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"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.'"
(Matthew 6:9-13)
I have been married for three years now. Every now and then, I still have those random moments where I think, "Woah! I am married." Obviously, I know that I am married. I am very happily married! But every now and then, reality sinks in again, and I think, "Yes this really is my life!" Perhaps you have experienced something similar. Whether it's about being a parent, your age, your stage of life, or a myriad of other things, sometimes when we take a step back to survey our life, we are amazed at where we find ourselves. I have this thought often about prayer too.
Prayer is such a normal part of the Christian life. As a Christian, I hope that you pray all the time and about everything! Prayer is a rhythm in my life in that I pray before I eat, my husband and I pray together every night, and I always stop to pray before I study the Scriptures. Furthermore, I pray sporadically, praising God, seeking God, and bringing requests to God whenever something arises in my mind. But every now and then, that moment of awe returns where I think, "WOW! I can speak directly to God! And not only that: He hears me!"
Prayer is truly such a privilege. There are also many great and well-known prayers in the Bible. This week, let's look at some of these famous prayers in the Bible, and perhaps from them we can learn some things to enrich our own prayer lives.
We will start today with perhaps the most well-known of all prayers: the Lord's Prayer. This is the prayer that Jesus prayed when His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1).
There are many things we can learn from this short yet incredibly rich prayer. We could look at each and every word and phrase and glean from the wisdom and guidance of the Lord Jesus in how we ought to pray. I encourage you to do that. Take the time to look through and meditate on each part of the prayer, though you have read it and perhaps recited it many times. I want to share the three things that stood out to me today:
- When you pray, remember your status before the Lord.
The prayer begins with "Our Father". He is our Father, and we are His children. We can approach God with the boldness of children because He has given us the right to become His children (John 1:12).
- When you pray, submit your plan to the Lord's plans.
We are taught to pray, "Your will be done." Though we can ask the Lord for anything, we need a humble heart that recognizes that His will is always better than ours.
- When you pray, bring the Lord every care and need, not only the "big ones".
Jesus teaches us to pray for our "daily bread". Even our small, everyday needs are fully reliant on the Lord's provision.
Remember, this prayer isn't meant to be repeated mindlessly but rather to be a guide to learn and pray as the Lord Jesus would teach us.
Tomorrow we will look at another famous prayer in the Bible.
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