Lord, Teach Us to Pray
Hello, hello!
I pray that all is well with you! I pray that you have been refreshed over this past month as we have revisited the basic fundamentals of prayer.
The journey to a deeper prayer life that we have embarked upon this month has been a fulfilling and eye opening one. I have been a woman of prayer for many years (though not always consistent). However, some things that I have learned and have been reminded of over this past month has changed my prayer life forever.
There have been times that I have gotten on my knees, thanked God, asked Him to bless me an my family, then asked myself, “ok, what’s next?” I have often felt like there was something that I was missing in my prayer life. I knew there was something that I could do to make my prayer life more effective, but I wasn’t sure what that was.
Then it dawned on me, the best person to teach me how to pray was Jesus.
All throughout the Gospels, you could find Jesus going to a secluded place to pray. The disciples one day asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” That is when Jesus left us with a special gift.. the gift of teaching us all to pray through what we call The Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be thy name.- Jesus was giving reverence to the Father for who He is. He recognized Him for being sovereign, holy, and the creator of everything. He was giving God the adoration that He is so worthy of.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus was teaching us to pray God’s agenda first! Pray for God’s desires to be accomplished on earth. Pray for souls to be saved, people to be healed and set free from any bondage.
Give us this day our daily bread. Jesus was showing us here that we should depend on God for everything, and never be so prideful to think that we are provided for by our own strength. Our ability to work, reason, and think all comes from God. He created us, and not we ourselves. (Psalm 100:3)
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. This passage has such a simple meaning..yet sometimes it is so hard to do. We should ask God to forgive us…as we forgive others. The scripture goes on to tell us that if we don’t forgive others, our Father will not forgive us. (Matthew 6:14-15). When we are scarred by something someone did to us, it is so hard to let go. Always remember, sis, that forgiveness is for YOU. Forgiveness is so that you can walk in freedom and be in right standing with God.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from all evil. As surely as Eve ate from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we will always be tempted to do things that God is not pleased with and that is opposite of what His word says. The scripture tells us that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We should ask God to strengthen us to carry our the will of the Father and to live a life that is pleasing to Him. We should ask for the strength to be obedient to Him and His word in spite of what our flesh desires. His strength and guidance is needed to lead us on a path of righteousness for His namesake. His strength is needed to break free of all bad habits, patterns, and addictions that are keeping us in bondage.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. This part of The Lord’s prayer is not found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. However, this part is certainly important. Here, we are recognizing who all power and glory belongs to, and we are giving thanks that by faith, our prayer has been heard and answered.
The biggest thing that Jesus wanted us to know, is to have sincere interaction and conversation with our Heavenly Father. And to JUST DO IT! Not out of formality, but to develop and maintain a true relationship with God.
So, sis, I know as moms, wives, professionals, entrepreneurs, and the various other hats that we wear, a bit of perfectionism is woven into our tapestry.
We want to make sure that we are doing everything the “right way”. The truth is with prayer, no one has any right or wrong answers on the format. This is just a model. So please, don’t get overwhelmed with trying to make sure that you are “adding everything.” The most important thing is that you talk to Him with a heart that is desiring to please and obey Him.
If you only have 5 minutes, that’s awesome! 5 minutes is better than NO minutes.. and that 5 minutes can change the entire course of your day.
I will say… make talking with the one who loves you the most a priority. He is waiting to hear from you. You will be glad that you did.