A Biblical Model for Prayer

Well Good morning.

This morning we are discussing prayer so I reckon it is appropriate to start by praying.

Father, we want to bring honour to you. We want your name to be known in all the nations and for all people to bring praise to you. Lord, we are dependent on you. We ask that you open our minds and our hearts. Lord, let us leave the baggage of day-to-day life at the door and cause us to come eagerly to your Word, expecting to grow closer to Your will. We ask this in Your son’s precious name. Amen.

First up this morning I would like to clear the decks by making a couple of observations about prayer:

Firstly, there is a biblical model of prayer for us to follow. In fact there are a number of models we have been given in God’s Word. And they are all very useful in understanding how to pray. If you are wanting to learn more about how to pray, then the Lord’s Prayer, Luke 11 or Matthew 6, is a great place to study. I mean, the disciples asked Jesus how to pray and Jesus said “Pray like this”. How more direct can you get?

Secondly, praying, or how to pray, is something people seem to worry about a lot. Am I praying the ‘right’ way? Is it ok to pray about this? Is it ok to pray about that? Should I stand up? Should I sit down? Should it be out loud? Should it be in silence? Does God really hear me? How do I know if he has heard me? Who should I pray for? What happens if I don’t pray? Question after question. All these questions are valid. We will address some of them today.

To study prayer I have used the Lord’s Prayer as a base. So let’s open our Bibles to Matthew 6:5-18. As we work through what I believe are five principles of prayer, I would like you to think about how these relate to or are displayed in the Lord’s Prayer.

So, this morning we are going to study five principles of prayer. These principles say that when you pray you should pray:

To God
In the Spirit
With Persistence
With Purity
About everything

Sounds simple? It is! Let’s have a look at each principle in a bit more detail.





So firstly, we should pray to God.

This sounds pretty obvious but many have been confused by this over the years. I would suggest we can still be confused by this today.

Let’s check out some verses.

Matt 6:5-6 (NLT)
"And now about prayer. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.

Matt 6:9-10 (NLT)
… Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven.

Matt 14:23 (NLT)
Afterward he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.

Luke 11:2 (NLT)
…"Father, may your name be honored. May your Kingdom come soon.

When you pray it is not about how others see you. It is not about impressing that special someone who you have liked since primary school. It is not about making your parents proud that their daughter can pray “powerfully”. Jesus calls people who strut about showing off their “deep holiness” hypocrites.

Does this mean we should not pray out loud in the presence of other people? No. Of course not.

What it does mean is that our focus should be on God.

Focusing on God can be more difficult in a public or group setting. When we pray out loud in a group I would suggest we should be doing one of two things. We either act as the spokesperson for that group to God. Or we aim to lift the other members’ hearts by what we pray towards God… in essence to build up or encourage the other members in praying. Both of these options have a focus towards God and this is good.

We are to pray to God.

I want to take the first of a couple of little detours here. Does this principle amaze you? We can pray, speak, communicate with God directly. This is all because of what Jesus did for us, because of His sacrifice, because of His love for us, all that junk that would normally cause God to turn His back on us, that would repel Him, is forgotten, is gone!

We have the illustration of our junk is flung away as far as the west is from the east (Psalm 103:12). To me this is just mind blowingly amazing. And honestly I struggle to comprehend “why me?”. Why with all my faults would God want to love me, communicate with me? Do you struggle the same way?

The fact is that He does love us and He choses to communicate with us. And that is simply amazing!

The second principle is that we are to pray in the Spirit.

As Christians we have been blessed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within us. The Holy Spirit is a manifestation of God, equally as real as Jesus was a person.

Let’s check out some verses.

Rom 8:26-27 (NLT)
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will.

Eph 6:18 (NLT)
Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.

Jude 1:20 (NLT)
But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit.*

The Holy Spirit is integral to us praying. He guides us in our prayer. He prompts us to pray. He prompts us about what to pray for. He sustains us in praying.

He even speaks for us when we do not have the words to express. Have you had a time when you were without words? When you cried out to God with so much more than what you could express in words?

Some of you may have heard this story before. When I had just become a Christian at Waikato University, I was swimming in the river. There was a really cool place we would swim. On one side of the river was a sandy beach and the river actually flowed backwards there. On the other side was a cliff. There was a rope on that side that you could swim across and swing out on. So I was swimming across… oh did I mention speed boats… Speed boats would go up and down the river. Well guess what came around the bend in the river as I was swimming across? For me that was one of those moments where I had no words. My mouth remained shut. My heart cried out “HELP ME JESUS!!!!”.

Can you think of a time like that? Or maybe it was a time when something amazingly excellent happened. You might have shouted out “Oh yerrr, thank you God!” but you really were saying much more.

The Holy Spirit speaks those deep unspoken words of prayer and praise to God on your behalf.

The Spirit is integral, core to prayer.

We are to pray in the Spirit.


The third principle is we are to pray with persistence.

This does not mean we are to nag God. No dripping tap prayers.

Let’s check out some verses.

Matt 26:41 (NLT)
Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!"

Luke 22:44 (NLT)
He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.*

Eph 6:18 (NLT)
Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.

1 Thes 3:10 (NLT)
Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill up anything that may still be missing in your faith.

James 5:13 (NLT)
Are any among you suffering? They should keep on praying about it. And those who have reason to be thankful should continually sing praises to the Lord.

Jude 1:20 (NLT)
But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit.*


What God is saying here is to be dedicated, fervent, earnest, to keep on praying. Not to give up if something seems beyond being realistic. If the Holy Spirit has put a passion in your heart, then keep on praying about it.

Nor should we give up when things are difficult. Maybe we will experience discouragement from people we value or even persecution. We keep on praying about it.

Recently I have been thinking a lot about how God seems to delight in us waiting expectantly on Him. The heart that is waiting there, expecting God to act in a glorious way, brings delight to Him. I think this is captured under this principle of persistence.

We are to pray with persistence






The fourth principle is to pray with purity.

Sin, anger towards others, evil, grudges… all these types of things seem to get in the way of not only our following of Jesus but our ability to pray.

Again, let’s check out some verses.

Luke 11:4 (NLT)
And forgive us our sins- just as we forgive those who have sinned against us. And don't let us yield to temptation."

Matthew 6:12-15 (NLT)
and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
And don't let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

1 Peter 3:12 (NLT)
The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil."*

1 Tim 2:8 (NLT)
So wherever you assemble, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.

Mark 11:24-25 (NLT)
Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.*"

God wants us to pray to Him with out malice in our hearts.

Believe it or not this is as much a practical principle as it is a spiritual principle. Husbands/wives… have you ever tried praying when you are annoyed with your partner? Children… we are all children, have you tried praying about something when you feel you have been wronged by your parents?

For many of us our minds just can’t lift focus from anger, injustice, grudges to other issues that we want to be praying about or the Spirit wants us to be praying about.

Practically, we need to forgive or seek forgiveness before we pray about these other issues. In most cases we need to seek forgiveness from God. We need to lay our sin down and ask Jesus to deal with it. In other cases we need to stop and go and see someone. Put things right. We may even need to tell someone they are forgiven even though they have never asked.

We are to pray with purity.



The fifth principle is we are to pray about everything.

Yes, it is ok to pray about that exam. It is ok to pray about that job. It is ok to pray about little Rupid’s broken nose. It is ok to pray about the finances for a new house. It is ok to pray for someone’s salvation. It is ok to pray for people who have been lead astray. It is ok to pray against evil powers. The list goes on and on. It is ok to pray about anything.

Let’s check out some verses again.

Matthew 6:11 (NLT)
Give us our food for today and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
And don't let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Mark 11:24 (NLT)
Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.

Luke 6:28 (NLT)
Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.

Eph 6:18 (NLT)
Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.

Philippians 4:6 (NLT)
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

James 5:15-16 (NLT)
… And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.

In our key model of prayer, Jesus teaches the disciples to pray for their food. Their daily need. Later He says we can pray about anything, even for those that hurt us. Paul affirms this by saying we should pray on every occasion and about everything.

But there is a trap here. This is not an invitation to be a demanding little two year old. “Give me this. Give me that”. What I believe these verses call us to do is to submit everything, including our practical day-to-day issues, to God. I believe it is a call to recognize that we are dependent on God for even the stuff we might think is under our control.

As Stuart said a few weeks ago when speaking from Proverbs, God holds us together, including every breath we take. He sustains us. Without Him, we would be dust. We are dependent whether we like that concept or not.

So when we pray, it is quite all right to bring the littlest things of life to God. In fact He wants this. It recognizes our dependence on Him. It is an act of worship in its own right.

Likewise with spiritual issues. Forgiveness. Temptation. Faith. Healing. Salvation. You name it, God delights in us depending on Him.

I would like to take a little detour for a moment on this verse from James. It struck me that we need to bring our sins in openness to God and confess them. We need to seek His forgiveness. We also need to do this more with each other as well, as James suggests. While I disagree with some of the theology of the Catholic confessional, namely the whole penance thing, I feel the Protestant emphasis on individuality has missed the boat as well.

We operate in a community. Our sin affects our community. I would suggest we should be addressing our sin and the affects of it in a more community orientated approach, like James highlights. Confessing our sins to our close friends and confidants seems to me a good idea.

Anyway, let’s get back on the main road again. Something to think about though.

So… we are to pray about everything.




So I am suggesting this morning that we have five principles of prayer. To recap, we are to pray:

To God
In the Spirit
With Persistence
With Purity
About everything

I think when these principles shape our prayer, we can be confident that God will be listening to us. If our prayer is not shaped by these principles, in many respects, we might as well be talking to a stone idol or the lawn outside or the carpet on the floor.



Finally, I would like to give you a few pictures of prayer that have struck a chord.

Firstly from a Heavenly perspective…

Rev 5:8 (NLT)
And as he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense-the prayers of God's people!

The prayers of God’s people are incense to Him. When we are praying we are filling up heavenly bowls with something that God values… namely prayer.

Given this imagery, do you think prayer is important?


Let’s now look from an earthly perspective…

James 5:13-18 (NLT)
Are any among you suffering? They should keep on praying about it. And those who have reason to be thankful should continually sing praises to the Lord.
Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. And their prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well. And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured. The grass turned green, and the crops began to grow again.

Prayer is important. Earnest, faithful prayer can heal, lead to the forgiveness of sin and even stop and start the rain (in the case of Wellington, maybe the wind too). And note that this is not just the “Christian Superstars” like Peter, Paul, James, Billy Graham, Rick Warren etc. The passage explicitly says that “Elijah was as human as we are…”. Your prayer, my prayer has great power.

In a community such as OCC we should be serious about praying. We have a lot to pray about. And there are lots of opportunities to make prayer a priority, both personally and corporately as a church body. You will hear over the next few weeks about a whole pile more opportunities in which you will be able to pray for our fellow OCC people and the community around us. I would encourage you to make these opportunities a priority.

A question for you… what’s more important? An extra hour spent at work (or whatever you do) or an extra hour spent talking, communing with God?

Finally I would like to share from a personal perspective…

Some of you may know the story of how Claire and I started going out. It involved a late night run to a deserted and dark field by the Waikato river. The police. And God.

So basically Claire asked me to be her boy friend. This is because I had asked previously and she said no. After I had dropped her home I was very very happy. You really have no idea how happy I was!!! Serious.

So I drove to this field near the Waikato river. I got out of my car and went into the middle of this dark field and got down on my knees and prayed. I couldn’t say anything more than “Thank you Lord!”. The Holy Spirit was saying some much more.

Then the fun began. As I walked back to my car a Police car drove up. This lady cop lends out the window and asked me my name and what I was doing. So I told her that my girl friend had just asked me out and I was thanking God. She said ok, admittedly in a puzzled kind of way, so I walked off to my car. I had got about 10m when she shouted out “Congratulations!” and drove off. Police officers must see some random things!


Prayer is important whether it is about little things like our daily food or big things like thanking God for the start of what has turned out to be a rather important relationship. We need to recognise its importance and give it real priority. We need to approach prayer with understanding and a real sense of joy that God has provided a way, through Jesus, that we can come to Him… to talk to Him both about what’s on our mind and what is on His mind for us.

My prayer this morning is that these five principles will give you the confidence and knowledge to bring everything to God, as the Spirit leads, all the time, with pure hearts.