Prayer can be such a daunting thing. Where do you start? How do you do it? For how long? It was never designed to be like this. Prayer is communicating with God. You can’t text God, email, Facebook, catch up for a coffee, but you can pray. It is talking to God, thanking God, reflecting, asking and even listening. Prayer can often seem rigid or a chore, but it was never meant to be this way. Prayer is life giving, enjoyable, refreshing, a time where we meet with our loving Father in Heaven. Prayer activates the presence and power of God in our lives, inviting Him in to change, transform, heal and bring forth miracles. Prayer brings perspective on life as we thank God for all He has done and listen for guidance and answers. Prayer can be so powerful, the key words being ‘can be’.
Jesus Himself taught on prayer, we read in Matthew 6:9-13:
‘Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven. hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 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 evil.”’
I am sure many of us would have heard this prayer at some point. Often it is repeated word for word, maybe in a church setting or event. Jesus prayed this, not for us to repeat it word for word but an example of how to pray.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name.
Starting by acknowledging who God is, our Father in heaven. Hallowed can be described as sacred or holy. This is not untouchable though as God is our Father in heaven, a perfect dad. This thought of God as our Father was revolutionary at the time of Jesus. Through faith in Jesus we are sons and daughters of God, with full access to His presence and power. We can pray in boldness, in relationship and vulnerability. Not only is He our Father but God is perfect, holy, without fault or sin. When we acknowledge who God is, His nature, character, love, power and what He has done for us it dwarfs any need or issue we have.
Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
God has a plan and purpose for our world, it is to bring heaven to earth. To bring His presence to earth. To bring forth the Kingdom of God. We often think of heaven as simply after we die, this is true but here Jesus prays let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In heaven there is healing, restoration, peace, rest and so much more. Most of all in heaven everyone is saved by grace through faith in Jesus. This is Gods heart for humanity, that heaven will come to earth and individuals will know and experience the saving grace and love of Jesus. When we pray this prayer it invites God into our world, our personal lives, our family, our church and community. Heaven come!
Give us this day our daily bread
Key word daily. Prayer is communicating with our Father in Heaven. If you have a friendship or relationship with someone close you don’t communicate once a month. God is ready to meet with us daily, more than just meeting our needs, but refreshing, guiding, more than we could ever imagine!
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Confession can be powerful and freeing, but I don’t think the heart of Jesus was to list everything we have done wrong since we prayed last. When we make a decision to follow Jesus we are forgiven, a literal full stop. This is a realignment, not just us towards God, but our position towards others. Forgiveness is cancelling a debt. Through Jesus our debt was cancelled. Now we know this grace we can surely forgive others. It isn’t approving of their actions, it is cancelling the debt, so they have no hold on us, or more so the un-forgiveness has no hold on us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil.
My personal paraphrase would go like this, ‘Please help me, I need help!’ We bring temptation and situations upon ourselves, through relationship with God He can transform us from the inside out, bringing healing, restoration and guidance from heaven. We would be foolish to think we do not need help in our life, whether it is personally, family, work or anything else. God is our Father in heaven, who cares about the big and the small. Healing from cancer and healing from a back ache. Peace in a time of family breakup and peace for an exam. Guidance in career defining decisions and guidance in friendships. God is with you and for you.
My encouragement to you, whatever your situation and whatever your journey in faith, start talking to God. Thank Him for who He is and what He has done in your life, invite Him into your life and world. Talk to Him, listen to Him and spend time with Him. God will meet you where you are.
Pastor Ben