In an earlier post, I shared that Jesus taught us the foundations on which we were to build our houses. So today, I want to focus on one of those big foundation pieces: prayer.
Jesus is sitting on a mountainside teaching his disciples when a crowd arrives. He gives instructions for finding the Kingdom of Heaven, then a guide for praying.
The first lesson is not to pray like the hypocrites, who were actors who wore different masks to play various roles. They loved to be seen by others as they prayed their prayers. Then he instructed that we pray to do so in secret. Public prayer was common and encouraged. But Jesus told them and reminded us that prayer is between my heart and His. When we come to him and talk with him, he will hear us. Our prayers are also an intimate time with him. We don’t need to use those fancy words or lots of words from Babel. The simple prayer is all he wants.
Then Jesus gives us a model to keep it simple. He said to pray like this.
When Jesus said this, he encouraged us to call God our Father. It would remind us that God has adopted us as his children because of Jesus, and at the same time, we would remember that God is holy, and we are to be reverent and honor Him.
The second petition, “Your Kingdom come,” asks for Jesus’ reign in our hearts and lives and His reigning presence in the Church. When we live for the Kingdom, we will reflect Christ’s love. Obey His laws, honor Him, and proclaim the Kingdom Gospel to others.
Living in God’s Kingdom means living and behaving in ways that please Him. Everything we do here on earth is to follow Him and to obey, just as it is in heaven.
Just as God sent the manna in the desert to the Israelites each day, He will also provide for our daily needs now.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are made right with God. When we pray that God will forgive our debts, we are praying for the restoration of personal fellowship with God after sin.
God will never tempt us to do evil but will use circumstances to test or strengthen our character. To lead us not into temptation means that we will be spared the circumstances that tempt us to sin and saved from evil or the evil one.
It is not part of the prayer but a lesson Jesus wants us to learn. Do we need to forgive others so that God will forgive us and restore our relationship after we sin against Him?
As you reread this prayer, think about your other prayers. Do you follow this model? Prayer isn’t supposed to be complicated. It is a simple conversation between you and God. If you are new to prayer, start writing them down or look up different prayers in the Bible. You can always use scripture to write out or say a prayer. The critical thing to remember is to talk with God. He wants you to share everything with Him!
Matthew 5:5-14 https://www.bible.com/bible/59/MAT.6.9-13
Luke 11: 1-13 https://www.bible.com/bible/59/LUK.11.2-4
