SCRIPTURE: Luke (NIV) 11:1 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.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
OBSERVATION: In teaching his disciples to pray, Jesus gives them a pattern for prayer. He never told them how many times to pray or gave them any specific time of day. He just said, “when you pray.” But from looking at the life of Jesus in the gospels, He prayed often, and so should we.
We should pray in a way that is based on a Father/child relationship. A father may be amused by a memorized recitation, but after three or four times, I think most fathers would say, “Don’t you have something to tell me yourself? I want to hear your thoughts, from your heart and in your words!”
God is holy and His name is holy. In the ten commandments, the third one is not to take the Lord’s name in vain.
And it is good in prayer to acknowledge that God’s kingdom is a rule of holiness and love. It was brought to earth by His Son, Jesus, and was established in our hearts when we made Jesus our LORD!
APPLICATION: The Holy Spirit will guide us in expressing appreciation for God’s being and character. As we begin our prayer time, it is good to remind ourselves of how great and awesome our God is. He is more than capable of answering our prayers. He is loving and benevolent to us! We are a key part of His kingdom!
It is good to remind ourselves that as a part of God’s kingdom, He is KING! He has all authority. Not only is His Kingdom established in our lives, we want to see His Kingdom grow to include others.
PRAYER: Holy Spirit, help us to pray prayers that bless our Heavenly Father and to pray prayers that He will enjoy answering. Amen
Pastor Leon
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