With the arrival of frogs, fear caused Pharaoh to let Moses take the Israelites and sacrifice to God as long as they did not leave the country. This was the first time he pleaded with Moses to pray on his behalf.

The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take away these frogs, and I will let your people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.” – Exodus 8:8 GNT

The plague of gnats did not move Pharaoh particularly as it affected the animals more even though it was made aware that none of the livestock belonging to the Israelites died. There was no promise of release and no desire to have Moses pray.

The flies did move him once again.

The king said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord, your God, in the desert, if you do not go very far. Pray for me.” – Exodus 8:28 GNT

Pharaoh knew that Moses knew God and therefore knew that the relationship between them was evident through the power of prayer. Jesus’ disciples saw the same thing. The disciples same Him get away to pray often and they were wise enough to come to a place where they asked Him to teach them to pray.

 Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this:

‘Father:
    May your holy name be honored;
    may your Kingdom come.
Give us day by day the food we need.^[a]
Forgive us our sins,
    for we forgive everyone who does us wrong.
    And do not bring us to hard testing.’” – Luke 11:2-4 GNT

I like the word Jesus used to start this discussion – “when” as opposed to “if.” What follows is what is known as The Lord’s Prayer.

There is not another passage where the disciples come to Jesus and ask Him to teach them anything else. They do not ask Him how to witness, teach, perform miracles but when it came to prayer, they sought teaching.

With Jesus, He taught them so much yet there is not a passage anywhere that suggested Jesus took time to teach on prayer. If the disciples had not asked, the subject may never have come up. That is definitely not to say that prayer is not vital but rather Jesus was willing and able once they indicated they were ready to learn.

The gospels did not portray the disciples as men of prayer and when compared to Jesus, it was even more obvious. They knew if they were to be followers of Jesus this shortcoming of theirs needed to be addressed.

I am not sure who the disciple was that asked and there is no indication as to what John the Baptist taught on prayer. I believe the time that they could not drive the demon out of the young boy mattered. Jesus said this could only happen through prayer. I believe the transfiguration on the mountain mattered.

The word Father was very transformative. The prayers of the day addressed God as ‘God Almighty’ or ‘my Lord.’ This personal address was given to teach them about what kind of relationship we can have and should have with God. He is our Father and we are His sons and daughters.  There is a very close and intimate connection when addressing God as ‘Father.’ I feel His arms of love around me and I know He is listening to me. He knows my needs even before I address Him and He knows what I am going through. I can come and pour out my heart to Him because I know He wants me to come to Him.

The phrase, may Your holy name be honoured, indicates worship addressing God as holy – sanctified, set apart, to revere. Not only is God holy but His name is holy too. Honouring and glorifying God at the beginning of our prayers could actually consume all of our prayer time. Some of the longest prayers recorded in the Bible actually do not have a single request being made in them.

The first request made – may Your Kingdom come. Come and smash into this world ruled by Satan, bring healing and restore those who have suffered and are tormented. I am called by this request to seek His kingdom in practical ways in my life. This prayer expects God’s Kingdom to come into the world and be a driving factor. This is invitation as to why I can pray for others.

The implications of the Triunity of God for prayer are many. It means, to begin with, that God has always had within himself a perfect friendship. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are adoring one another, giving glorifying love to one another, and delighting in one another. We know of no joy higher than being loved and loving in return, but a triune God would know that love and joy in unimaginable, infinite dimensions. God is, therefore, infinitely, profoundly happy, filled with perfect joy—not some abstract tranquility but the fierce happiness of dynamic loving relationships. Knowing this God is not to get beyond emotions or thoughts but to be filled with glorious love and joy. – Timothy Keller