PRAYER IS A PART OF EVERY CHRISTIANS LIFE IN SOME WAY. HOWEVER, HOW WE USE PRAYER AND WHAT WE UNDERSTAND THE DEFINITION OF PRAYER TO BE CAN BE VERY DIFFERENT!
WE ALL HAVE DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS OF WHAT PRAYER IS TO BE USED FOR AND WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT. WE ALSO HAVE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS OF APPROACHING HOW WE PRAY, WHAT WE PRAY FOR AND THE OVERALL CONTENT AND LANGUAGE USED IN PRAYER.
PRAYER FOR SOME IS SIMPLY MAKING REQUESTS TO GOD MUCH LIKE THEY WOULD ORDER MERCHANDISE OFF THE INTERNET, WHILE FOR OTHERS IT IS A WAY TO HAVE INTIMATE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH LISTENING, TALKING, AND BEING STILL.
I LIKE WHAT E. STANLY JONES’S WROTE ON PRAYER IN HIS BOOK “A SONG OF ASCENTS” HE SAID, “PRAYER IS SURRENDER – SURRENDER TO THE WILL OF GOD AND COOPERATION WITH THAT WILL. IF I THROW OUT A BOAT HOOK FROM A BOAT AND CATCH HOLD OF THE SHORE AND PULL, DO I PULL THE SHORE TO ME, OR DO I PULL MYSELF TO THE SHORE? PRAYER IS NOT PULLING GOD TO MY WILL, BUT THE ALIGNING OF MY WILL TO THE WILL OF GOD.”
PRAYER IS NOT JUST A WAY TO GIVE GOD A “TO DO” LIST OF THINGS WE NEED. PRAYER IS NOT A ONE-SIDED CONVERSATION WHERE WE DO ALL THE TALKING. PRAYER IS NOT JUST FOR ASKING GOD TO MEET OUR NEEDS. PRAYER IS NOT SOMETHING WE DO ONLY WHEN FACING A CRISIS, SICK, OR OUT OF ALL OTHER OPTIONS.
JESUS GAVE SPECIFIC DETAILS ON HOW WE ARE TO PRAY. NOT ONLY DID HE GIVE US THE DETAILS, BUT LAID OUT A PARTICULAR PATTERN TO FOLLOW IN PRAYING. THE DETAILS AND PATTERN TO FOLLOW HAVE MEANING AND ARE STEPPING STONES TO A MORE FULFILLING, LOVING AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
INTERESTING ENOUGH, WHAT PROMTED THE DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS TO TEACH THEM HOW TO PRAY WAS BASED ON THEIR OBSERVANCE OF HIM PRAYING. THEY WERE WITNESSES TO THE MANY TIMES JESUS SOUGHT HIS HEAVENLY FATHER IN PRAYER.
FOR EXAMPLE, JESUS PRAYED AT THE TIME OF HIS BAPTISM (3:21), AND AT THE TIME OF CHOOSING HIS DISCIPLES (6:12). HE PRAYED WHILE BEING TRANSFIGURED (9:28-29) AND IN THE GARDEN JUST BEFORE HIS BETRAYAL (22:40-44). IT DIDN’T STOP THERE AS HE GAVE AN UNBELIEVALBE EXAMPLE TO LIFT PRAYERS TO HIS FATHER WHILE NAILED AND DYING ON THE CROSS (23:46).
EVERY IMAGINABLE SITUATION, JESUS GAVE AN EXAMPLE TO INCLUDE IN PRAYER. NO SITUATION WAS EVER CONSIDERED TOO MINOR OR INSIGNIFICANT TO BE BROUGHT TO HIS FATHER’S ATTENTION. EVERYTHING WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO GOD THAT JESUS COULD BRING ALL THINGS TO HIM BATHED IN PRAYER.
THE CONCLUSION IS OBVIOUS: IF JESUS CHRIST, THE PERFECT SON OF GOD, HAD TO DEPEND ON PRAYER DURING HIS EARTHLY JOURNEY, THEN HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU AND I NEED TO PRAY? EFFECTIVE PRAYER IS THE PROVISION FOR EVERY NEED AND THE SOLUTION FOR EVERY ONE OF OUR PROBLEMS.
LET’S LOOK AT THE MODEL OF PRAYER TAUGHT TO US BY JESUS CHRIST. JESUS PRAYED IN FIVE DISTINCT PETITIONS: ONE AND TWO FOR GOD’S KINGDOM-INTERESTS, THREE FOR OUR PERSONAL NEEDS, FOUR FOR OUR RELTIONSHIP WITH GOD THE FATHER, AND FIVE FOR OUR SPIRITUAL BATTLES.
THE FIRST PETITION: “HALLOWED BE THY NAME” SIGNIFIES A SACRED REVERANCE FOR GOD. THE GREEK WORD “HALLOWED” USED HERE MEANS “TO TREAT AS HOLY.” IT IS OUR PRAYER THAT WE WOULD ALLOW GOD’S NAME TO BE SANCTIFIED BY THE WAY WE LIVE OUR DAILY LIVES. IT MEANS THAT, WHEN WE PRAY, WE BEGIN WITH THE RECOGNITION OF WHO GOD “IS” AS A HOLY AND SACRED.
THIS IS WHY, UPON OUR KNEES IN PRAYER, WE CAN BEGIN OUR PETITIONS WITH THE WORDS OF ISAIAH 6:3, THAT SAY“…HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY; THE WHOLE EARTH IS FILLED WITH HIS GLORY.” COME BEFORE GOD IN REVERANCE AND IN AWE.
THE SECOND PETITION IS TO PRAY THAT THY KINGDOM COME AND FOR THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. WHEN WE PRAY FOR THE COMING KINGDOM, WE ARE IDENTIFYING OURSELVES WITH THE MESSAGE OF JESUS.
THE MESSAGE THAT JESUS CAME TO ANNOUNCE AND WILL USHER INTO OUR AGE WAS THE COMING OF HIS FATHER’S KINGDOM. IT WOULD BE OUR PRAYER THAT THE GLORY AND REIGN OF GOD WOULD BE REALIZED SO THAT EVEIL WOULD BE DESTROYED AND THAT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE COULD ENTER THE KINGDOM THROUGH SALVATION IN CHRIST.
WHEN WE CONTINUE THIS PETITION FOR “THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN” WE ARE USING THE SAME WORDS JESUS USED IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. WE ARE PRAYING THAT GOD’S WILL BE DONE FIRST IN MY HEART THENTO BE DONE EVERYWHERE ON EARTH. THERE CAN BE PERFECT HARMONY BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH WHEN WE LIVE OUR LIFE WITHIN THE REALIZATION THAT GOD’S GLORY IS OUR FIRST AND DEEPEST CONCERN BEFORE OUR OWN NEEDS ARE EVEN CONSIDERED.
THE THIRD PETITION WAS FOR OUR DAILY BREAD. IF WE WILL PUT GOD’S KINGDOM FIRST, HE HAS PROMISED TO MEET AND SUPPLY OUR MATERIAL NECESSITIES. THE GREEK WORD FOR “DAILY” CAN MEAN “FOR TODAY” OR THAT WHICH IS “NECESSARY FOR EXISTANCE.”
WE RELY ON GOD FOR BOTH PHYISICAL AND SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT. GOD’S PROVISION WILL BE DIALY AND WE DO NOT NEED TO WORRY FROM ONE DAY TO THE NEXT. SIMPLY PUT, GOD WILL SUPPLY ALL THAT IS NEEDED.
THE FOURTH PETITION WAS TO PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS. WE PRAY NOT ONLY FOR OUR FORGIVENESS, BUT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A FORGIVING SPIRIT TOWARD OTHERS.
PLAINLY STATED: TO REAMIN UNFORGIVING SHOWS THAT WE HAVE NOT UNDERSTOOD THAT WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF FORGIVENESS OURSELVES. FORGIVENESS IS THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. WE WILLINGLY EXTEND FOGIVENESS TO OTHERS FOR THEIR WRONGS BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN THE RECIPIENT OF SUCH PARDON FROM OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
THE FIFTH AND FINAL PETITION IS THAT WE WOULD NOT BE LEAD INTO TEMPTATION AND DELIVERED FROM EVIL. WE PRAY THAT GOD WOULD DELIVER US FROM SITUATIONS THAT COULD CAUSE US TO STUMBLE, GIVE INTO TEMPTATION AND SIN.
THE GREEK WORD FOR TEMPTATION MEANS “ENTICEMENT,” OR “TEST/TRIAL” WHICH MEANS WE ARE ASKING GOD FOR SPIRITUAL PROTECTION FROM TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS.
WE DO THIS BECAUSE WE ARE FULLY AWARE OF WHERE WE ARE VULNERABLE AND WEAK. WE WISH TO BE SPARED FROM BEING EXPOSED TO SITUATIONS WHERE WE ARE MOST AT RISK. HOWEVER, IF WE SHOULD FIND OURSELVES IN SUCH A PREDICAMENT, WE CONTINUE OUR PRAYER BY SAYING “DELIVER US FROM EVIL” TO AVOID FALLING INTO SIN.
GOD NEVER ENTICES US TO DO EVIL, BUT HE WILL ALLOW CERTAIN PERIODS OF TESTING TO TOUCH OUR LIVES. IT IS HIS HOPE THAT WE WILL NOT FALL AWAY INTO SIN, BUT ALLOW THE TESTINGS TO DEEPEN OUR FAITH AND QUICKEN OUR DEPENDANCE UPON GOD’S POWER TO HELP US RESIST BY STANDING FIRM TO LIVE RIGHTEOUS LIVES THAT ARE HOLYAND ACCEPTABLE UNTO GOD.
JESUS HAS TAUGHT US FIVE DISTINCT PETITIONS IN WHICH TO FORMULATE OUR PRAYERS. I HOPE AS WE LEAVE HERE TODAY, WE WILL SEE THAT PRAYING ISN’T JUST CENTERED AROUND ASKING FOR MATERIAL AND PHYSICAL THINGS. PRAYER INCORPORATES MORE THAN JUST “ASKING FOR STUFF.” PRAYER IS: RECOGNIZING GOD’S HOLINESS AND TO SEE HIS KINGDOM AND WILL FULFILLED! PRAYER SEEKS FOR OUR DAILY PROVISIONS; TO BE ABLE TO FORGIVE AND BE FORGIVEN; TO BE SPARED FROM TESTING, TO KEEP FROM SINNING AND TO ALLOW OUR FAITH TO GROW.
ALTHOUGH NOT INCLUDED IN THE PASSAGE IN LUKE, WE CAN SEE WHY, TODAY, WE END SUCH A PRAYER BY SAYING: “FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOREVER!”
GO FORTH WITH A NEWFOUND APPROACH IN HOW YOU PRAY. MAY ALL YOUR PRAYERS BE KINGDOM-CENTERED PETITIONS THAT ARE FOCUSED ON BOTH THE PRESENT AND ETERNAL VALUES OF GOD’S WILL FOR YOU AND THIS WORLD. SEEK HIS FACE AND LET HIM EMBRACE ALL YOUR SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL NEEDS. AMEN!
