This, then, is how you should pray, Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven… Matthew 6v9-10 (NIV)

When Jesus’ disciples saw him praying, they realised the emptiness of their own prayers. In spite of the fact that they’d all prayed day-in, day-out their entire lives, there was something about the way that Jesus prayed that these disciples had never seen before, had never experienced. Jesus’ prayers were ‘alive’ somehow, they were real, raw and honest. And Jesus’ prayers were a conversation too. Jesus seemed to know God in a way that they’d only ever read about. And so they approached him one day and asked him:

“Lord, teach us to pray…” Luke 11v1 (NIV)

In response, Jesus gave them some simple guidelines:

1. When you pray, don’t show off, don’t perform your prayers for others. Find somewhere to be alone with God.
2. Don’t role-play your prayers either. Pray simply and pray honestly. Be real
3. And don’t forget, don’t fall for formulas and techniques. This is your Father you’re dealing with, and He knows even better than you what you need. Matthew 6v5-7 (The Message)

Jesus then invited his friends into his own conversation with God, his Father, by giving them this prayer, what we now call ‘The Lord’s Prayer’:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6v9-13 (NIV)

As part of our ‘Kingdom Come, 2012’ year of prayer across the United Kingdom and Ireland, 24-7 Prayer and Alpha would like to invite you to join in with many thousands of other believers around the world, including the Global Day Of Prayer networks, who are already praying this prayer every day at midday.

It’s really simple. You just set your phone-alarm or watch-alarm for midday (or do it the old- fashioned way and just keep an eye on a clock), and wait for the buzz/tone. Let it interrupt your day, whatever you’re doing.

And it doesn’t matter where you are. You might be at home with family, or at work with colleagues. If so, perhaps you could pray with them? Or maybe you’re at school or university. Or maybe you’re travelling by train, or driving your car, or you’re in a shopping queue, or eating lunch somewhere… it really doesn’t matter.

Just stop whatever you’re doing and pray. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”

Ask the Holy Spirit to guide and inspire you as you pray each day. Develop good habits of pausing for a moment and listening. Waiting. Receiving. You’d be surprised at the things that could happen.

I had recently taken up the idea of programming in the Lord’s Prayer at 12 every day on my phone, when I found myself talking to a street fundraiser called Celia outside Marks and Spencers in Northampton Town Centre. Celia was a student from Leeds and mentioned she used to be a Christian before going to University. We started chatting about Jesus and prayer and the problem of evil, when the alarm on my phone beeped. I explained what it was and suggested we could pray together. So we prayed for God’s Kingdom to Come…Celia now knows she needs to return to God so I gave her my email address and asked her to let me know what happens!