Prayer: The Thing Most Of Us Are Doing Wrong
Ask most Christians how their prayer life is, and they will look down.
They will mumble something about wishing it was better. They will feel a small pang of guilt. They will maybe promise themselves they will start again on Monday. Almost none of them will tell you their prayer life is thriving.
That is not an accident. It is because most of us have quietly learned to think about prayer in a way that guarantees we will feel bad about it.
This week's theme: Prayer.
Today, what prayer actually is, and why most of us have been getting it wrong in ways we did not know.
The disciples once asked Jesus a question that tells you something.
They said, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." Luke 11:1. They had grown up Jewish. They had prayed the prayers of the Psalms since they were children. They had watched Jesus pray for years. And still they asked, teach us to pray.
That is worth sitting with. If men who had prayed the Psalms since childhood asked for teaching, most of us probably need it too.
Read the answer Jesus gave.
"This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today 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 the evil one." - Matthew 6:9-13
Notice how short it is.
Sixty seven words in English. It takes about thirty seconds to say. And it contains everything Jesus wanted his disciples to know about how to talk to God.
Notice also what is not in it.
There is no long list of personal requests. There is no rehearsed praise. There is no anxious apologising for not having prayed enough that week. There is no attempt to convince God of anything. There is no performance.
Jesus's model prayer is astonishingly plain. It starts with who God is (Father, in heaven, holy). It moves to what he is doing (his kingdom, his will). It asks for what today needs (bread, forgiveness, protection). And it ends. No more words needed.
Most of us have made prayer into something much more complicated than that.
We have made it a performance we are not good at. A discipline we are behind on. A conversation we are not sure how to start. A skill we think other people have and we do not.
Jesus never treated it that way. He treated prayer as the most natural thing in the world. Sixty seven words to your Father. Then you get on with your day.
This week we are going to walk through prayer from several angles. Tomorrow, Jesus in Gethsemane. Wednesday, a seven word prayer that pleased God more than long ones. Thursday, a practical for building a prayer habit that actually holds. Friday, the hard truth about performative prayer. Saturday, the Hebrew word tefillah. Sunday, Psalm 5.
For now, one question.
If prayer is not a performance, why have you been treating it like one?
YOUR ONE THING FOR TODAY
Pray the Lord's Prayer once today, slowly, out loud. That is enough. No pressure to pray longer. Let Jesus's short prayer be your whole prayer today.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father, forgive me for making prayer more complicated than you meant it to be. Teach me the simplicity Jesus taught his disciples. Let me talk to you today without performing. Amen.
OVER TO YOU
What has been holding you back from praying more? A word or a line. Every reply held with care.
God bless you, my friend.
The LowKey Christian
KEEP GOING WITH ME
📚 The LowKey Christian Store
Every purchase supports this ministry and keeps The Quiet Word free. Newsletter readers get 15% off store-wide with code NEWSLETTER at checkout.
Browse everything 👉 thelowkeychristian.com
eBooks: Known: Discovering Who God Says You Are, Faith Over Fear, Battle Ready, Locked In With God, 30 Days of Faith.
Merch: Hats, t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and other everyday pieces that wear the faith quietly. Designed with the same low-key spirit as everything else here.
▶️ YouTube youtube.com/@thelowkeychristian
👍 Facebook facebook.com/thelowkeychristian
📸 Instagram instagram.com/thelowkeychristian
🎵 TikTok tiktok.com/@thelowkeychristian
📌 Pinterest pinterest.com/thelowkeychristian
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━