Prayer Ministry of the Church Recap

The winter break is always long and relaxing for UT students. Christian Students on Campus found an excellent way to take advantage of the extra time by reading a book called The Prayer Ministry of the Church, by Watchman Nee. The book revolutionized the way many of us approach prayer.

One of the most enlightening chapters was the second chapter of the book, entitled “Pray in this Way.” This chapter contained an eye-opening commentary on the most famous prayer in the Bible, the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6.

You then pray in this way: Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

–Matthew 6:9-13

The Lord begins by telling the disciples, “You then pray in this way.” In these verses the Lord is not giving a ritualistic prayer for us to copy. Rather, He is preparing us to receive the principles of prayer He is about to explain. These principles can be summarized in three sections.

God’s Purpose

The first section covers three desires concerning God: “Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.” These three desires are desires of God, yet they are not yet accomplished on earth. God will not do these things alone. He needs man to pray for them. The primary goal in our prayer should be to open up the channels to allow God to do on earth as He is able to do in heaven.

Our Needs

The second section of the Lord’s prayer covers three things to pray for ourselves: “Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” This section seems less marvelous in scope than the previous section. We first need to pray for the desires concerning God, but praying in such a way will stir up the attack of the enemy. Therefore, we need to pray for our materials needs, for our relationship with other believers, and for deliverance from temptation.

Praise

The third and final section of the Lord’s prayer is our declaration and praise to God: “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” There is no better way to end than with a praise to the Lord for His kingdom, His power, and His glory.

One more aspect about the Lord’s prayer is quite striking. In no section of the prayer can you find the words “I”, “me”, or “my”. Instead, you find “we”, “us”, and “our”. Prayer is not an individual matter. Prayer is a corporate matter!

Lord, we ask that this spring semester would be one of strong prayer according to these principles!