My Most Precious Faith (Part 8) Prayer Our Duty And Pleasure

Prayer Our Precious Duty and Pleasure

I have in my Christian walk experienced that this is a very hard task. The interesting thing is that prayer should be a pleasure and that it should be a convenient discipline to do. I have tried to learn to pray without ceasing and to pray for things as they arise. To get away just to pray as our Lord did is one of the hardest things that i have ever been able to do.



I do pray through the scriptures as I read them daily. I also love to sing the hymns of the faith which are mainly prayers. A good prayer book is very valuable when seeking direction as to how to pray in specific situations. The greatest direction for prayer, however, is found in the scriptures. The psalms are prayers that relate to the life experiences of the writer. They included praise, confession of sin, pleading for God's care daily over them, and prayers against their personal enemies. It is from the reading and praying of the psalms that I have overcome a lot of fears to praying and have learned to pray with emotion and conviction. There are also prayers that are very good to pray which Paul wrote in his letters to the churches. The prayer he prays in Ephesians chapter three verses fourteen through twenty-one is one of my favorities in praying for someone's personal growth to love the Lord more.


It has been my desire to teach you, my dear children, the prayer that the Lord taught the disciples to pray which is generally known as the Lord's Prayer. It is a prayer that can be used to pray for others when they ask you to pray for them without being given any specifics.


As to what we are to pray about we find in the prayer. Note that there is the wording; "our" and "us" which makes the model prayer a prayer for not only ones-self but a prayer for others as well.

What is the prayer that the Lord taught the disciples to pray? Matthew 6:9-13 After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.

Now it is commonly understood that the Lord's Prayer is framed in this manner:

A. The address then followed by
B. The six requests and then
C. The conclusion

Let's briefly look at each one of these for an understanding of the profound prayer that our Lord taught us to pray.

A. THE ADDRESS:

“Our Father which art in heaven,”

In the address we call upon God as our Father to hear us and to answer our prayer. Father is a term that we can use because we are adopted into the family of God through faith in the Lord Jesus . It is with child like faith that we approach our heavenly Father (Abba) asking him for the things necessary for this life and in the life to come.


We also acknowledge his place and position in heaven . He is in heaven and from his throne he rules over all. Even though we are his children we must approach him with all honor and respect because of who he is and the position that he holds as the God over all. We, therefore, approach God with reverence, in child like faith, with knowledge that we will be heard.

B. THE SIX PETITIONS:

“……… hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:


The first petition: “hallowed be thy name”

The first thing we petition is "hallowed be thy name". In this petition we are asking and seeking to set God the Father's name above every name. I am also asking that I be enabled to put away all thoughts that would confuse my mind as to just who God is. In other words I am asking this: that in my mind approaching the throne in prayer, I may not have any improper thoughts of God. It may be that I am angry and thereby denying him the honor that he is due. I may even have some atheistic thoughts by not acknowledging God's providential care and sovereignty in what is happening in my particular circumstances.


So in this petition we are asking God to help us be able to bless him and praise him. We are seeking him to enable us to be aware of his wisdom, power, justice, holiness, goodness, truth, etc.. To put it another way we are asking God to direct all our thoughts as we approach him in prayer so that he will never be dishonored.

The second petition: “thy kingdom come”

The second petition is "thy kingdom come". To request this in our prayer is to ask that God would crush all Satanic forces and destroy all that would try to stand against the advancement of the kingdom of God, the Church.


It is also a petition that God would regenerate the hearts of men that they would come to Christ as Savior in repentance and faith.

We are also praying that the kingdom of God would be fully established and that all the enemies of Christ would soon be his footstool.


The third petition: “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

The third petition is "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". In heaven there is no sin and that is where the heart of the believer should be. The request is that as completely as the will of God is done in heaven so let that perfect will be done on Earth.


We are asking God to so sanctify and make us holy that we will deny our own selves, not loving this world, but purely love God so that the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are mortified. We pray this so that we will carry forth the will of God without any hindrance. We pray that we will do all which God has requested of us as faithfully as the angels always carry forth the will of God in heaven.

The fourth petition: “give us this day our daily bread”

The fourth petition is "give us this day our daily bread". In this petition we ask God to graciously provide all that is needed for life. That we would have the health to labor for the food and all domestic needs of our families and personal life. Also in requesting this we are looking to the one who holds the keys of death and hell, asking him to grant to us life and health in this present world for the purpose of glorifying him and for the expansion of God’s kingdom.


In receiving the necessities of life from God we also must acknowledge that he is keeping us from worry and from all doubt as to whether he is loving and caring toward us. Therefore, there is an element of peace and security in this prayer as we see know and rest upon God for his provision to us day by day. As we pray we are not looking at man nor any other creature for our daily provision but to God alone. And in that I find great comfort.

The fifth petition: "and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”

The fifth petition is "and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors". It is here that we see our need to be forgiven. We are recognizing our sin and are asking the blood of Christ to cleanse us and that as we are cleansed by Christ and forgiven so grant to us that we give grace to others and forgive them. The consolation given to us by God should and must be communicated to society around us. In salvation we have a work in our hearts and a love now not only to love our gracious God but also we are to love our neighbors even though they be indebted to us.

The sixth petition: "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil".

The sixth petition, "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". In this petition we understand that we battle Satanic forces in this life. If that would be all then maybe it would be easier to live godly but there is also our own flesh and our own wordly lusts that are our own worst enemies. These guys never leave me alone!!!!!

We in this part of the prayer ask that God would deliver us from Satan, the devouring lion, and the sinful things that he can orchestrate and bring into our lives causing temptation and stumbling. We also ask that he would deliever us from our own sin and selfishness. It is sometimes we Christians that are our own worst enemies and we just need delievered from ourselves who enjoy the the love of the world.

C. THE CONCLUSION:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.


In the conclusion we read the words "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen". We are closing the address we have had with the Father in an acknowledgement that the answering of these requests are in his power. In the ascribing to God the attributes of glory, power and immortality we are acknowledging our heavenly Father in being a God who is tender to his children and it is our understanding that he is willing to answer each of the specific requests.


In testifying to the assurance of the requests we have given, we end the prayer with the word "Amen" which is a term that signifies that all we requested is sure to be.


TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!!!!