How to Pray, Part 3

By Robb Brunansky

Published October 6, 2025

When we think about the model for prayer Christ gives in Luke’s Gospel, we might have a few questions, especially if we are not comfortable thinking about prayer in such a structured way.

1. Does every prayer have to be so structured.

No. There is not always time for lengthy or structured prayers as with the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus and the Father understand this reality. Sometimes we can do no more than cry out to God for help or in praise. Christ is not trying to cripple our prayer lives with this model, telling us that we can only pray when there is adequate time to cover every aspect of this prayer. Every one of our prayers should fit somewhere into at least one of the elements of this prayer, but not every prayer will follow this exact structure or contain every element – and that’s spiritually healthy.

2. Does this mean I shouldn’t have a “running conversation” with God?

Christians often informally cast our cares upon God or thank Him for things as life unfolds. Yet Christ’s prayer does not seem to fit this kind of prayer, so does that mean we shouldn’t pray this way? Again, the answer is “no.” We should continually cast our cares upon God and spontaneously thank Him. However, even our conversational prayer should fit into the topics Jesus presents here. In addition, if all we have in our prayer life is conversational prayer, then our prayer life is deficient.

We must have time alone with God when we’re not focused on other tasks in addition to the praying without ceasing mentality. Also, as we spend greater time in focused prayer, meditating on and using the Lord’s Prayer as a template and guide, our spontaneous and continuous prayers will become more focused and biblical. We will grow in our relationship with God in prayer, which will spill into every area of our prayer lives, including our public praying with others.

3. How will I know that I am growing in my prayer life?

There are several markers that will help believers see the growth in their prayer lives, including a greater focus on fellowship with God, and an increased desire and love for God’s glory as our chief need. Growth also manifest itself in a prayer life that consistently fits into Jesus’ pattern for prayer, and that displays concerns for the Lord’s people. We will also see a greater experience of God’s answers as our prayer lives align more closely with His will.

4. What are some practical reasons we should pray as this prayer Jesus modeled?

The Lord’s Prayer is somewhat contrary to how we normally would rush into prayer, as we are often focused on our needs, concerns, and difficulties. Here, in this prayer, we focus first on God’s glory, and then give attention to His attributes, name, and kingdom. Only then does it seem like our burdens and concerns come into the picture. How, though, is this practically helpful in our prayer lives?

There are three answers to this last question, starting with the fact that the order reminds us of what truly matters.

One of my favorite parts of Martin Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress,” says, “Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.” This line sets so much of life in perspective. Our bodies will die, and our stuff will be consumed; but God’s truth will still stand, and His kingdom lasts forever. None of our other desires evaporate, but it’s all put in perspective. Our concern for our own lives begins to be consumed in a desire for God’s kingdom to advance and to finish the course faithfully. Focusing on God’s name and kingdom first – His glory primarily – not only teaches us to pray first for what is of first importance but sets everything else in its proper context.

Another answer to the question is that it refocuses our desires off self to God.

We all must learn to value and love God and His glory more than our pressing needs. This reckoning does not come naturally. We can say we know about our priorities in prayer, and we can go through the motions of praying for God’s name to be glorified and His kingdom to come first in our prayers, while our hearts are waiting to get to our turn. So, we must change our hearts by seeking God’s glory and kingdom in prayer.

The process starts when we focus time and attention on God’s name and kingdom. As time goes on, we begin to see the Lord’s answers to those initial prayers for His name to be glorified and His kingdom to advance. These answers bring greater joy, wonder, and thrill for our souls than we ever imagined possible. Suddenly, we view this value tangibly and clearly, with a brilliantly unveiled beauty. We pray this truth to be realized for unbelievers, that the Lord would humble and bring them to repentance so they might glorify His name and partake of His kingdom. There is truly no experience or feeling like sitting across from someone who was an unbeliever and watching God rescue them. The encounter is utterly astonishing because we are observing a literal miracle of the new birth before our eyes.

In addition to such experiences that surpass our expectations, our hearts tend to be drawn to what we spend time in through prayer. As we spend more time seeking God’s name to be hallowed and His kingdom to come, we will have a greater desire of what we ask for because of this correlation between investment of time and intensity of desire.

The third answer to this question is that praying this way searches our hearts and motives.

When we focus on God’s glory rather than our pressing concerns in prayer, it exposes our motives as pure or selfish. The importance of motive in prayer cannot be overstated (James 4:2-3). Our prayer lives may be hindered because our requests are coming to God from worldly and selfish motives. We overcome these wrong motives by praying through the Scriptures as Jesus taught (Psalm 139:23-24). We focus our attention on God and His glory though prayer.

One area where there is much failure in this regard is in praying for our country. During election season, many pray more for our nation than we typically do in off-election years because so much appears to be at stake. So, we pray for leaders who will work to establish liberty and biblical principles in our government. Yet while these aren’t necessarily bad desires, ultimately what we should desire is Christ’s name to be magnified in this country, as in all others. This thinking takes us off the defensive, where we are afraid of what we might lose, putting us on offense in prayer, looking at what Christ might gain in this nation through the prayers of His people for His glory first – not our ease and freedom first.

When we focus on God’s name and kingdom, our prayer life becomes a consistent, unified whole because the Spirit searches our hearts and exposes those areas of our prayers that are dissonant with the opening themes of the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus knows we desperately need our hearts searched by God when we pray, so He gave us a prayer that exposes our sin, selfishness, lusts and greed, and real motivation for prayer, right at the outset. It moves us to cry out, “Oh God, examine me. Search me. Fix my heart and my desires on Your kingdom and Your glory. Make every request I offer have Your honor as its chief end and grant me nothing but that which hallows Your name and brings about Your kingdom.”