The first thing Jesus said we ought to pray for is "Father, hallowed be your name." But what does that mean, who does God want to do the hallowing, and how does this help inform our priorities in prayer and in life?

Jesus teaches us to begin our prayers not with praise, confession, or thanksgiving properly speaking—not that it's wrong to do so—but by simply addressing our Father in heaven before proceeding to talk to him about what we need.

Most Christians struggle with prayer because most Christians simply don't know how to pray. In the so-called "Lord's Prayer," Jesus teaches us to pray by providing a simple outline of six requests that are grounded in the priorities of God for us.

How should we pray? Thankfully Jesus answers that question for us, but before he does, he lays out a set of preliminary instructions and assumptions concerning prayer that are crucial for us to understand if we are going to be heard by God.

Lacking the desire to pray is a universal Christian experience—and one of the most universally discouraging. Why is praying so difficult? In this first message in our series on the "Lord's Prayer" passage in Matthew 6, we'll take a look at some foundational practical and theological realities that underly the work of prayer.