Life of Christ Lesson 44: How to Pray Effectively - Part II

To be effective in our prayer lives so God is honored and pleased by our prayers, we need to fulfill certain Christian "responsibilities".  In this second lesson on the Lord's "Perfect Prayer Pattern" from His "Sermon on the Mount".  Whereas the first three petitions of the Lord's prayer pattern deal with exalting God, His name, His Kingdom, and His will, the last three petitions (6:11-13) have to do with us (the believers).  We discuss these petitions under the headings of (1) or present provision, (2) for past pardon, and (3) for future protection (from temptation and evil).

We also discuss the closing doxology of the prayer ("For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.  Amen"), as well as the postscript on the subject of forgiveness found in verses 14 and 15.  That postscript has upset a lot of Christians over the centuries, for they think Jesus was saying a person's salvational forgiveness is conditional upon his own forgiveness of others.  That is not what He was teaching, and we explain the meaning of those verses in this lesson.