things; it accesses God’s bounty!

The “babbling” pagans modeled a prayer life that used “vain repetitions” or heaped up “empty phrases” (v. 7), which comes from the Greek word battalogeo—meaning to repeat the same things over and over, or to use many idle words such as having the sense of “blah-blah-blah.” There was no power in any of these prayers!

Jesus made sure that His disciples unlearned the notions of religious zealots who made a lot of noise but whose hearts were far from God. Then, He coached them in a different way to pray. His model, known today as “The Lord’s Prayer,” was not to be misunderstood as a magical formula to be recited word for word, but a pattern to follow in finding God’s heart in prayer. This prayer has a beginning invocation and six petitions that give sacred priorities to our lives. The first three petitions focus on the preeminence of God, while the final three focus on personal needs in a community context.

The phrase “our Father,” or “Abba” in Aramaic, conveys the authority, warmth, and intimacy of a loving father’s care, while “in heaven” declares God’s sovereign rule over all things. Jesus’ disciples are invited into the intimacy of God the Son with his Father. The emphasis of this first petition is that God’s name would be hallowed—that God would be treated with the highest honor and set apart as holy. We should desire to guard His glory above our own reputations.

The second petition, your kingdom come, is about our hearts becoming aligned with the continual advancement of God’s kingdom in this world through the missional focus of our prayers and work. We need to keep this paramount in our lives (Matthew 6:33) and dominant in our prayers. The third petition speaks of God’s will being accomplished on earth, just as it is perfectly experienced in heaven. The fourth petition focuses on the disciples’ daily bread, a necessity of life which by implication includes all the believer’s daily physical and material needs, not their greeds.

The fifth petition forgive us our debts has to do with the restoration of personal fellowship with God when this fellowship has been hindered by sin (Ephesians 4:30). We need daily resilience in dealing with sin! When we receive grace, we must be eager to extend that same grace to others. The sixth and final petition, lead us not into temptation, addresses the disciples’ battle with sin and evil. The word translated “temptation” can indicate either temptation or testing. It’s a battle we can only overcome in the Lord’s might.

The Lord’s Prayer should be understood as an example—a pattern—of how to pray. It gives us the “ingredients” that should go into prayer. We need to be reminded that God isn’t impressed with the decibels, the vain repetitions, or the sophistication of our words in prayer. Additionally, the omniscient Father doesn’t need to be informed by our prayers; He is looking for childlike faith in worshipers who long to be conformed to Jesus in prayer. Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.

PRAYER

Our Father 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion:

1. How would you define prayer?
2. When has your prayer life struggled?
3. Have you picked up some bad prayer mechanics (notions or practices) that need to be unlearned?
4. How can Jesus’ prayer model coach us into healthier prayer patterns?
5. In light of Jesus’ coaching, what is your prayer today?

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