Jesus, help me point out to my friend that this prayer includes others besides themselves. Let me show them that it starts off with “our” Father rather than “my” Father. Help me explain that from this moment on, our heavenly Father wants us to be concerned with others too. He wants us to care not only about our problems here on earth and our eternal life, He also wants us to care about the earthly and eternal life of other people as well. Help me show them that Christianity is all about love for ourselves, others, and God.

Jesus, help me understand that hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us (Rom 5:5). Make it clear to me that as they move through this prayer and then obey Romans 10:8-10, the Holy Spirit enters into their body and joins their human spirit. And, when that happens, love is poured into their heart by the Holy Spirit as He joins them. And even though this isn’t something they need to be made aware of just yet, make it clear to me that this is why You formed Your prayer where it included others in it. Then later, remind me to explain these wonderful truths to them.

Jesus, as You help my friend see how important it is to make You their Lord and Savior, help them want their friends to do the same. As they are learning how vital it is to allow You to help them with their life’s problems, show them how much it will also help others. As You get them ready to spend eternity with their new heavenly Father, help them start feeling a desire for their friends to make the same decision.

Jesus, help me make it clear to my friend that they are about to accept God as their heavenly Father. When they say: “My Father in heaven,” they are opening their heart to Him and are giving Him permission to cause them to be born again. Help me point out to them that they didn’t have any say in the process of being born on this planet; that decision was made for them. But, with You, they are being given the privilege of deciding to accept God as their heavenly Father for themselves. When they call Him their heavenly Father, they are giving Him permission to make them His child. Let me see the importance of helping them understand what they are about to experience.

Help me ask them if they are willing to be made one of His children. If they are willing, then help me explain to them that all they have to do is call Him their heavenly Father. He will cause them to be born for a second time. Then help me explain to them that this will be a spiritual birth that will take some time and study to understand. Help me explain to them that when they were born as a baby, they had a lot of things to learn. But, for now all they have to understand is that by becoming God’s child they will gain all the rights and privileges of entering into His Kingdom. Then, if my friend is willing, let me have them go ahead and say: “My Father in heaven” and then say: “Our Father in heaven.”

Jesus, help me and my friend understand that this is an ETERNALLY important moment! Help me STOP right here and explain to my friend that they just accepted God as their heavenly Father through the leadership of Jesus. Help me make it clear to them that Jesus just provided them with a powerful prayer that empowered them to be born again as a child of God. Help me stop and congratulate them! Empower me to show them that they were just born into their heavenly Father’s family! They are now His child and a citizen in His eternal Kingdom.

After that, Jesus, help me explain to my friend that if they keep moving on in praying Your prayer, they will experience all the things they will need. Help me make it real to them that Your prayer will help them experience a complete and successful birth into all God has for them. Help me explain to them that birth is just the beginning; Your prayer has more things they need so as to keep them alive after birth.

Jesus, help me explain to them that our heavenly Father is pure. He has excluded all lying, cheating, stealing, hatred, murder, and evil from His being. He IS love, truth, life, and the way to purity. The thing that makes His Kingdom such an awesome place to spend eternity is the quality of its God. Help me explain to them that they will soon find that God is perfect. If they allow Him to really show them the full reasons behind all of His principles and systems, they will be completely impressed with Who He is. Then help me show them that for now, all they are being asked to understand is the fact that God is gracious (gives them gifts they do not deserve) and merciful (exempts them from penalties and side effects deserved).

Help me explain to them that if they says these next words, they will be acknowledging that they are accepting the fact that God is going to be giving them things they do not deserve (grace). They will also be accepting the fact that He is not going to let them be punished for the things they deserve to be punished for (mercy). Then let me ask them whether or not they are willing to say these next word. Then, if they can appreciate to some degree these two gifts, then let me have them say: “Hallowed be your name.”