Silas
Beloved of All
It is encouraging to see the hunger in your heart to pray as Jesus taught, not as empty repetition but with understanding and sincerity. Jesus gave us what we call the Lord's Prayer not to be recited quickly from memory without thought, but as a pattern to shape all of our praying. There is great value when you take it slowly, phrase by phrase, and let each truth settle in your heart before the Father.
You have seen the order Jesus gave, and that order matters. The first part of the prayer is all about God, not about us. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Those first requests teach us that the primary thrust of prayer is worship and surrender to God's purposes. Before we bring our own needs, we pause to remember relationship. Through faith in Jesus and His shed blood, His death and resurrection, we have been adopted as children of God and can truly call Him Father. From that place of relationship we ask first for His name to be honored in our lives and in the world, for His kingdom to come and His will to be done. That is the prayer that looks at the brokenness around us and cries out for the Lord Jesus to reign, the same cry found at the end of Scripture, even so come Lord Jesus. Prayer was never meant to be a tool to get our own will done on earth, but to seek His will and His kingdom first, and as Jesus promised, when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, the other things are cared for in their proper place.
Then Jesus teaches us to bring our personal needs, and they cover the basic issues of our lives. Give us this day our daily bread is the request for provision, not only for physical bread but for every word that comes from God and for all of our spiritual, emotional and daily needs. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors is the request for forgiveness, and it is the one petition Jesus emphasizes afterward. We are reminded that we receive forgiveness as we extend it to others who have sinned against us, releasing them to the Lord who alone saves and judges. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil is the request for guidance and protection, that God would keep us from the paths that draw us into the flesh and deliver us from the evil one. Temptation itself is common to all of us and even Jesus was tempted, but sin comes when we yield to it. So we ask for strength to walk by the Spirit and for deliverance by the power of Christ, knowing that where His light enters, darkness must go.
Prayer then returns to where it began, with worship. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. True prayer lives in these three movements, worship of who God is, intercession for His kingdom and for others, and petition for our own needs, and it should always end with praise, with confidence that God hears. Continue to pray in this way you have described, slowly and thoughtfully, not to impress others but in the quiet place before your Father who sees in secret. Ask Him to make His name hallowed in your thoughts, words and actions, to make His kingdom real in you through love, joy, peace and holiness, to provide for you day by day, to keep your heart forgiving and clean before Him, and to guard you from temptation and the enemy. He is faithful to hear and to answer according to His perfect will, and all the promises of God find their yes in Jesus. May the Lord deepen your fellowship with Him as you abide in Christ and bear fruit for His glory.
You have seen the order Jesus gave, and that order matters. The first part of the prayer is all about God, not about us. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Those first requests teach us that the primary thrust of prayer is worship and surrender to God's purposes. Before we bring our own needs, we pause to remember relationship. Through faith in Jesus and His shed blood, His death and resurrection, we have been adopted as children of God and can truly call Him Father. From that place of relationship we ask first for His name to be honored in our lives and in the world, for His kingdom to come and His will to be done. That is the prayer that looks at the brokenness around us and cries out for the Lord Jesus to reign, the same cry found at the end of Scripture, even so come Lord Jesus. Prayer was never meant to be a tool to get our own will done on earth, but to seek His will and His kingdom first, and as Jesus promised, when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, the other things are cared for in their proper place.
Then Jesus teaches us to bring our personal needs, and they cover the basic issues of our lives. Give us this day our daily bread is the request for provision, not only for physical bread but for every word that comes from God and for all of our spiritual, emotional and daily needs. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors is the request for forgiveness, and it is the one petition Jesus emphasizes afterward. We are reminded that we receive forgiveness as we extend it to others who have sinned against us, releasing them to the Lord who alone saves and judges. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil is the request for guidance and protection, that God would keep us from the paths that draw us into the flesh and deliver us from the evil one. Temptation itself is common to all of us and even Jesus was tempted, but sin comes when we yield to it. So we ask for strength to walk by the Spirit and for deliverance by the power of Christ, knowing that where His light enters, darkness must go.
Prayer then returns to where it began, with worship. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. True prayer lives in these three movements, worship of who God is, intercession for His kingdom and for others, and petition for our own needs, and it should always end with praise, with confidence that God hears. Continue to pray in this way you have described, slowly and thoughtfully, not to impress others but in the quiet place before your Father who sees in secret. Ask Him to make His name hallowed in your thoughts, words and actions, to make His kingdom real in you through love, joy, peace and holiness, to provide for you day by day, to keep your heart forgiving and clean before Him, and to guard you from temptation and the enemy. He is faithful to hear and to answer according to His perfect will, and all the promises of God find their yes in Jesus. May the Lord deepen your fellowship with Him as you abide in Christ and bear fruit for His glory.
