Prayers

THE AUTHENTIC PRAYER FRAMEWORK

by Henry Weiss
07/20/17
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THE AUTHENTIC PRAYER FRAMEWORK

Greetings everyone! I would like to introduce to you a proven prayer framework that has worked for me in my short sojourn in life; and I hope you might also find it useful. The Oxford Dictionary defines framework as a basic structure underlying a system, concept, or text. Hence, this article is going to delve briefly into the structure, system, and concept of effective and efficient prayer. Every Christian has a personalised way and manner of praying to God; but we should ask ourselves a searching question if our prayer structures align with the framework Jesus Christ laid out in Matthew 6, typically referred to as The Lord’s Prayer. Jesus admonishes us in verse 6 of the chapter, that when we set out to pray, we should avoid vain repetitions of platitudes, words, or sentences, but we should use very precise words and structured sentences to get through to God. Even many Christians have turned the Lord’s Prayer to a mere recital made after their own version of prayers. Matthew 6 and its companion passage in Luke 11 should be the framework for which Christians make their prayers and supplications to God. The Prayer Framework is further expatiated below:

Jesus Christ introduces the prayer guideline in verse 9 saying, “In this manner (framework), therefore, pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name”. This is the golden moment when we enter into the gates of the Most High with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise, blessing and extolling His name. This is when we render all kinds of praises and worship songs to God – which is why Christians ought to have a treasure chest of Christian songs and hymnals to draw from any time we want to approach God’s gates. These songs and hymnals could be in any language of our choosing (Psalms 100:4). A common practice with me of extolling God’s names is this: I call out His Hebrew names such as ‘The Elohim God’ – Our God (Gen1:1, Ps19:1); ‘The Adonai God’ – Our Headship and Lordship (Malachi 1:6); ‘The Yahweh God’ – Our Salvation (Genesis 2:4); ‘The Maccaddeschem God’ – Our Sanctifier (Exodus 31:13); ‘The El-Roi God’ – The Strong One who sees (Genesis 16:13), etc. I also reel out His English names such as ‘The Great and Mighty God’ (Psalms 91:1), ‘God of the Living’ (Numbers 27:16), ‘God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’ (Exodus 3:6), ‘I AM that I AM’ (Exodus 3:14), ‘Father of Mercies and Comfort’ (2 Corinthians 1:3, 1 John 3:1), ‘Everlasting God’ (Romans 16:26), etc. After spending a sufficient amount of time on hallowing His name, then one could proceed to the next phase.

Verse 10 of Matthew 6 reads, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is on heaven”. This is when we should pray for the kingdom to come upon the earth and His sovereign and ultimate will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Prayers should be said to maintain relative peace and prosperity in the land where we dwell so that we might be able to carry out our daily endeavours peacefully and successfully (Psalm 122:6). This is so because Christ did not promise that there won’t be tribulations and trials in the countries of the world, but He said, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Matthew 16:18 charges us to pray and intercede for His Church, His Work, His Ministers, so that the gates of hell will not prevail against them, and that the authentic gospel message of the kingdom can be preached throughout the world as a witness without any hindrance, and then the end will come (Matthew 9:35; 24:14). It is also instructive to pray that the will of God will prevail over the will of the Great Adversary, Satan, and all his cohorts in our households and individual lives. It behoves of us to continually pray for the kingdom of God and the power of His Christ to come so that the accuser and afflicter of the brethren may be permanently cast down, and never again trouble the peace of the world (Revelation 12:10).

The next verse states, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). This is when the praying Christian acknowledges that he/she has a need, be it physical, spiritual, emotional, etc. He or she should study a portion of the Bible for instruction, revelation, encouragement, correction, and strength to address the current need in question (2 Timothy 3:16). Hebrew 4:16 encourages us to come boldly to God’s throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need for physical or spiritual bread, and render personal prayers to God based on scriptures studied.

 “And forgive us our debts” (Matthew 6:12). This verse instructs us to ask God to pardon us of all shortcomings, sins, transgressions, and debts we owe to God (1 John 3:4). For we do have a High Priest, Jesus Christ, who can sympathise with our infirmities and weaknesses (Hebrew 4:15, Philippians 4:6). We should cry out onto God to have mercy and wash us thoroughly from our iniquities, and cleanse us from our sins (Psalm 51:2); as 1 John 2:16 reveals that all the sins and transgressions in the world can be broadly categorised into three – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, all these are not of the Father but of this world. Verse 12, “as we forgive our debtors” instructs us not to forget to pardon and let go of those that may have wronged or judged us in thoughts, words, or actions (Mark 11:25).

Matthew 6:13 states, “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.” Now the prayer is nearing its end, and painstaking efforts should be taken to finish it up properly, with reverence to God.

We should be asking God for the grace to overcome our human nature, consciously avoiding any sin or transgression that falls into the three categories earlier mentioned, and make amends to avoid it in the future. This is how God’s character is gradually developed in our lives, which makes it easier to gain access to the throne of grace the next time we pray. This is an opportunity to ask God to grant us the grace to overcome the trials and challenges that life hurls at us; and, to beseech God to grant us protection from the evil one, who walks about the face of the earth seeking whom to steal from, devour, terrorise, kill and destroy (Job1:7, John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8). The good news is that we can overcome the evil one by the weapons that we already have, which are the blood of the lamb, and our confession of the word of testimony – the Word of God (Revelation 12:11). Last but not the least, we should render thanksgiving to God for answered prayers and have faith (Hebrew11:1) that He has inclined His ear (Isaiah 55:3) to every detail of our prayers and will answer in His own unique time according to His will, wisdom, and sovereign plan He is working out in the world.

Following this prayer framework as outlined, will enable Christians everywhere to pray more effectively, and easily spend and enjoy at least 30 minutes of communion with God every day. Hence, a more productive life would be manifested for the whole world to see (Romans 8:19).

Written by Henry Weiss

(Author of Christian Excellence and Morality)

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