The Lord’s Prayer
I love the Lord’s Prayer.
Jesus taught this prayer to His disciples. It is only a few verses long but is full of meaning. The prayer showed the disciples how to pray and what to pray for.
This is the only prayer where Jesus gets this specific and gives us an actual prayer as He teaches about prayer. The prayer is found in Luke and in Matthew.
“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1 (NIV)
This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
WHAT THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT PRAYER:
Prayer Is An Action.
There are many ways to connect with God: Reading the Bible, nature, giving thanks, when we worship and sing, coming to a worship service, being quiet and listening—are all ways to connect with God. The Lord’s Prayer is not just about how to connect with God, it’s all about how to be close to Him in relationship. Prayer is talking to God AND listening.
Prayer is simply the action of communicating with God. Don’t let it get overly complicated. You can pray by speaking, and God hears your words. Your prayers can be silent and from the heart, because God knows your thoughts. Prayer can be writing something down that you are thinking and talking with God.
The Lord’s Prayer Is An Example To Follow.
Pray for two categories: (1) God’s agenda. (2) Our needs. Your kingdom come—that’s talking about God’s agenda. God, I pray that You will be glorified, I pray for my friends with marriage problems—I pray Your will be done in that. God, I pray Your will be done in big national type issues, in whatever.
How do I pray for God’s agenda? Simple. Just ask: What is God’s will? What would He want? What would bring glory to Him? This helps us get past that category where all of our prayers for food, safe traveling or someone to get well. Those are important but remember God’s agenda.
Our needs—Bread. Lord, give me something to eat. Physical things. Regular needs, spiritual needs, we all need forgiveness. One of your spiritual needs is forgiveness. We always need it, because we always mess up. When you step over the line and follow Jesus, your sins are forgiven, you are adopted as a son or daughter, and God begins to change us from the inside out. We are His children. Even though we don’t always have good days as sons and daughters, we are still God’s kid. Still in His family.
God Responds To Relationship Not Technique.
Jesus taught us to respond to God as a Father. Get to know God the Father. It’s like this: The more you get to know God as Father, the easier it will be to talk to your Dad.
Example: Say there’s a child who was abandoned, neglected, an orphan. One day, a loving father, a gracious kind man came to that child and got down on one knee and looked that child in the eye and said: Today, I’ve chosen to adopt you. From this day forward, you’re my child. You’ll get my last name. You will inherit all I have. You’re doing to get a family too. You’ve now got lots of brothers and sisters who love you and want to meet you. There is nothing you can do to make me love you more, and there’s nothing you can do to make me love you less. I’m going to teach you, love you, feed you, help and forgive you. So, come with me now, I’m your dad.
Now, do you think that child will ever speak to that Father? Yes. If they’ve had a hard life, that child will probably be tentative: Can I really trust this Father? Is He safe? What’s the catch? But as that child realizes: My father really does love me. Even though I’ve acted up a few times. Over time that child will speak to the Father more and more. The child sees the Father’s heart.
When I became a Christian, I read books on prayer that made me feel really guilty. They said: Pray prayers of supplication, adoration, intercession. I got it all confused. Too many -ations and -essions. Then I looked to God as my Father. Oh, there’s the Father. It becomes very natural to talk to Him. Hey, Dad. I really need help. Dad, I don’t know what I’m doing. Dad, I messed up again. It’s getting to know God as Father.
Children approach their father without any concern if they are well loved. Like when we would go to Silver Dollar City with my daughters. They just asked: Dad, can I get some cotton candy? Can I ride the pony? Can I pan for gold? Can I have kettle corn? They just ask. No pretense, no formality. They didn’t say: Dearest Father, I beseech thee for a corn dog. No. It’s: Dad, look snow cones. Do you want one? Yep. I kinda figured that out because I have the gift of discernment. You need a snow cone.
Don’t Make Prayer Difficult
*We’ve made prayer so hard. Intimidating. I apologize. Just ask. Just talk to Him. Talk like you talk in conversation. Talk to Him over and over. It’s a relationship with your Father!
Here are two important questions: Are you part of the family? Is God your magic genie you use just when you're in trouble or is He your Father? Have I followed Jesus? Am I living in obedience? None of us do that perfectly. Am I following Jesus? When we ask for things when we are going our own way– it's like a teenager asking for the car keys after 4 nights of breaking curfew.
Some of you think: Prayer’s not working. I asked and it didn’t happen. No, it worked. Your Father just said: No or later. Your Father hears and answers every prayer. Sometimes He says: Yes. Sometimes—no. Sometimes—later. Trust your Father. Wait. In time, you’ll see that your Father was right.