Verses 1-4 “1And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3Give us day by day our daily bread.
4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”
When Jesus was praying, His disciples believed that they would like to pray that way–which, of course, raises the question of how Jesus was praying. No doubt, He prayed with earnestness and with joy in fellowship with His Heavenly Father. Does our prayer life cause others to want to have the same kind of experience?
This “Lord’s Prayer” consists of seven simple requests. Some people have said that we should not ask God for so much, that we should just talk to God about how much we love Him and about what a great God He is. Maybe we should do that sometimes, but prayer in its usual form is asking God for what we need. It is not selfish to ask God for what we need and for the desires of our hearts. That is how Jesus taught us to pray. The seven requests of this model prayer would make a good seven point sermon about the seven things we should desire.