Or how about this one: "My prayer life has become repititious."? If we're honest with ourselves and others, most of us could relate to this. Most of us could say we've fallen into a trap of this at one point or another despite Jesus' warning against vain repition in prayer. Why do we struggle so? Personally, I think it's because we often come to God out of routine or necessity rather than choosing to foster a true love relationship with Him. So the question remains: "How do I pray?"
Fortunately, we can seek and FIND the answer in his Word!! Grab your bible and turn to Luke 11:1-4. It is also found in Matthew 6:9:14. To me, it's found twice so that means it really deserves our attention!
Jesus was speaking to the disciples who were Christ followers. Therefore, these words are what Christ wants believers to pray. How convenient that He laid it all out for us! So let's take a look.
Luke 11:1-4--- "Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciiples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as Johne the baptist taught his disciples." So, He said to them, When you pray say:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is
indebted to us,
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one."
And if you'll turn with me back to Matthew 6:13b, He concludes, " For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen"
You may have a different translation as this is the NKJV. However the concepts are the same. I had the wonderful opportunity of taking a bible study about this prayer and I thought, what better way to pray than to follow the model of Jesus himself?
So, lets' break it down and find out what God desires from us in prayer.
If we look at the beginning:
"Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name", this is a recognition of God as our Supreme God. He's our only God He's worthy of our worship and praise, honor. Hallowing His name means recognizing it as holy. We are worshipping Him and praising Him with these verses. So we know our prayers are to include worship of Him and that it is a vital part! You can use this time to call Him by His names as found in scripture. If you don't have a source that tells you the names of God, you can find a list of names on the Internet. During different points of Your life, different names may have different meanings for you. For instance, if you're going through trials, He may be Counselor or Refuge. If you've been healed from physical suffering, He may be healer. Praise Him and call Him by Name.
"Your kingdom come." This is a marvelous promise to us. He has promised His kingdom. He reigns and we can take this time to thank Him for His reign and recognize Him as Sovereign and being in control. He has a plan. His ways are marvelous and we are here to fulfill the role to reflect Him and bring glory to Him. His kingdom and His eternal glory are what it all boils down to!
"Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" This is surrender on our part. This is desire for God's will, knowing it is higher than our own. It is perfect. It has purpose and we're here to fulfill it. We pray that He will guide us and direct our paths. We pray that we may be used to bring Him glory and that we may fulfill His commission of telling others about Him. We surrender to what His will brings-- including trials. We praise Him in good and bad. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and if we're to have the mind of Christ, we must desire His will no matter the cost.
"Give us day by day our daily bread" This has been subject of debate as to whether this pertains to spiritual food, meaning growing us and filling us with Him, or physical food and necessities. My personal conviction is to make it a prayer which includes both. We are to desire His presence and a relationship with Him. We can take this time to ask Him to draw us closer. He also wants us to present our prayers and petitions to Him, so we can take this time to present prayer requests to Him as well. He wants our all and desires for us to share our burdens with Him.
"And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us" God wants us to come to Him with contrite, repentant hearts. He longs for us to confess our sins and ask His forgiveness. That process recognizes Him as the forgiver of sins. We must long to walk in obedience and we must be willing to come to Him asking Him to help us. He convicts us and just as we long for our children to ask forgiveness when they mess up, He desires that as well. But the more difficult part for most of us is the second part-- forgiving others. Yet we see the two parts in alignment in this prayer. We're commanded to forgive. We must actively forgive others when they've wronged us and we must be willing to ask their forgiveness when we've wronged them. So this is a good time to meditate, asking God to reveal to you where you've sinned or where you've had an unforgiving spirit. You then ask His forgiveness and forgive others (going to them in person if necessary to restore the relationship".
"And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one." This part may be a little perplexing at first because we may want to ask why God would tempt us. He doesn't. We must look at the passage in its entirety to understand what it means. This is a prayer of deliverance when we are faced with trials or temptation. When Satan tempts us or tests us, we ask the Lord to bring us through so that the end result is that all glory goes to God. It is also a proactive prayer. We know those times will come because His word tells us they will. So we are to pray that we would be in alignment with Him in those times, in a place of submission to His authority, that we would be able to withstand and go through the fire.
"For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen"
God is authority! He is power! He is love! He is above all and He is Supreme. So why not use this part to end your time in prayer with worship? How fitting that Jesus would've began the prayer with praise and worship to the Father and ended the prayer the same way? He's the ALpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. Period.
Take this time to pray to Him. Really pray to Him. Come into His presence. You'll be blessed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment