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INTRODUCTION
The greatest teacher of
all time place much emphasis on prayer. Jesus not only
taught individuals how to pray but He also practiced it.
There is scriptural evidence that He prayed early in the
morning, late at night, and sometimes all night. He prayed
before He ate, before He made decisions, and before He
performed miracles. He prayed privately and
publicly.
The Simplicity of Prayer
In simple words Jesus
taught men how to pray and how to receive answers to prayer.
We are to ask God, believe that He will answer, importune if
necessary, wait on Him, and receive from Him. Moreover,
Jesus taught that one should pray in His name (John
14:13-14), and therein lies the authority for our
asking.
Beware of Vain Repetitions
"But when ye pray, use
not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that
they shall be heard for their much speaking"( Matthew 6:7).
There is a distinction between vain repetition and
importunity. While God does not respond to a verbal
marathon, He does respond to persistent prayer when that
persistence is an embodiment of faith. Jesus said, "Ask and
keep on asking, and it shall be given you" (Luke 11:9,
The Amplified Bible).
God Knows Our Needs
" Be ye therefore like
unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need
of, before ye ask him" (Matthew 6:8). A person might ask,
"If God knows what we need, why doesn't he give it to us?
Why do we need to ask?" Asking is praying, and God chose
prayer to be the medium through which He would work in a
person's life. Therefore Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be
given you" (Matthew 7:7).
The Pattern for Prayer
"After this manner
therefore pray ye"(Matthew 6:9). Though a person may pray
using the very words that Jesus used, Jesus actually taught
a manner of prayer--"After this manner... pray ye."
One may pray after this manner and never recite the Lord's
Prayer. However, the words of Jesus are so profound they
cannot be improved.
Adoration of God
1 God's
Fatherhood. "Our Father which art in heaven" (Matthew
6:9). The prayer begins with the possesive pronoun "our".
God is our Father. This presupposes that we are His
children. To claim possession of God as our Father we must
submit to His possession of us as His children. According to
the apostle Paul, the Lord has promised, "Come out from
among them, and be ye separate... and I... will be a Father
unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters" ( 2
Corinthians 6:17-18). This relationship is the result of
regeneration.
2 God's Transcendence.
"Our Father which art in heaven" (Matthew 6:9). The Bible
teaches clearly that God is not only in heaven, but He is
everywhere. (See Acts 17:28; Psalms 139:7-10.) Why, then,
should prayer be directed toward heaven? When Jesus prayed
He "lifted up his eyes to heaven:(John 17:1), yet He said
the Father dwelled in Him (John 14:11). Jesus taught His
disciples to pray, "Our Father which art in heaven,"
yet the Spirit of the Father is also in His disciples. (See
Matthew 10:20; Romans 8:9). Why should prayer be directed to
heaven if God is also here on earth? The answer to that
question lies in the sovereignty of God. A person who prays
acknowledges God's supreme aurthority; the created one is
praying to the Creator, the weaker to the stronger, the
child to the Father.
3 God's Holiness.
"Hallowed be thy name"(Matthew 6:9). Hallowed means
"sanctified, consecrated, holy." Something that is set apart
for God is hallowed. The name of the Lord's is apart from
all others, higher than all others, for His name represents
Him in all that He is. God said, "I will sanctify my great
name" ( Ezekiel 36:23), and He commanded Israel, "Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain"(Exodus
20:7).
Requests According to His
Will
1 Thy Kingdom Come
(Matthew 6:10). Praying for God's kingdom to come
creates an awareness of the need to be ready for His
kingdom, and as a person becomes more kingdom-minded he is
less earthly-minded.
2 Thy Will Be Done (Matthew
6:10).Jesus prayed, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is
in heaven. "God's will is carried out perfectly in heaven,
for sin is not permitted there. Sin is the transgression of
God's law, and His law expresses His will. In the absence of
sin every created being in heaven conducts himself according
to God's will.
Requests for Material Needs
"Give us this day our
daily bread"(Matthew 6:11) This verse indicates that a
person should pray in the morning for whatever he will need
the entire day; however, it does not mean that prayer should
not be offered at other times during the day. David said,
"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray" (Psalms
55:17). It is morning prayer, however, that sets the course
for the day as one gains confidence and strength to meet the
challenges that face him.
Requests for Spiritual Needs
1Forgiveness.
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors"(Matthew 6:12). A person who sins against God
becomes indebted to Him. In Luke's account of this prayer,
the word "sin" is used instead of "debt." "Forgive us our
sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us"
(Luke 11:4). A financial debt is not the subject here, but a
moral debt. Every time a person sins he becomes more deeply
indebted to God because he cannot pay for the grief he has
caused God or for the damage he has done to
himself.
2 Deliverance. " And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"(Matthew
6:13. God's people will be tempted, but some temptation is
avoidable. Jesus said, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation" (Matthew 26:41). It would seem, then, that
temptation is somewhat regulated by prayer. One who prays
will have a keener discernment of the enemy and will be more
attuned to the leading of the Holy Spirit than a person who
does not pray; consequently, he will avoid some temptation
that others will face. This is a good reason to begin the
day with prayer. Jesus left an example for Christians to
follow, and one of the most important things He taught by
example is how to deal with the tempter. He resisted him and
defeated him using the sword of the Spirit, which is the
Word of God. (Matthew 4:1-11).
Temptation is limited.
While temptation is unpleasant, one should be aware that it
also is limited by God. He "will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it"
(1 Corinthians10:13).
The Practice of Prayer
"But when ye
pray...."(Matthew 6:7). Jesus assumed people would pray, an
assumption that is justified because eventually everyone
does. "But when ye pray" there is a manner that is
acceptable to God, and a manner that is not. One is
admonished to practice all that Jesus taught about prayer,
for therein lies the power to change oneself and others, and
situations that threaten the well-being of God's
people.
SUMMARY
The simplicity of prayer
makes God accessible to everyone. He listens to the voice of
a child as earnestly as He listens to a prophet, and He
hears a person who prays in his living room as quickly as
one who prays in the Holy Land. Jesus taught us to pray
after a certain manner, a manner in which our relationship
with God is revealed and allows us to address God as our
Father. As our Father He is concerned about not only our
needs but also our desires, and His children we feel
comfortable approaching Him.
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