Born in 1452, Leonardo da Vinci was a rare man. An expert in multiple disciplines, his genius would cause him to stand out even today. Most know him for his paintings, such as The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Yet as an engineer, he developed the canal systems of Milan, Italy, that are still in place today. As an inventor, he created a breech-loading cannon. As a geologist, he produced maps used for Florence, Italy. His fields of expertise also included hydraulics, aeronautics, botany, astronomy and music.¹ Therefore, if you had the chance to learn from Leonardo da Vinci, but could choose only one discipline, what would you ask him to teach you? Though his genius is evident in so many fields, his gift that stood above all gifts was his painting. You would ask him to teach you to paint.

Though Da Vinci was rare, his uniqueness cannot compare to Jesus Christ. Da Vinci could only study the universe Jesus created and paint scenes Jesus lived. Imagine if you were one of Jesus’ disciples and had the privilege of walking with Him for three years. You saw Him as a healer, teacher and prophet. You witnessed His knowledge of scripture, care for people and wisdom with critics. Yet if you could ask Him to teach you only one discipline, what would it be? The gift above gifts in Da Vinci was his ability to paint. The gift above gifts in Jesus was His ability to pray. Thus, His disciples asked Him in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Jesus answers that request in Matthew 6:9-13. Over the years, it has been endearingly called The Lord’s Prayer. With this preserved in scripture, do you realize what you have? From the greatest man of prayer who ever lived, you have His teaching on prayer. Jesus said,

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’”

Within just sixty-four words, Jesus will reveal several invaluable lessons on prayer.

A Big Picture of God

The first lesson Jesus teaches is that when you pray, you need to begin with a big picture of God. You see this in verse 9. Jesus says, “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name ...’” Here Jesus opens the prayer with three pictures of God.

God the Father: “A Picture of His Care”
By saying “Our Father,” Jesus begins with a picture of God the Father. It is a picture of God’s care, and it is an image Jesus cherishes. God enables John Mark to make this clear when writing the Gospel of Mark. The title “God” is used fifty times in Mark’s Gospel. Yet Jesus refers to God as “Father” only six times, and only within the intimate circle of His twelve disciples. He only said “Father” in the presence of those who would understand His emotions behind the expression. By doing so, Jesus gave to His disciples a picture of God as a caring father.

For me, this picture of God the Father came easily because I had a caring dad. However, it probably did not come as easily for my dad. His dad was an abusive alcoholic. Alcoholism causes blindness and self-centeredness. All you see is your need for the alcohol. All you care about is fulfilling that need. My dad never talked much about his dad, and when he did it was never about his care. So how could my dad see God as a caring father when he never saw it in his dad? I assume he did it the same way he became the caring dad he never had. For my brother and me, Dad strived to be the dad he wished he had, and probably did something similar with God. He pictured God as the caring father he always wanted, and I am so glad God did not disappoint him. God became the caring Father Dad never had. Dad became the dad I now want to be. Furthermore, Dad gave me a glimpse of the kind of care I could expect from God the Father.

That is why Matthew 7:9-11 paints with bold colors a portrait of God’s parental care. Jesus said,

9 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

What a great picture of God and His care!

I am far from perfect. Yet I know the joy in giving gifts to my boys and taking care of them. If you know that joy as a sinful parent, think how much more God enjoys taking care of you as the perfect parent. Therefore, if you are ever worried about talking to God about anything, remember the following:

• God is your heavenly Father and loves you more than you were loved as a child and more than you love your own children. (Matthew 7:9-11)
• God is your heavenly Father and already knows what you have done, how you hurt, and what you want or need before you ask. (Matthew 6:7-8)
• God is your heavenly Father and no matter what you have done, He cares for you and still wants the best for you. (Luke 15:1-24)

When you open in prayer and call God “Father,” you should smile knowing you are in the presence of God who cares for you. Before you ever ask Him for anything, you should sigh with peace knowing God wants the best for you. Before you ever say a word, think how you would receive your children if they had a need, and remember, God the Father cares.

God the King: “A Picture of His Clout”
I am not an artist, but when Da Vinci painted The Mona Lisa I wonder if he did it with layers. I wonder if he began with the conditions of the day, then added the surrounding landscape under a perfect sky, and finally added the woman with the simple smile. Opening his prayer with a big picture of God, it seems that Jesus paints in layers. The first layer is God the Father, a picture of His care. The second layer is God in Heaven, a picture of His clout.

By picturing God in heaven as you pray, you get a sense of His position and power. The best way to do this is to use the description of heaven found in Revelation 21 and see yourself delivering your prayer to God in heaven. Let me help you.

With prayer in hand, you begin. As you approach heaven, you notice the four walls surrounding it are twenty stories tall and made of jasper (v. 18). They stand firm because they are built on twelve foundations. Each foundation is made with precious gems (v. 19-20). Each wall has three gates, and each gate is cut from a single pearl (v. 10-14). Walking through your gate you notice it never shuts. It does not have to because you are safe in heaven (v. 25-27). The sounds in heaven are different. There are no sirens and no sobs from death or pain (v. 3-4). As you walk through heaven, you notice it is made of pure gold, as transparent as glass (v.18). When the glory of God reflects off it, you know there will never be a night in heaven, only day (v. 23). So overwhelmed with the experience, you forget why you are there. Then, you see the prayer in your hand. As you open and read, you realize there is nothing you have asked that God, the King of Heaven, cannot do. With His position and power, He can do anything. Think of it!

If the prayer in your hand…

• is one of hurt, look at heaven. You are praying to the God who wipes away every tear. There is no hurt He cannot comfort.
• is for protection, assurance or security, look at heaven. You are praying to the God who leaves the doors of heaven open because He is threatened by nothing. Therefore, nothing is so big that God cannot protect you.
• is one of provisions, look at heaven. Heaven is surrounded by walls of jasper, supported by foundations of gems, buildings made of pure gold. What resource do you need that God cannot provide?
• is for wisdom or direction, look at heaven. You are praying to the One in charge of all of heaven. If He can manage all of heaven, I think He can manage what you need.

Thomas Aquinas lived from 1225 to 1274. As a brilliant theologian, he wrote Summa Theologica. It stands as one of the greatest intellectual achievements of Western civilization. Though it included thirty-eight treatises, three thousand articles, and ten thousand objections, it remains to this day an unfinished work. Aquinas’ desire was to create an exhaustive collection of truth. He wanted to show the truths of God in anthropology, science, ethics, psychology, political theory and theology. Yet on December 6, 1273, Thomas abruptly stopped writing. While celebrating Mass in the chapel of St. Thomas, he had a vision of eternity. Suddenly, he knew that all his efforts to describe God fell so far short that he decided never to write again.²

Though picturing God in heaven caused Aquinas to stop writing, picturing God in heaven should encourage you to never stop praying. Aquinas felt that God was too big to ever fully capture in print. However, you should feel that God is too big to ever be overwhelmed by a prayer. Whatever you ask, God is big enough to meet your need. Your heavenly Father has clout.

God the Holy: “A Picture of His Character”
The third layer to Jesus’ picture is seen in the name He gives God. In Hebrew, a name means more than that which is used to get your attention. A name was given to a person to describe their personality, nature and character. When addressing God in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said, “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name ...” Jesus gave His Father the name, “Hallowed.”

Most are not familiar with the name Hallowed, like the preschooler who came home announcing she learned in Sunday school that God’s name was “Howard.” When her mother questioned her she said, “Oh, no, Mother, it’s Howard. We learned to pray today, ‘Our Father in Heaven, Howard is your name.’” Though most are more familiar with the name Howard, Jesus called his Father, “Hallowed.”

Hallowed is the verb form of the noun “holy.” The word “holy” means to be separate or different. I am sure you can name members of your extended family that you would call different and would definitely want to keep separate, yet you probably have never called them “holy.” God is separate because He has never sinned. God is different because He always thinks, says and does what is right. The very personality, nature and character of God are holy.

Therefore when you pray to God, you can expect Him to understand you and your request perfectly. You can expect Him to answer your prayer the way that is best. You can expect God to always do what is right for He has been, is and always will be holy. What a benefit to pray to God and know that His character will never change. He is consistently holy.

The Big Picture of God and Prayer
You may ask, “Why is it important to open prayer with a big picture of God? I have not been doing that and I do not think it has hurt my prayers.” Paul’s experience in Athens explains what happens when you fail to begin your prayers with a big picture of God.

Without a Big Picture of God, Your Prayers will be Diluted. In Acts 17, Paul waits in Athens to join with his friends, Timothy and Silas. Verses 16-17 record what he sees.

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.

Seeing all the idols, Paul found the reputation of Athens to be true. It was said of Athens that “it was easier to meet a god than a man in Athens.”³ With so many gods vying for their attention, they could never focus their attention to one god to offer a legitimate prayer.

Unless you open your prayer with a big picture of God, you run the risk of letting other gods dilute your prayer. This is how it happens. The god of school or career comes to mind because of impossible deadlines. The god of family grabs your attention because their demands are more than you can fulfill. The god of finances appears each time a bill comes in the mail and you do not know how to pay it. Then, the god of the calendar screams at you, but there is no more of you left to give. Therefore, if you begin your prayer with school, career, family, finances and the calendar on your mind, how can you truly talk with God? Furthermore, how will you ever see God as bigger than your needs if all you see are your needs and never God?

Seeing God first shrinks your needs and strengthens your prayer. Seeing your needs first strengthens your worries and weakens your prayer. Open your prayer with a big picture of God.

Without a Big Picture of God, Your Prayers will be Distorted. The Apostle Paul saw something else in Athens. In verses 22-23, he addresses it,

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”

Even though Athens had more idols than any other city in Greece, they erected an idol “To an Unknown God” just in case they missed one. The people of Athens prove an ageless point. People can be so religious they can pray to a god they do not know. And for many, it is more comfortable that way.

If you truly do not know God, His likes and dislikes, His standards and ways, then you can make them what you want. If you are praying to the god you want instead of to the God that is, your prayers will be distorted. You need to begin with a big, clear, accurate picture of God if your prayers are to be effective, not distorted.

With a Big Picture of God, Your Prayers will be Dynamic. The benefits of opening prayer with a big picture of God are seen in the following story. An old Roman tale tells of an emperor returning home after a victory. The streets are lined with legionaries who hold back the cheering people as the emperor and his troops passed by displaying their rich spoils of victory. On a platform near the street were the empress and her children. As the emperor drew closer, his youngest son made his way from the platform. The hip-high boy pressed through the crowd, only to be stopped by a legionary who said, “Stop there, boy. Don’t you know who that is in that chariot? That is the emperor. You can’t run out to him.” The young heir to the empire laughed and said to the soldier, “He may be your emperor, but that man in the chariot is my father.”⁴

Think for a moment what happens when you open your prayer with a big picture of God. All the treasures of Rome, all the treasures of the world cannot compare to the treasures of heaven where God the King sits on His throne. There is nothing you ask He cannot provide, nothing you request He cannot do. God has that kind of clout. Yet, God’s kingly clout is matched by His holy character. Though He can give you anything you ask and do everything you request, He will always do what is right. He will do what is best, for His character is holy. Above all, God wants you to look upon Him with the eyes of a loving child who says,

I know that you are God the King with all the clout of heaven.
I know you are God the Holy, with a character pure and strong.
But above all, I know the One on the throne is God, my Father;
and He lets me run to Him any time at all.

What a picture of God! Now you are ready to pray.

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[1] The World Book Encyclopedia, (Field Enterprises Educational Corporation: Chicago, 1965), 39-41.
[2] Don McCullough, “Reasons to Fear Easter,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 116.
[3] William Barclay, The Acts of the Apostles (Philadelphia; The Westminster Press, 1976), 130.
[4] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew (Philadelphia; The Westminster Press, 1976), 203.