The following article is adapted from a seminar titled “Teach Us to Pray—A Practical Approach With a Powerful Application,” taught by David Arthur at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, in Asheville, North Carolina. The seminar emphasized the importance of learning from Jesus how we should pray. In this article, Arthur helps us think through the meaning of the opening, foundational phrases of the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples.
In Luke 11:1 we read, “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’”
Jesus was praying in “a certain place.” This is a repeated phrase in the gospels; Jesus would often go to a specific location. This means there was a pattern of behavior when Jesus went to pray.
Jesus was often teaching and healing in public, and we find in the gospels that people were pressing in on Him. There were times when Jesus needed to get away and talk to His Father. And often the gospels tell us He went to a certain place, a designated place. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “When you pray, go to your inner room, your closet, somewhere where you can be alone” (Cf. Matthew 6:6). So here Jesus is in His place of prayer, and when He has finished, a disciple asks, “Will you teach us how to do that?”
In Matthew’s account, Jesus says that when you pray, this is what you are to say: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:9-13).
Let’s look first at whom we are to address when we pray. “Our Father in Heaven.”
How you talk to the Father matters. He’s not bro or the big man upstairs. Jesus says, “I want you to start in this way: Our Father.” And notice that the pronoun is our. In that one pronoun is the beautiful theology of being a co-heir with Jesus Christ, of being a child of the living God. There’s a sense that when you say that, you are pulling in Old Testament promises. You’re drawing on all the beautiful, rich understanding of who God is and what He has promised us in His covenants. That’s how you start your prayers.
Next, Jesus says, we are to pray “Hallowed be Your Name.” The Greek word for hallow is often translated holy, which means to set apart. It’s the exact opposite of common.
When we talk to God, it should be special. When we talk to God, it’s not something we do flippantly. We want to set apart and honor His Name. To hallow His Name is to respect, to honor, to live in such a way that His Name is honored and respected.
What should we understand about His Name? The name of anything in the Bible always refers to more than just an “address.” It usually includes the character, reputation, the substance of the one being addressed.
So Jesus tells us that we are to honor, to hallow, that Name, that reputation. And God doesn’t just call Himself God; He has multiple names. Here are just a few of God’s names in the Bible: El Elyon, God Most High; El Roi, the God who sees; Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides; Jehovah Roi, the Shepherd; Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals; Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts.
The next phrase in our prayers, Jesus says, is “Your Kingdom come.” The Kingdom is God’s reign and rule. When we talk about the Kingdom, we’re talking about allegiance—we’re pledging our allegiance to God’s Kingdom.
Is that where your allegiance lies? If I tell you that America will collapse and we will fall into great poverty and anarchy, but that God’s Kingdom will thrive, would you say you’re “in”?
Jesus says, “When you talk to My Father, I want you to start by declaring His Kingdom.” Let that be preeminent. Let that be the first thing, the context of your prayers. If you’re going to pray about your child’s salvation, if you’re going to pray about an opportunity at work, if you’re going to pray about a conflict within your circle, the first thing to say is “Your Kingdom come.”
If I get my mind into that pattern, it changes the way I talk and think.
The next phrase is “Your will be done.” If “Your Kingdom come” is about allegiance, then “Your will be done” is about submission.
Essentially, Jesus is saying, “Not My will, but Yours, Father, be done.” Have you heard that before? Yes, you have—in the Garden of Gethsemane.
In Gethsemane, Jesus is in horrible pain. He’s about to receive the wrath of His Father for our sin. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
And Jesus says, “Not My will, but Your will be done.”
So Jesus tells His disciples, “When you talk to My Father, I want you to say this: ‘I submit.’”
You and I know how hard that is. I’ve got things I’ve been praying about for years; I’ve got a definite solution for them. I’ve said to God, “Here’s the solution.” But I need to say instead, “I don’t know how You’re going to do it. I want to submit my will to You, even as Your Son in Gethsemane submitted His will to You. Not my will, but Yours be done.” And Jesus is saying, “That’s how I want you to talk to our Father.” ©2025 David Arthur
Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.
David Arthur is president and CEO of Precept, an international Bible study ministry, and a popular Bible teacher and author.
The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove offers a variety of events with sound Bible teaching and soul-stirring worship. For information or to register for an upcoming event, visit TheCove.org
or call 828-771-4800.