Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your longing to seek first the Father, His name, His kingdom and His will before asking for your own needs is exactly how the Lord taught us to pray, and it is good that you want to pray it with understanding and not as mindless repetition.
The prayer He gave is a pattern, not empty words. He Himself showed us how to pray with earnestness, lifting His eyes to heaven and speaking to the Father as a Son, and He teaches us to do the same, not only with words but with actions and a humbled heart. Let every prayer be accompanied with thanksgiving. You have begun well by thanking God that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that by believing in Him we are spared and receive eternal life, that by His blood, His burial and resurrection we are declared not guilty, and that by His Spirit we have adoption so that we can cry Abba, Father. That is the foundation. We were in darkness, at enmity and alienated, yet we have been counted worthy of forgiveness, of the Spirit, of adoption and of the kingdom. Remembering that depth of riches and wisdom keeps our prayers from becoming cold.
When you pray Hallowed be Your name, you ask that His gracious and compassionate name be honored in your thoughts, words and deeds, and that your life would not cause it to be derided but reverenced. When you pray Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, you are asking for His righteousness, peace and joy to be formed in you through the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, and for strength to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. You are also asking to know and to do His will, to hear His voice and be led by the Spirit, to abide in Christ and bear fruit, and to look for the full coming of His kingdom when Christ returns.
When you pray Give us this day our daily bread, you rightly ask for all that you need, spiritual, physical and daily, for you cannot live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God, that you may love Him with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. When you pray Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, remember the surpassing benevolence of God. We ask only for time, and He forgives the entire debt when we come with a contrite heart. But we must also forgive as we have been forgiven. Prayer and grudges cannot live together. If we pray for forgiveness while holding a curse or a bitter word against a brother, our mouth is polluted and our prayer is hindered. Name your sins honestly before Him, receive His forgiveness, and pray for those who have sinned against you, that they also may repent and be saved, leaving judgment to God who alone saves and judges.
When you pray Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, take comfort that no temptation has taken you but what is common to all, and God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but with the temptation He will also make the way of escape so that you can endure it. He gives patience and brings release, and He gives angelic protection and keeps you from the evil one. Yet this petition also calls us to watchfulness. We partake of holy things and still need much penitence, much prayer, much endurance and perseverance to attain what is promised.
Therefore make prayer your first work in the morning and again at night. If at dawn you make God favorable to you by supplication, you will go out to the battles and storms of the day with a great weapon in your hand and with security. And do not think you can sleep while others pray for you. It is good to have the prayer of the saints, but it profits only when you yourself are alert and awake.
I will pray with you now that the Father will hallow His name in your life, cause His kingdom to grow in you and through you, accomplish His will in you, supply your daily needs, forgive you as you forgive, guard you from temptation and deliver you from evil, for His is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. May He hear you as you ask in the name of Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are yes and amen.
The prayer He gave is a pattern, not empty words. He Himself showed us how to pray with earnestness, lifting His eyes to heaven and speaking to the Father as a Son, and He teaches us to do the same, not only with words but with actions and a humbled heart. Let every prayer be accompanied with thanksgiving. You have begun well by thanking God that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that by believing in Him we are spared and receive eternal life, that by His blood, His burial and resurrection we are declared not guilty, and that by His Spirit we have adoption so that we can cry Abba, Father. That is the foundation. We were in darkness, at enmity and alienated, yet we have been counted worthy of forgiveness, of the Spirit, of adoption and of the kingdom. Remembering that depth of riches and wisdom keeps our prayers from becoming cold.
When you pray Hallowed be Your name, you ask that His gracious and compassionate name be honored in your thoughts, words and deeds, and that your life would not cause it to be derided but reverenced. When you pray Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, you are asking for His righteousness, peace and joy to be formed in you through the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, and for strength to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. You are also asking to know and to do His will, to hear His voice and be led by the Spirit, to abide in Christ and bear fruit, and to look for the full coming of His kingdom when Christ returns.
When you pray Give us this day our daily bread, you rightly ask for all that you need, spiritual, physical and daily, for you cannot live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God, that you may love Him with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. When you pray Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, remember the surpassing benevolence of God. We ask only for time, and He forgives the entire debt when we come with a contrite heart. But we must also forgive as we have been forgiven. Prayer and grudges cannot live together. If we pray for forgiveness while holding a curse or a bitter word against a brother, our mouth is polluted and our prayer is hindered. Name your sins honestly before Him, receive His forgiveness, and pray for those who have sinned against you, that they also may repent and be saved, leaving judgment to God who alone saves and judges.
When you pray Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, take comfort that no temptation has taken you but what is common to all, and God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but with the temptation He will also make the way of escape so that you can endure it. He gives patience and brings release, and He gives angelic protection and keeps you from the evil one. Yet this petition also calls us to watchfulness. We partake of holy things and still need much penitence, much prayer, much endurance and perseverance to attain what is promised.
Therefore make prayer your first work in the morning and again at night. If at dawn you make God favorable to you by supplication, you will go out to the battles and storms of the day with a great weapon in your hand and with security. And do not think you can sleep while others pray for you. It is good to have the prayer of the saints, but it profits only when you yourself are alert and awake.
I will pray with you now that the Father will hallow His name in your life, cause His kingdom to grow in you and through you, accomplish His will in you, supply your daily needs, forgive you as you forgive, guard you from temptation and deliver you from evil, for His is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. May He hear you as you ask in the name of Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are yes and amen.
