Thessalonians 5:17 Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing". Prayer is one of those critical elements to having a relationship with God. But I, like many others who consider themselves Christians, am severely lacking in my prayer life. There are a lot of people who have formulas for the "best way to pray to get God to do what you want Him to do" but most of those come and go because they tend not to work. How then should we pray?
Jesus answers exactly that question in Matthew 6:5-15
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“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.’
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
So let's break this down and see what Jesus is trying to tell us about prayer. Prayer is between you and God, it is not a show for anyone else. So when we are praying even when we are praying aloud in front of others we need to make sure we are not trying to make a show of it. God knows you better than anyone, he knows your heart, keep your prayers simple and real there is no need to try to be eloquent or verbose, he understands you just as you are. So in short prayer is not intended to be a big production, it is just simply you talking to God.
Another thing I pull out of this which is more subtle and maybe a bit of a stretch, but it is significant to me. We are easily distracted and lose focus, so when we pray it is important to try to remove any distractions that will keep us on focusing on God. Find somewhere quiet and free of distractions. Leave your phone in the other room or turn it off. Try hard to keep your focus on God.
Now we come to the part where Jesus gives us words to a prayer. I do not think he intended us to recite the Lord's prayer every time we pray, but instead I think he gave it to us a a guideline or template to follow.
"Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name". Recognize who we are praying to! We are talking with God, The creator of everything, the author of all things, I AM, the one who was, and is and forever more shall be, the all in all! This is about the posture with which we approach God. He knows who He is so our need to recognize Him and His greatness is for us, we need to remember to approach him with humbleness and recognition of His power and greatness.
"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" So to me this part is a recognition of his greatness and how his will is so much greater than ours. It is still about our posture, we come to God with needs and desires but we need to recognize that His will is greater than our perceived needs and wants. God's will is perfect and His word promises that ultimately His plan and will for our lives is for our benefit.
"Give us this day our daily bread" Jesus is acknowledging that we have perceived needs and we can come to him and bring these needs once we have recognized that His will is greater than ours. Also here He is telling us to recognize that God is our source and all good things come from the Father.
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors", This part is hard, Jesus is making sure we remember to check our hearts. God expects us to make sure we have right relationships with others and to show his love to them. Remember in Matthew 22:27-40 Jesus puts the command to love one another as inseparable from His command to love God. We cannot approach the throne of God with sin towards a brother/sister in our hearts.
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one". I think this one is kind of self-explanatory, God we recognize you have all power and can keep us from the plans of the devil, Give us the strength to withstand him.
So to recap, find a way to remove as much distraction as you can so that you can focus on God. Acknowledge who God is and that His plan and will is greater than ours. Check your heart and make sure you do not have things to repent of before bringing your requests before the Lord. Ask Him for the things you need while keeping in mind that His plan may not be the same as ours.
Now that we see how Jesus tells us how to pray, it is important to remember that prayer is a two-sided conversation. God answers prayer! As we look throughout the Bible we see examples of God answering prayer. Sometimes God speaks, sometimes he answers with actions like when Elijah prayed and God withheld the rain for 3 and a half years. Sometimes God sends messengers with His word and sometimes he changes our heart. I could spend hours recounting all the accounts of God answering prayer in the bible or even in my own life, but I feel like God wants to talk more about how we approach Him in prayer.
James 5:16b says "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective". I can't speak for anyone else but when I pray it does not feel powerful or effective. Christ died for my sin and I have accepted the gift of salvation he has given and so by all accounts I am accredited as a righteous person, so what is wrong with my prayers. If we look at the rest of the passage in James we find the answers to that question. James 5:13-18 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Looking at the context here we see that faith is the key! When we pray we need to focus on who God is and know that this God, who created everything by just speaking, loves for us. We must know and believe that He WILL answer our prayers no mater how great or small our requests may be. Keeping this in mind I looked back at the life of Daniel, who in my mind is one of the great prayer warriors of the Bible. And as I look at his faithfulness and diligence in prayer it quickly becomes evident that had an unparalleled faith.
In Matthew 17:20 Jesus was answering his disciples who were asking why they could not cast out a demon, He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
I am afraid that I would be like the disciples, I am praying that God will teach me to have faith so that He can use me more and that when I pray that my prayers are powerful and effective!
So lets look back again and answer the question "How then should we pray?" Keep your focus on God, really look at Him, acknowledge who God is. If we really get our focus on God our picture of Him will keep growing every time we look. Make sure we are right with God, and with others, Check your heart. Recognize that God's will is greater than your will. And know that when you earnestly seek Him, He will answer you!
James 5:16b says "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective". I can't speak for anyone else but when I pray it does not feel powerful or effective. Christ died for my sin and I have accepted the gift of salvation he has given and so by all accounts I am accredited as a righteous person, so what is wrong with my prayers. If we look at the rest of the passage in James we find the answers to that question. James 5:13-18 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Looking at the context here we see that faith is the key! When we pray we need to focus on who God is and know that this God, who created everything by just speaking, loves for us. We must know and believe that He WILL answer our prayers no mater how great or small our requests may be. Keeping this in mind I looked back at the life of Daniel, who in my mind is one of the great prayer warriors of the Bible. And as I look at his faithfulness and diligence in prayer it quickly becomes evident that had an unparalleled faith.
In Matthew 17:20 Jesus was answering his disciples who were asking why they could not cast out a demon, He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
I am afraid that I would be like the disciples, I am praying that God will teach me to have faith so that He can use me more and that when I pray that my prayers are powerful and effective!
So lets look back again and answer the question "How then should we pray?" Keep your focus on God, really look at Him, acknowledge who God is. If we really get our focus on God our picture of Him will keep growing every time we look. Make sure we are right with God, and with others, Check your heart. Recognize that God's will is greater than your will. And know that when you earnestly seek Him, He will answer you!
No comments:
Post a Comment