Jesus Teaches About Prayer

One day, when Jesus was praying in a certain place, after he stopped praying one of his disciples said to him "Lord, teach us to pray..." And he said to them "When you pray, say 'Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen.'

Those are the words the Lord Jesus used, and this is what it means. 'Our Father is God who is in heaven. Hallowed means holy be God's name. Let His kingdom come. Let His will be obeyed on earth as it is obeyed in heaven. Give us each day the food that we need, and forgive the things that we do wrong, even as we forgive the things that people do to us that are wrong. Keep us away from those things which we should not take part in, and protect us from the power of the evil one who is Satan. Because the kingdom is God's, and the power and the glory are His for ever. Amen.

After that Jesus taught about prayer to some people who trusted in themselves, and thought that they were more religious than others who they did not like. And so Jesus said to them,

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed like this 'God, I thank you that I am not greedy or dishonest as other people are, or even as this tax collector is. Twice a week I don't eat food, and I give offerings of everything I have.' And the tax collector, who was standing far away would not even lift his eyes toward heaven, but hit himself on the chest, and said 'God be merciful to me a sinner.'

I tell you, this tax collector went back to his house with his prayer honoured by God, and the other did not, because everyone that thinks himself better than other people will be brought down, and everyone that is humble, and sees themselves as a sinner who needs the mercy of God will be lifted up."

Questions
1 In the prayer that Jesus taught, who is Our Father?
2 What does it mean to say "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?"
3 Who are we to ask God to protect us from?
4 What was wrong with the Pharisee's prayer?
5 Why was the tax collector's prayer honoured by God..

Answers
1 God who is in heaven
2 Let His will be obeyed on earth as it is obeyed in heaven
3 From the evil one who is Satan
4 The Pharisee prayed thinking himself better than other people
5 The tax collector was humble, and asked God to be show him mercy because he saw that he was a sinner.

Vicki C. Gross/May03

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