"This then is how you should pray"
I believe God has already established beforehand the affirmative answer to every righteous prayer I've ever prayed. It's his doing, it's his free gift given to me, it's not by my will that it comes. I'm gifted with free will, but the answers to my prayers are not free from God's will. My prayers are not to meant to fulfill my desires, but his. My worship is not meant to elevate my spirit, but his. My community consciousness and Christian actions are not meant to meet my own needs, but his.
Prayer is worship, and a lesson about worship. And the object of our worshiping prayer is Our Father.
Matthew 6:9-10
"Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven."
Effective prayer requires faith in God. How are you going to pray effectively if you don't hold God in dear reverence. Effective prayer should be characterized by the recognition of the holiness of God, and a profound desire to see the will of God accomplished in your life. It's an awareness and awe of the greatness of God. Folks who pray experience that sense of worship in a wide variety of ways. For some, like me, it's like the sense of awe you get at the sight of a newborn baby, or the structure of a beautiful flower, and the awe you feel when you finally understand the design and the wisdom of the designer. Effective, worshiping prayer is a call to faithfulness and love for our Father in heaven. The very same Father of every person that has ever lived.
Malachi 2:10
"Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God?"
He is worthy because he is the Almighty Immortal God, father to us all. And so, our prayer request must be prefaced in this special worshiping way, "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name..."
Prayer is also a petition, and a lesson about our needs.
This "Lord's Prayer" teaches us that there are six petitions that we are asking:
We give glory to God, we call upon the kingdom to come, we call for God's will to be done, we ask for our material needs, and for forgiveness of our sins, and finally protection against the temptations and prowling dangerous lies of the Devil.
We turn our concerns into prayers. And Jesus is instructing us about which concerns should be addressed in those prayers.
Matthew 6:11
"Give us today the food we need"
Prayer is dependence on God for all the things that concern us, and it's born out of the simplicity of a childlike love. Our participation in the kingdom of God is dependent on true righteousness, but also on a proper attitude toward material things. A childlike attitude.
In Exodus 16:4 God tells Moses that each morning manna, (bread from heaven) will rain down from heaven to feed the children of Israel who are hungry. God instructs them that they are only to gather for themselves as much bread as they need for that day and keep none of it for the next day. This is the daily bread Jesus is referring to. God's children must rely upon God daily for all their needs.
We should learn from this that there is never a point in our Christian Walk that we become so holy and righteous that we no longer need this childlike dependence. No matter how good we get at praying and worshipping, studying the word, and doing it. No matter our successes in our ministry work, a prayerful childlike need always remains. This is that "relationship" (religion) that seems to be on the minds of so many in the church these days. It's a "walk" that happens on our knees. A humbled walk, like a toddler's first steps.
Prayer is also intercession, and a lesson about getting our heart right in regard to how we live and how we love as a community of believers.
Matthew 6:12-13
"and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation but rescue us from the evil one."
When we think about our debts, we're likely thinking about a bank loan or credit card balance. But are we thinking about the things we owe to our God, to others, and to ourselves? Do you owe someone forgiveness? Do you owe God thankfulness and obedience? Do you owe it to yourself to resist temptations that you know are enslaving you to sin?
Jesus is teaching about prayer, and in that lesson, he marks for our understanding that we are all in need of intercession, and we're to become intercessors as well. It's a give and take he's teaching. Give a prayer, receive a prayer. And the context he points out is that there is not one in his family that doesn't need intercession in some way or another. Everyone is in need of it and needs to be giving it. We must first forgive others for their sins. As many times as it takes. Then, we can ask God to forgive our sins. We need intercession, so we intercede. We need deliverance so we pray for the wisdom of God to help us discern the devilry that comes at us in sly and disguised ways.
Prayer is this spiritual give and take. And it's also our roadmap for living.
J. I. Packer said the Lord’s Prayer is “a key to the whole business of living...What it means to be a Christian is nowhere clearer than here.”
It’s a vision for our life in Christ’s kingdom. It addresses our attitude about our relationship with God, about our worldly relationships, and about our own relationship with sin. It's not merely a pattern meant to be prayed, it's meant to be lived and learned from. It's not just reciprocity is revelatory.
We should not take this lightly. When we endeavor to pray as The Lord has instructed us here, we are inviting the Lion of Judah to come out of the cage of religious superstition and tradition. We're unleashing Him into our lives to fulfill HIS mission in us.
And though it is not included here in Matthew, we should know that the ending of the doxology with, “for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever” is present in some translations.
Why?
Probably best understood as a kind of ending again in worship. Like a hymn. Does it do damage? I don't know, maybe, but I doubt it.
Personally, I like beginning and ending the prayer in worship. I think I do it for me. It grounds me again as I complete the prayer. It's like saying, "not my will Lord, but yours".
I don't want to get to thinking I'm accomplishing some great feat of faith in my own strength by virtue of my prayers.
"WOW! What a prayer!"
No.
I resist that temptation.
I will not make a spectacle of my prayer time.
The Holy Spirit empowers us to please God in the way we live (Romans 8:8-9). But that doesn't mean we're some kind of spiritual warrior king or queen. When I close my prayers with a reference to God’s power, I am reminded that He truly does have all the power, and all the glory. We have, "tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age" (Hebrews 6:5), but we do not own those powers in and of ourselves. We're not the source, and so we give reverence to the Source as we conclude our petitions.
I hope you are blessed today and every day in prayer. Please pray with worship, with a childlike dependence, and with patience and love for one another. Please pray for me, and I'll be praying for you all.
Please feel free to include in the comments all your prayer concerns so we can all pray for each other.
God bless.
Amen.
#Prayer