God has been at work, and He remains at work, among us and for our good. By retelling God’s saving works in public prayer, we remind the body of Christ about who God is and who they have become in him. Besides God’s creating and saving works, He remains busy in our lives daily. And so prayer can also acknowledge his gifts of that particular moment. Take time at the beginning, end, or middle of a prayer to adore God for the many blessings of a new day. 

Jesus taught us to put praise in the first position: “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.” With these simple words, He modelled an attitude in prayer where we seek to give glory and adoration to God.

In fact, the entire first half of his Prayer is oriented around adoration. Because his name is worthy, we ask God to exalt himself in everything. Because his kingdom is glorious, we ask God to advance it in power. Because God’s will is wise, we ask that his will be done. If the Lord’s prayer is any indication, then it is only right that our own prayers be saturated with awe for God.

Praise Aloud

In this series, we’ve been linking personal prayers with those we offer in communal settings, whether in the home, at school, at church, the classroom, or elsewhere. Here too, our private praise flows into public praise. ‘Leading in prayer’ is an exercise of ‘leading in worship,’ as we adore God together. As others join in our prayers, we can set before them the glory of God.

Jeffrey Arthurs describes the encouragement of a public prayer which is deliberately God-centered. By doxological praying, “We can draw worshipers from the undertow of the world to breathe again life-giving truths about God even as we address God in prayer” (143).

When Jesus prioritized praise in the Lord’s Prayer, He wasn’t inventing a new approach to prayer. Many of the Bible’s prayers speak worshipfully about God at the same time as humbly making supplication to him.

As one example, in 1 Chronicles 29 David offers a beautiful prayer about the preparations for building the temple. Notably, it is a prayer that he makes “before all the assembly” (v. 10), including many of the nation’s leaders.

All these leading men ‘listen in’ as David prays. It is a striking example of adoration: “Blessed are you, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head over all” (v. 11). David will make requests regarding the temple, his son, and the Israelites, but the entire prayer is framed by deep reverence for God. Before he says anything else, David gives God his due honour.

This is a good reminder when we pray both silently and aloud, for we can easily become side-tracked. Our minds are ever inclined to wander, and our thoughts stubbornly return to our big catalog of personal concerns. Yet Scripture says that true prayer is communing with God.

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