by Elder Mike Chon

When I read through the gospels I can’t help but imagine the amazing experience the disciples must have had as they walked alongside Jesus. They were privy to all that Jesus taught publicly and privately as well as witnessing His great miracles throughout His ministry. So when they were given the opportunity to ask Jesus to teach them something, they asked for something that most of us would never have asked. In Luke 11:1, one of the disciples asked Jesus “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” It is astounding that out of everything they experienced and saw, they wanted to learn how to pray. They didn’t ask to teach us to heal, they didn’t ask to teach us to teach with authority. Instead they asked for something that many of us take for granted: to pray.

Throughout Scripture we read that Jesus went off to pray, including this moment when the disciple asked Him to teach them to pray. I can only imagine that throughout His ministry, Jesus was frequently spending time in prayer. But what was it that the disciples saw in Jesus’ praying that caused one of them to ask Him to teach them to pray? What is so difficult about talking to God that they needed instruction from Jesus on prayer? Is there really a right way to pray? Is prayer a means to give a list of requests to God for Him to answer? As amazing as it was for the disciple to ask for this request, Jesus’ answer was even more amazing.

Instead of directing them to the Psalms where we find God-centered prayers or giving them another example of someone else’s prayers, He teaches them what is commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). The Lord’s Prayer was a model for prayer and not something that we are commanded to strictly repeat. I believe that in this prayer we find what most of us are missing in our own prayers. Jesus begins the Lord’s Prayer with “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” The word “hallowed” means to honor as holy or to set apart. We are to pray to God for Him to cause His name to be honored as holy and set apart in this world and in our life. This is the first petition that is given and it should be the priority of our prayers since everything we do should be to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). When we think about praying, usually we believe that it is OUR turn to request OUR needs so that OUR life can be improved for OUR sake. Prayer is not given to us to make our lives better in this world, but ultimately it is to hallow God’s name, to magnify the Creator, and to glorify the Redeemer. So whether we are praying for someone’s salvation or for someone’s health, our desire would be that God’s name be hallowed. No matter what the answer to our prayers may be, may our greatest desire be that God’s name be hallowed in that situation or circumstance. Do you find joy when God’s answer is not to take away an illness so that His name would be hallowed? Do you find joy in a life full of trials and disappointments if it means that God would be most glorified in it? When the all-knowing, all-good God doesn’t answer a prayer the way we want because it won’t hallow His name, are you satisfied? May the thoughts of God and His glory preoccupy our thoughts and have priority in our prayers. May we not be satisfied with superficial self-centered prayers, but instead our prayers seek to glorify and magnify the name of our God.