PowerPoint

Jack Graham: He didn't say when you pray, pray in these words. He said pray in this way. And then he gave us punctuated principles, if you will. Each sentence in the model prayer, each sentence is a principle of prayer.

Guest (Female): On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message on how we can know God hears and answers our prayers. Now here's Dr. Graham with his message, How to Pray the Jesus Way.

Jack Graham: Take your Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 6. Now, prayer is the most basic of religious practice. All religions, every religion that I know, prays in some way. But the question is, who is the God who hears our prayers? And if there is a God who hears our prayers, how do we get through? How do we know that God is hearing and answering our prayers? Because not every prayer is a godly prayer. Not every prayer is a righteous prayer. Not every prayer is a biblical prayer.

So, Lord, we, like the disciples, say, "Lord, teach us to pray." Of all the things that that inner circle of believers could have asked Jesus, they could have said, "Lord, teach us to preach," or, "Teach us to teach," and "Teach us to perform miracles." And yet, the one thing they said, "Lord, teach us to pray." They saw in Jesus the passion and the perseverance of his own prayer life. And so in the midst of the greatest sermon ever delivered, known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus took time and in other passages to teach on this subject of prayer.

If I said to you I'm about to tell you to give you the most profound thought that you could ever think as a Christian, the most profound thing you could think about as a Christian. All right, here it is. Are you ready for this? God answers prayer. Now, if that is true, and I believe it's true according to God's word and my own personal experience and what I've seen in the lives of so many, because that is true, why is it that we have such a struggle to pray? Why don't we pray? The scripture says you have not because you ask not. If you really believed if God Almighty answered your prayers, you would pray like never before.

You say, "Well, I prayed and it didn't happen. I pray and it didn't work." Well, when we pray, there are basically three answers, maybe four. One is yes, and you get the answer immediately or in due time. The other is no. God does say no. Have you ever thanked God for unanswered prayer? Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, once said, "I thank God for unanswered prayer. If it hadn't been for unanswered prayer, I would have married the wrong man five times."

So, God says no. Sometimes I think with our prayers, the Lord may say, "You've got to be kidding me. They really asked me that?" It's like your kids sometimes. They ask you things and you think, "I can't believe you asked that." But really the third answer to prayer is wait. And God may say wait because he's going to do something better and more than you could ask, dream, think, or imagine. God does answer prayer in his own time and in his own way according to his own will. So we pray in the will of God in the name of the Son of God. We can know that our prayers are answered.

Now, we know that Israel is in this terrible conflict as a result of the attack of Hamas. Hamas is a violent organization bent on the destruction, the genocide of the people of Israel. You say, "Why can't we just have peace?" You can't have peace with people who want to kill you and deny your very existence. And so Israel has every right to exist and therefore every right to defend itself.

But God loves Israel. And we ask the question, does everyone pray to the same God? Are we all praying? Aren't we all on the same path to find God? Aren't all the religions of the world equal? Well, the answer is an absolute no. We do not pray to the same God. Recognize there are true and false religions. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father, no one comes to God, except by me."

And so when we pray, we do not pray to Allah. We pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you say, "Well, that's narrow. That's restrictive." Well, the Bible is narrow in this truth. And therefore, our biblical worldview is what enables us to say with confidence and certainty that Jesus is Lord. That our God and Father has given us his Son and his spirit lives within us.

And God gave us this all through the Jewish people. You say, "Why do we love Jewish people? Why do Christians care about Jewish people?" Well, God chose the Jewish people and he called them. And it's a covenant that he has made with them. And it is a promise that he has given the Jewish people. And through the Jewish people, all the world has been blessed. We have been blessed in that our Bible comes from Jewish people. All the authors of the Bible save one are Jewish.

From the psalmist, to the prophets, to the patriarchs, to the preachers of the New Testament, the apostles, all but one, and that was Luke the physician, who gave us the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. But all are Jewish people. So, God gave us our Bibles through the Jewish people. God gave us salvation. The Bible says salvation is of the Jews. Jonah said that from the belly of a fish.

A Samaritan woman talking to Jesus said this to Jesus, that salvation is of the Jews. We know this. Our salvation came through the Jewish line, the messianic line. We have a Jewish savior. Jesus is Jewish. Many Jewish people don't know that. Many Jewish people think that we worship a Gentile God. No, we have been grafted in. We have been included as followers of Yeshua and we are a part of the family of God because we are now in the new covenant and we are a part of God's eternal plan.

So, the history of Israel, the destiny of Israel, is all in the message of God's word, the Bible. And therefore, we have great love. Our salvation is because of what has happened in Jesus through the messianic line, through the Davidic line, through the promises of God. And if God denied his promises, these are iron-clad promises. If God denied his promises to the Jewish people, then all the promises of God would be invalidated. They would be untrustworthy.

We have to ask the question, why do so many people hate the Jews? Why do these terrorist organizations hate the Jews and want to destroy the Jews? Well, God gave Israel the land, chose his people. And so there is the land of Israel. We have been many times. We've taken hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people to Israel. It is normally safe. It's not safe right now, of course. But it is very safe to go to Israel under normal circumstances.

And we've been many times to the holy land. Of course, it doesn't seem very holy right now as satanic powers have been unleashed against Israel. But we have been so many times and met both Jews and Palestinian Christians and Muslim people in the land. And not every Muslim person is for the extermination of the Jewish people.

I would also say that not every Muslim person is a terrorist, but we know these terrorists are Muslims. And so they worship Allah. They worship a different god. They worship a false religion. Again, there is true religion and false religion according to the Bible. That's just not what I say because I'm a Christian, but it's what God's word teaches. And we are submitted to the word of God.

But you have to ask your question of all the little land. The land of Israel is about the size of New Jersey. And it's really not even about the whole land, but even in the land, why all the end-time events that are going to take place in the Middle East and in the world? Why is the focus on Israel? Why is the focus on Jerusalem? And not just Jerusalem, but a little plot of land called Mount Moriah.

Top of Mount Moriah, about 14 acres, the Temple Mount, where now there is a Muslim place of worship there on top of the Temple Mount. And that is a very controversial area in Jerusalem today. But it's about Israel. It's about Jerusalem. And it's about that little piece, that little parcel, the very place where Jesus died for the sins of the world right there.

And it's all coming to a conclusion, a climax there in Israel. We're seeing this come to be. And it's a whole other theme and a whole other message talking about Israel in prophecy and the future. And we're seeing, I don't know if we're in the end of days, but I know this: that this is not, if it's not the end of days, it's the days of the end. Because all the signs and the signals of the last days, the final days of human history, we're seeing in even these events that are coming to pass in the Middle East right now.

But it all gets down to the extermination. And Satan has always hated the Jewish people. He's tried to destroy them. In Egypt first as slaves, and then in occupation by Babylonians and later by Romans, and then scattered to the ends of the earth all over the world. And yet, this minority people, this small little group of people compared to the world, they still exist. Back in the ancient times, you had Hittites and Amorites and Jebusites. You never met a one of them. They are extinct. They're gone. But the Jews, you can meet them on every street corner, in every community in America and around the world. God has preserved his people.

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, How to Pray the Jesus Way. July 4th, 2026 will be a day of great celebration for the 250th birthday of our great country. 250 years of celebrating the freedoms, liberties, and rights we enjoy as Americans. However, there has never been a more important time in our 250 years as a nation where we need God to move in power and heal our land.

That's why I'm inviting you to join Dr. Graham in a prayer challenge for our nation. To join, simply text the word CRY to 59789. Again, text CRY to 59789. Remember that your support of PowerPoint Ministries helps people encounter Jesus through clear biblical teaching. Through the support of friends like you, lives are being strengthened, faith is being renewed, and seekers are discovering the hope only found in Christ. Your partnership is so vital that when you give this month, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, Life According to Jesus, as our thanks. It's a powerful journey through the Gospel of John that shares wisdom from the life of Christ to help you respond to real-world struggles. To give your gift, text APRIL to 59789. Again, text APRIL to 59789. Now let's get back to today's message, How to Pray the Jesus Way.

Jack Graham: As I'm speaking of our love for Jewish people, because we love the Jewish people, we pray that every Jewish man, woman, boy, and girl would come to personal faith in Jesus, Yeshua. The gospel went to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. And so we have a love. And so when we say we love Jewish people, we don't back up from the fact that Jewish people need Jesus. And they need Jesus now. And I'm praying that in the midst of all of this conflict in the Middle East, that many Jewish people will find Christians in their lives who will share the love and the hope that we have in Jesus.

While we're supporting Israel over there, make sure you're supporting your Jewish neighbors and Palestinian people in your neighborhoods during the midst of this. Because many are living in fear. The whole thing of anti-semitism is rising again. So pray. Pray that God will use this to bring many to salvation. Salvation is of the Jews and salvation is for the Jews. Never forget that. And thank God we get to be included in God's family.

So Jesus taught us to pray. In Matthew chapter 6, when you pray, verse 5, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. And truly I say to you, they have received their reward. In other words, their prayers aren't getting above the ceiling. Just talking to themselves.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 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.

So three quick points out of this passage when we pray. We want to pray the Jesus way. Teach us to pray, Lord. Okay, how do you pray? Jesus said, "Okay, do it like this." First of all, pray sincere prayers. He said, "Don't be like the hypocrites who just pray to be heard. They like hearing themselves." Self-righteous prayers. I like the way this is given in the message of paraphrase of the New Testament. It says, "And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for 15 minutes of fame. Do you think God sits in a box seat?"

No. When we pray, we pray sincerely, not with hypocrisy. Hypocrisy means to put on a mask, to wear a mask, to put on an act. So prayer is not an act. It is not a performance. Jesus said pray sincerely. Then he said when we pray, we are to pray secretly. He said go into your closet. Don't just pray because you want to be seen of man and thought of as being spiritual because you pray. Now, this is not an objection to praying publicly. As I've already said, when we sing, we're praying publicly. We offer public prayers. Jesus did this. Jesus prayed in public.

So when he says pray in secret, he's saying pray to the Father who is in secret. Get alone with God. Make time in your day, make time in your life. Pray secret prayers. Do you have a time alone with God when you are praying? When you shut the door and shut out the world? I prefer, much prefer, the beginning of the day before the world rushes in, to open my Bible and ask God to speak to me. And then I turn off the scripture to prayers in my own heart to him as we pray in secret.

This is how we're to pray. So we're to pray sincerely. We are to pray simple prayers. He said don't be praying with all kinds of. Some of you think if you don't pray in King James English, you're not really praying. If my children came to me and said something like, "Hail, father. It's greatest to be in thy presence. Wouldst thou take us to the local apothecary and purchase for me a comb of cream?" I would say, "What?"

No, they come, "Hey, Dad, take me to the ice cream store." So when you pray, you can pray simple prayers. And you can also pray shorter prayers. Now, I know there's depth in length and all of that, and there's time that we pray and we fast and we persevere in prayer and we pray longer prayers. I'm not diminishing that.

But when you read your Bibles, most of the prayers in the Bible were short prayers. There are hundreds of prayers in the Bible and they're very quick. They're very short. The longest prayer in the Bible is the prayer that Jesus prayed. Takes less than three minutes to read it and pray it. That's John chapter 17. But some of the most profound prayers in the Bible are like the prayer the thief on the cross prayed: "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

We just pray short prayers. And God often does his deepest work in the shortest prayers. Sometimes we hurt so bad we don't know how to pray. The Holy Spirit prays with us. Sometimes the most profound prayer is just simply help! Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything, everything, everything to God in prayer.

And so prayer is to be simple. It's a simple thing. If you're a veteran believer or been praying for years, or if you're just a child getting started, simple prayers offered to a great God through Jesus Christ can change the world, can change your life. Amen?

And then pray scriptural prayers. So that's what this prayer, the Lord's Prayer, the model prayer, the disciples' prayer, why Jesus gave it. Because he didn't say, "When you pray, pray in these words." He said, "Pray in this way." And then he gave us punctuated principles, if you will. Each sentence in the model prayer, the disciples' prayer, the prayer that our Lord gave, each sentence is a principle of prayer. Whether you're praying for forgiveness, or whether you're praying for God's will to be known and done, God, your will done in my life. Whether you're praying for God's protection, deliver me from evil. Or whether you're just starting where you start, which is "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name."

The focus of prayer is not me, it's him. And we come to him in dependence. And the focus is on the Father. And the way we know the Father is through Jesus, his Son. John 1:12 says, "As many as received him, Jesus, to them gave he the right to be called the children of God." Well, isn't everybody a child of God? Absolutely not. Well, God made everybody, correct? Yes. Well, he made cockroaches and rats and snakes and a lot of things that aren't his children. We're children by faith in Jesus Christ. We become part of his family through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So that's why we make the audacious claim from scripture that Jesus gave us, that the way to the Father and the only way, not the best way, not a way, but the only way is through Jesus by trusting in him. There is one mediator between God and man, the scripture says, the man Christ Jesus. We don't pray through Mary. We don't even need somebody else to pray for us. It's good to have others praying for us. We've all been buoyed and strengthened, blessed by the prayers of others. And yet you don't need anyone to pray for you. You can pray. You can go directly to the Father through your relationship with Jesus Christ.

And all the provision of God is yours. But when you ask, and in due time, whether it's yes or no or you've got to be kidding or wait, something better's coming, God will answer your prayer. So you have not because you ask not. So keep on praying. Jesus said keep on asking. He said ask, seek, and knock. More teaching on prayer in Jesus.

Ask. Have you ever noticed ASK? There it is. Ask, seek, knock. It's right there. Just simply ask. So pray simpler prayers and pray scriptural prayers. When I pray, I often turn promises of God into prayers. For example, or great passages into prayers. If I am walking through, let's say, Psalm 23. Then I would pray, "Lord, you are my shepherd. And today I put my life in your hands. I know that you will provide everything I need in my life because you are guiding me. And Lord, you're leading me in the paths of righteous. Lord, may I walk in your righteous steps today. May I live in the spirit today."

And you see what I'm doing? I'm personalizing the passage. I'm making it my own. I'm turning a promise into a prayer or a passage into a prayer. And you can do that with so many of the scriptures that we find in God's word. You can pray the scriptures. And this is the most powerful praying of all, taking God at his word. Corrie Ten Boom, who was a great supporter and sympathizers of the Jewish people back during the Second World War, during the Holocaust, she and her family hid Christians. You've never seen The Hiding Place, it's a great old movie, it's a great book. But she and her family and she survived the Holocaust, her sister didn't, her family didn't. She did. She became a powerful witness of the gospel of Christ and a wonderful Christian.

And she is reported to have said, "Sometimes when I come to a promise of God and I see it there and I want to claim it, I want to take God at word, I hold up my Bible, I point at the promise and say, 'God, there it is. You said it. Read it for yourself!'" And we hold God to what he said because God will never lie. God, you claim a promise from God and you act in faith on what God has prompted you to do, you will pray like never before. There's a whole book to pray.

So pray simpler prayers, pray sincere prayers, pray shorter prayers, pray secret prayers, and pray scriptural prayers. Did you know the prayer that Jesus gave us is really a prayer for the Second Coming? He said, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And in these days, in these deadly dangerous days in which we are living, we pray like John at the end of the book: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." We pray like Jesus taught us to pray: "Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." We're praying for Jesus to come. And he's coming. And he's coming soon. Are you ready for the rapture? Are you ready for the return of Jesus?

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, How to Pray the Jesus Way. Let me remind you that your support helps bring the life-changing truth of Jesus Christ to people across the world through PowerPoint Ministries. And this month, we'd love to send you a powerful resource as our way of saying thank you for your gift. It's Dr. Jack Graham's book, Life According to Jesus.

In this transformative journey through the Gospel of John, you'll discover not just what Jesus might do, but what he actually did when facing life's hardest questions. And we'll be excited to send you this resource because your generosity helps place this kind of biblical teaching into the hands of seekers and believers alike, equipping them to live according to Jesus' example every day. To give your gift, just text APRIL to 59789. Again, that's APRIL to 59789. July 4th, 2026 will be a day of great celebration for the 250th birthday of our great country.

However, there has never been a more important time in our 250 years as a nation where we need God to move in power and heal our land. That's why I'm inviting you to join Dr. Graham in a prayer challenge for our nation. To join, simply text the word CRY to 59789. Again, text CRY to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Jack Graham: You know, as I've read many books through the years on prayer and heard a lot of sermons and messages on the subject, often the motivation has been to challenge us and increase our guilt because we don't pray enough. And I've got to tell you, most of us struggle in this area. And we don't pray enough, and therefore we feel guilty and we say, "Okay, I'm going to pray more, and I'm going to pray more," and we continue to struggle in this.

Well, the purpose of today's message was not to lay more guilt on you or to cause you to struggle more. But what I wanted to do was to show you that when you pray, God will answer. And that the motivation is not simply guilt, but it is the grace of God that just pours out incredible blessings upon our lives. If somehow you could just begin to see what God could do when you begin praying, if you could just realize the great promise of prayer in your life, you would be highly motivated to pray. If you really believed that God answered prayer, you would pray.

I believe, and I want to practice prayer more and more in my life. This message on the prayer of Jesus is to challenge you somehow to see what you're missing if you don't pray. Think of all that you're missing in your life: the possibilities, the blessings, the amazing provision of God, because you don't ask. The Bible says we have not because we ask not. I want to challenge you to stop missing out on what God wants to do in your life through prayer. Prayer is the pathway of blessing to your life and through your life.

And you're never going to max out spiritually, you're never going to bear fruit as God would have you in your Christian life, unless you are a man, a woman of prayer. No wonder the prayer concludes with this great benediction of praise: "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." You see, prayer is trusting in a God, a great God who is king, whose power and glory is forever, whose promises are sure.

The prayer begins with the Father who hears us in sympathy and in secret, but it concludes with a great king who answers in power and great glory. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. This great king is King Jesus. And therefore pray unto him, pray in his name, pray like he prayed, and your life will never be the same. And that is today's PowerPoint.

Guest (Female): Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, Life According to Jesus. Just text APRIL to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message on how to have an active, dynamic, and powerful faith. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.