When you examine Jesus' prayers, they are comprised of both praises and petitions to God His Father. As you carefully observe Jesus' instruction on prayer, understand the context of what to pray for.

1. Just as He used Jewish religious leaders as an example of how not to pray, Jesus uses Gentiles to point out another practice to avoid. What interpretation do you draw from the observations you make of the text? What do you observe in the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8)?

"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." (Matt 6:7-8, ESV)

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:1-8, ESV)

2. Jesus provides a model prayer for His disciples to follow. Complete the chart with your observations and meaning of the various parts of the prayer. What does Jesus pray for?

Pray then like this, "Our Father who art in heaven,