Prayer is a strange thing. It is a conversation in which a person addresses the creator of the universe. God does not answer audibly – at least most of the time – so some people don’t bother trying to hear a reply, whereas others wait and try to sense a quiet prompting which God might be giving. For many, prayer is a one-way list of requests, something like sending a Christmas list to Santa. For others it is a ritual act of obedience, rather than a living conversation.
Jesus’s teaching on prayer is described in Luke chapter 11, where he gave his disciples the prayer known as the Lord’s Prayer. It starts with acknowledging the greatness of God: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be venerated.” It continues with a subordination of the person’s desires to the greater plans of God: “May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven.”
Next comes a simple request for supply of our physical needs: “Give us each day our daily bread.” It ends with a seeking after holiness: “Forgive us our sins, just as we forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and keep us away from temptations.” The main thrust of the prayer is a yearning for God’s will to be done. There is only one small request for God to give us something, and that is limited to our daily necessities.