Luke 11:1-4 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. (2) And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. (3) Give us day by day our daily bread. (4) And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Prayer is one of the greatest blessings that God has given to his children. It is hard to put into words the value of this gift. However, If you wanted to get a face-to-face meeting with the president of the United States, you had better think again, because there is no way that a normal citizen could every get to see him. For that matter, you would not have much luck if you wanted to see the governor of the state. However, our loving, compassionate, gracious Father has given us the opportunity to go to him at any moment and as much as we deem necessary, to petition our concerns.
After Jesus’ disciples witness him praying, they come to him and ask Jesus to teach them to pray as well. Jesus then gives them this model to follow. In Matthew’s account of the model prayer, Jesus actually said to pray after this manner...
Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Often I hear people call this the “Lord’s Prayer”, but actually it not a prayer that he offered, but rather a pattern to follow. So what is the pattern that we should follow?
Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name: God is to be addressed with reverence and respect. All too often these days, I hear people pray to in a manner that they sound like they are talking to a buddy. We are not talking to a buddy. God is NOT our equal! God is our creator and is deserving of our respect and our prayers , and the manner that we address him in those prayers, should reflect that respect.
Thy Kingdom Come: Jesus teaches us to pray for his church. Specifically for them at that moment in time, they needed to pray for the coming of his kingdom, For us, now that the kingdom has been established, our prayers should be different, yet it still needs our prayers. We need to pray that the gospel is spread throughout the word. That the lost is hearing it, and that the church will continue to grow.
Thy Will be done: In order for us to legitimately pray this, we have to mean it. In order to mean it, we must be willing to set aside our own will for God’s. We cannot go and mouth the words “Thy Will Be Done” and not care about what God wants. Neither can we go through the motions of pretending to care about what God wants, only to disregard it for doing what pleases ourselves. If we want to take advantage of the power of prayer, we will have to truly follow God’s will
Give us this day our daily bread: Here God teaches us to ask for the NEEDS of this life. God wants to be the giver of such necessities (Matt 6:33). I do not believe, however, that bread is a literal term here, but rather a representative word to refer to the sincere needs of this life like food, shelter, clothing, jobs, improved health etc.
Forgive us our sins: While prayer is not the ultimate means to the end of forgiveness, to those that forgiveness have been granted, prayer is an avenue of expressing our sincere regret, and contrite spirit and repentance. The bible often tells us that we should as for forgiveness from our Father.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: Like other aspects of prayer, the power of this portion, lies partially in our willingness participate. It just does not seem reasonable to ask for assistance, all the while living in a complete opposite manner. Does it seem reasonable to ask God to lead us not into temptation and to deliver us from evil, if we have lead ourselves into that same temptation that we want deliverance from? Is it logical to ask to God to help us not to lust while sitting in a strip club? If we want deliverance, if we want to be lead, we must do our part in controlling our environment to the best of our ability.
If we follow this pattern, this outline, this general guideline for our prayers, we will find them to be more effective.
Reflecting the SON,
Dennis Hogan
Questions, comments or further explanation? Contact me at: dennis.hogan@icloud.com
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