P.R.A.Y.E.R. - Act: 2 of 2
How many times do you think that you have recited the Lord’s Prayer in your life? For me it would be many hundreds or even a thousand times. Most of those times I have probably mindlessly said the words without giving much thought to the purpose of the prayer itself.
Most Christians know it by heart quite well but what many don’t realize is that the most significant thing about the prayer is that Jesus used it to teach us how to pray. Jesus said the prayer twice in the Bible - a shorter version in Luke when one of his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray and the full version that we are accustomed to in the Sermon on the Mount. Both times he was teaching his audience how to pray. So the main purpose of the Lord’s Prayer is not just something for us to mindlessly say in a corporate prayer setting but to use as a perfect model in our own daily prayers.
By understanding each component of the prayer, it makes it much easier for us to adopt His pattern for prayer as our own.
Praise “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” - This is where prayer should always begin. Praising God with a grateful heart and recognizing Him for who He is.
Praying for what’s on His heart and for His work “thy kingdom come, they will be done,” We pray for His work in this world. This requires us to seek out what His desires are for His kingdom and our role in it.
Requests “give us this day our daily bread,” We ask God boldly and specifically for what is on our hearts and what our desires are.
Repentance “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We confess our sins and ask for forgiveness for them while also making sure that we are forgiving of others.
Protection “do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil” We ask for protection from evil and strength in the weak spots in our lives where we struggle.
We are all guilty of solely making prayer a “help line” or a “request line.” It should definitely include those things but it is intended to be so much more. Adopting this pattern of prayer that Jesus gave us will dynamically change our prayer lives for the better. Try it this week and see.
Stay hungry,
Big E