Teach Us to Pray - Homeschool-Life.com

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationVerse 9: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…Father: “How does this prayer begin?”Child: “It begins by talking to God, our Father.”Father: “Yes. And, this verse also begins by describing a quality, or attribute, of God. It tells usthat His name is to be ‘hallowed.’ To be ‘hallowed’ is to be set apart from all the others, to be‘holy.’ So this verse describes God as holy. God has many other attributes. For example, He ismerciful. If we were praying for forgiveness, we could substitute ‘mercy’ for ‘hallowed.’ How3 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical Conversationwould the prayer begin, if we followed that pattern?”Child: “We would say: Our Father, who is in heaven, merciful is your name.”Father: “Right. What are some other qualities of God?”Child: “Well…God is just.”4 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationFather: “Could you substitute ‘just’ for ‘hallowed’? How would that sound?”Child: “Our Father, who is in heaven, justice is your name.”Father: “Of course, this part of the prayer is primarily asking that God’s name be kept holy byall. But do you see how, depending upon our needs, we might change the prayer by substitutingdifferent attributes of God?”Child: “Yes, I can see that.”5 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationVerse 10: [Y]our kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.Father: “What is this part of the prayer saying?”Child: “It is praying for God’s will to be done.”Father: “Yes. In this part of the prayer, we are humbling ourselves and acknowledging that theLord is ruler of this world. God is sovereign, right? This means that He is ruler over all things,people, and events. Therefore, if we are asking the Lord to help a friend, we could say thatperson’s name instead of saying ‘earth.’ So, if you were praying for your friend, Steve, howwould you pray? Where would you substitute his name?”Child: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on Steve as it is in heaven.”6 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationFather: “Yes, that’s right.”Verse 11: Give us today our daily bread.Father: “We know that Jesus would later break bread, during the first Lord’s Supper. So, thereis more meaning in that phrase than we may normally think about. It is not just natural food thatis being referred to here; it is the recollection that Jesus died for us on Calvary, and that He isthe Bread of Life. Why is it important to remember that? What are some other things that Jesusdoes for us?”Child: [Answers will vary here, but help the child remember that Jesus gives us salvation andhelp him think about other things that Jesus does for us. Substitute those things for ‘dailybread.’]Verse 12: And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.7 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationFather: “Debts are often referred to as sins. It is important to understand that Jesus is teachingus to not be hypocrites. For example, think of the hypocrites in the story of the harlot who wasgoing to be stoned (John 8). Can you tell me how this verse is teaching us to avoid hypocrisy?”Child [may require some prompting, but answers should be along these lines]: “Because Godforgives us our sins. For us to refuse to forgive those who sin against us is to behavehypocritically.”Father: “Right. There is also another way to look at this verse: it compares action with apromise. God has promised to forgive us, and we should take action to make sure we do thesame for others. There are many other promises God has given us. Can you think of some?”Child [various possible answers; child may need prompting]: “God promises to help us.”8 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationFather: “Yes, He does! So you could substitute ‘help’ here for ‘forgive us our debts’ and ‘as wealso have forgiven our debtors.’ How would that go?”Child: “And help us, as we have helped others.”Father: “So this would be praying for help, but also it would be reminding us of something thatwe should do. What is this other thing we should remember to do?”Child: “We should help others.”Father: “What else could we substitute here? What other promises has God made us?”Child [answers will vary, but here is one possible answer]: “God promises to bless us.”9 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationFather: “Yes! So you could also substitute ‘bless’ in this verse. How would that go?”Child: “And bless us, as we have blessed others.”Father: “Good! Do you see how we can substitute other elements here in order to pray for ourvery specific needs?”Child: “Yes.”Father: “As you pray, you might also be able to refer to some of the Bible stories you know inwhich God keeps His promises. For example, if you want to pray for help, you might include areference to David and Goliath or Daniel in the lion’s den. Can you think of a Bible story youcould refer to if you were praying for blessings?”10 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationChild [answers will vary, but may include]: “I could include a reference to Abraham or KingSolomon.”Father: “Yes! Good.”Verse 13: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.Father: “What does this verse say?”Child: “This verse asks God to keep us from doing evil.”11 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationFather: “There are many ways in which we can do evil, aren’t there? For example, we can betempted to lie, cheat, or steal. We have many different temptations against which we struggle.This is a place in the prayer where you can substitute a specific temptation that may be hard foryou to overcome, like arguing with your siblings or talking back to your mother. What do youthink you could substitute here?”Child [answers will vary]: “I could pray that God would help me to obey.”Father: “How would that sound?”Child: “And lead us not into disobedience, but deliver us from the evil one.”When prayer is looked at in this way, it can be seen that we may copy and paste this model asa basic prayer template, and work through some prayer themes with our children:Father: “What are you praying about?”12 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical ConversationChild: “I would like to pray about _____________.”Father: “Well, let’s look at the prayer and substitute in the needs that you have.”Matthew 6:9-15:9“This, then, is how you should pray:“‘Our Father in heaven,______ be your name,10your kingdom come,your will be done,________ as it is in heaven.11Give us today our ________.12And ______ us our ______,as ______________________.13 / 14

Classical Conversations! - Teach Us to Pray - A Classical Conversation13And lead us not into ______,but deliver us from the evil one.’In conclusion, this method will give children a great deal of practice praying according to themodel taught us by Jesus himself. Using classical methods, and teaching important classicalskills—such as following a formal structure while answering and asking questions, andpracticing this regularly—we can teach our children to do many things very well, from sports tomusic to reading and mathematics. In just the same way, using classical methods, we can teachour children to pray as our Lord taught His disciples to pray, and we can teach them to praywell.a.flowplayer{ width: 400px; height: 300px; display: block; }flowplayer("a.flowplayer","http://www.classicalconversations.com/plugins/content/flowplayer/flowplayer-3.1.5.swf", {clip: { autoPlay: false, scaling: "scale", bufferLength: 3 } , plugins: {controls : { url :"http://www.classicalconversations.com/plugins/content/flowplayer/flowplayer.controls-3.1.5.swf", play:true } } , canvas: { } , screen: { } , play: { }});Tags: Classical , Classical Christian Education , Family , Pray , Prayer , Prayer Model , Praying,Robert Bortins Jr,Teaching Prayer,The Lord's Prayer14 / 14