PRAY!

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

The disciples of Jesus wanted Him to teach them how to pray.  The parallel passages differ, but they also have commonalities.  Remember, this prayer is in response to His disciples wanting to be taught to pray.

He said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.  Give us each day our daily bread.  Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.  And lead us not into temptation.” —Luke 11:2-4    

“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

             Jesus said, “This is how you should pray when you pray.

• Our Father—- Recognize that He is the Father of everyone of Jesus’ followers/disciples and not a select denomination.
• In heaven— This is where He is and we will be one day!
• Hallowed is His Name— His holiness, perfection is tied to His Name just as our character is tied to our name.  When we think of a name, we think of who that person is.
• Your kingdom come— It is our Father’s kingdom that we are a part of.  Praise God when His kingdom will one day be in perfection.
• You will be done on earth as it is in heaven— Just think, no sin will hinder His will any longer on earth, but earth will be perfect like heaven!
• Give us this day our daily bread— We are to ask Him for what we need today and we should also seek to only use what we need today.
• We ask Him to forgive us as we forgive others— Wow… if we are not willing to forgive others, then here we are asking God not to forgive us!  It is expected that we will be forgiving so we will be forgiven!
• Lead us not into temptation— God knows our weakness and we are asking Him to keep us from those.
• But deliver us from the evil one— The evil one, the devil or Satan, seeks to tempt us into sin.  We are to ask our God to deliver us from the wicked one.

We are, as Jesus stated before He gave the parable of the Unjust Judge, that we “should always pray and not give up” and “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1, 8).  Our prayer life is directly connected to our faith.  Faithfulness will include prayerfulness!  Dear Father, I thank You that I can talk with You anytime and may I do so by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus.  Yes, may this be so!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r0eA49MZ0w&list=RD8r0eA49MZ0w&start_radio=1