Matthew 6:8,9 - Your Father knows what you need

6:8

“Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him”. Now this might raise the question for some of why do we need to pray at all then? At least part of the answer, and an important part, is that God is interested in us having a relationship with Him, of us knowing Him. Prayer should be natural. Part of the fruit of salvation is that we pray to God, He hears us and answers us. Another important part of the answer is that we have been told to pray, so just do it!

6:9

Having told them how not to pray, Jesus now provides positive instruction. This the the well known “Lord’s prayer”, though some say it is better to call it the disciples’ prayer. The former is actually better, as disciples Jesus is teaching us how to pray. He is not giving a form of words that must be used at all times, but a pattern for prayer. 

It starts with “Our Father in heaven”. We are praying to our Father, not to some remote deity. We do have a problem with this in that our modern concept of fatherhood does not match that well with the Biblical concept. In the Bible the Father has authority over the son (as was demonstrated in Jesus’ life). We have a relationship with the one who created all things, and sustains all things. When we pray we look beyond the here and now. And His name is to be honoured. Society does not do this, but we pray that it will happen.It is just not that we honour God’s name, but that we look for the time when every knee shall bow. This prayer is a spiritual warfare prayer, as the next verse will make even clearer.