How to Pray - Reflections on the Lord's Prayer
This devotional podcast offers 40 short reflections on the Lord's Prayer, aimed at Christians who want to kick-start their prayer life and make prayer a bigger part of their daily walk. It addresses the common feeling of not praying enough, or not praying effectively, by exploring the radical teaching of Jesus on prayer. Each episode provides practical and biblical insight to help listeners pray more regularly, purposefully, and with confidence.
Episodes
Episode 24 - Beyond Daily Bread
Send a textThe only 'ask' for physical provision taught in the Lord’s Prayer is “Give us today our daily bread”. If ‘daily bread’ represents our essential needs on a day to day basis, what place is there to be asking God for anything more than this. Doesn’t Jesus also encourage us to ask for ‘anything’? Doesn’t the bible teach us that God will give us the ‘desired of our heart”?
Episode 23 - Not Worrying about Tomorrow
Send a textIn teaching us to pray daily for the recurring needs we have each day, rather than for tomorrow, Jesus is pushing into the importance of our reliance on the Father. To what extent should this change the way we plan for the future. Elsewhere, planning is seen as positive thing in Jesus’ teaching and other scriptures, so how can we get the right balance between preparation and dependenc
Episode 22 - Give US
Send a textTouching again on the communal aspect of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray “give US today”, not “give ME today”. How do we interpret asking God to give in the context of a faith community where we are called to serve each other. Does serving each other extend to being part of God providing for other people’s needs? The wider teaching of Jesus and the apostles suggest that it
Episode 21 - Give us Today
Send a textWe’re now into the second half of the Lord’s Prayer, yet only now does Jesus teach us to ask for anything. How often do our prayer times resemble a shopping list of requests rather than the structure Jesus teaches, where our focus is on God and His Kingdom first before asking for things. This is totally in line with Jesus’ teaching to seek the Kingdom of God first. He also teaches tha
Episode 20 - Application: God's Will in Our Lives
Send a textAs we reach the half-way point in our reflections on the Lord’s Prayer, we consider how God’s Will can be accomplished through the context of our everyday lives and I share the back story to the music theme use in this podcast. With this episode, we’ll be taking a pause for Easter 25 and will recommence in the week beginning 21st April ’25. Blessings!
Episode 19 - On Earth as it is in Heaven
Send a textToday we continue to reflect on praying for God’s Will to be done. Following on from looking at Jesus’ extreme example of praying this, what does it mean for us to do it? How instrumental are we in carrying out God’s will on earth?
Episode 18 - Your will, not mine
Send a textToday we reflect on praying for God’s Will to be done. Following on from praying that God’s Kingdom will come, Jesus teaches us to pray that His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. How does Jesus’ example shine a light on what this really means? Do we understand the extent to which praying for God’s will to be done, requires us to submit our own will to His?
Episode 17 - Kingdom Values
Send a textToday we consider Kingdom Values - the way in which we’re called to live our lives if we're to be effective in advancing God’s Kingdom. When we pray, "Your Kingdom Come", are our lives consistent with the values of the Kingdom we're praying for, or are we in danger of just paying lip service to it?
Episode 16 - Kingdom Come
Send a textIn today’s application episode, we move into the 3rd line of the Lord’s Prayer with ‘Your Kingdom Come’. What is God’s Kingdom and what does praying for it ‘to come’ really mean? We consider the Kingdoms in play in Jesus' day and reflect on those that are still in competition for our allegiance today. We also reflect on what role we might have to play in helping to build God'
Episode 15 - Application: Commitment to ACT
Send a textIn today’s application episode, we pause again to take stock of what we’ve learnt so far, and consider the practical implications of praying the second like of the Lord’s Prayer. Can a fuller understanding of the words ‘Hallowed’ and ‘Name’ motivate us to a more action-based approach to prayer?
Episode 14 - The Name of Jesus
Send a textIn this Episode, we take a slight detour to consider the Name of Jesus and what it means to pray in Jesus Name. This was not part of the Lord’s Prayer - it didn’t need to be, Jesus was there. But just before Jesus was crucified, raised from the dead and ascended to heaven, he taught his disciples to pray in His name. How does this fit into the teaching Jesus previously gave his discip
Episode 13 - The Name of God
Send a textWhy do we honour God’s ‘name’ in the Lord’s Prayer, rather than simply honour God? We’re taught ‘hallowed be your name’, not ‘hallowed be You, Lord’. What’s significant about the mention of ‘name’ that we don’t really get in today’s modern English - could it be something that changes the way we pray the Lord’s prayer?
Episode 12 - Honouring God
Send a textContinuing our 40 reflections on The Lord’s Prayer, we hone in on a specific definition of the word ‘Hallowed’ - to Honour God. Do we really understand what it means to ‘Honour God’ or have we just been paying lip-service in this respect?
Episode 11 - The Meaning of 'Hallowed'
Send a textThe word ‘Hallowed’ is one of those words we will have used a lot as believers, and feel we sort of know it’s meaning, but it’s not something we could easily define with confidence. What does ‘Hallowed’ actually mean, and how can a fuller understanding of it’s meaning help us as we pray ‘Hallowed be your name’?
Episode 10 - Application: Father & Son?
Send a textIn today’s application episode, we take stock of what we’ve learned so far, and ask whether we should only every pray to the Father, or whether it’s OK to also pray direct to Jesus.
Episode 09 - Recognising Heaven
Send a textContinuing our 40 reflections on The Lord’s Prayer, we consider the theme of Heaven. Jesus refers to it twice as he teaches the disciples to pray, strongly suggesting that there is something significant about Heaven that he wants them to recognise as they pray. What new perspective on prayer can we learn as we look into this theme?
Episode 08 - Praying to The Father
Send a textCalling God ‘Father’ is something quite familiar for us today, we’re very used to it. However, before Jesus, God fearing believers would be so in awe of God that they would not even dare to speak His name, let along refer to Him in such familiar terms as ‘Father’. This was nothing short of blasphemy to the religious leaders of the day.
Episode 07 - Praying for Others
Send a textHaving considered how the plural pronouns in the Lord’s Prayer remind us that we follow Jesus as part of a faith community, not exclusively on our own, we reflect on Jesus’ example, and that of the early Church, of praying for others. To what extent should we include other people in our prayers?
Episode 06 - A Faith Community
Send a textAs we consider the opening phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father…” what is the significance of it starting with the plural ‘our’? Is this just a group teaching technique that Jesus expected his listeners to individualise, or is there something deeper and more intentional about this?
Episode 05 - Application: Just Pray!
Send a textContinuing our 40 reflections on the Lord's prayer, we pause to summarise where we've got to and to consider a couple of stories of changing seasons of prayer. Consistency in prayer is important, so finding a way to frame our prayer life within the season of life we find ourselves in, can make it easier prioritise.
Episode 04 - Body Language
Send a textContinuing our 40 reflections on the Lord's prayer, we consider what role 'posture' might have in praying. Jesus doesn't directly address this in his teaching, but despite the lack of any specific direction, the context and example of Jesus again provides us with a lot of food for thought about our freedom to simply pray.
Episode 03 - Timing is Everything
Send a textContinuing our 40 reflections on the Lord's prayer, we consider the 2nd thing Jesus doesn't directly address in his teaching; Time - both what time of day you should pray and for how long. Whilst there is no direct instruction in the Lord's prayer, the context and example of Jesus provide us with a lot of food for thought and, ultimately, an incredible amount of freedom!
Episode 02 - Location, Location, Location
Send a textIn the second of our reflections on the Lords Prayer, we consider what things Jesus doesn't include directly in His teaching here, things that the disciples might have expected Him to touch on. How important is 'where we pray'? Jesus doesn't address this in the Lord's Prayer, but He does talk about it elsewhere, and give some clear insight through His own Pract
Episode 01 - A Recurring Lesson
Send a textIntroducing this 'How to Pray' Prayer Podcast: 40 reflections on the Lord's Prayer. This podcast is for those who want to kick start their prayer life and learn from the radical teaching of Jesus contained in, what's become known as, 'The Lord's Prayer'. To what extent is this a 'one off' or a recurring theme in the Gospels?
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