A Simple Prayer Is So Much More

A couple of weeks ago, God began to deal with my spirit about prayer.  I found myself, especially in the mornings, reading my devotional and studying the Word.  I look forward to this time with Him.  It helps me to start my day and order my steps.  But God reminded me that he didn’t just create me to read a devotional, study the Word or say a quick prayer of thanks and praise, he created me to also worship Him in prayer.  That I needed to change the way I approach prayer. So for the next few days, I want to talk to you about the Lord’s Prayer and, God willing, articulate what He has been showing me:

“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” Luke 11:1-4

I want to ask you a few questions:

What is prayer?

What kind of things do you ask for when you pray?

The Bible is filled with tremendous amounts of instruction on who and what we are supposed to be praying for and this is what I want to dissect in the new few days.

So, why do we pray?

We pray because we need His help. This life we are living is so much bigger than us and we need His guidance through it all. I need to Him to comfort me, teach me, help me and provide for me with this life He has given me.

You might ask, how do we pray?

In Luke 11:1-4 Jesus instructs us on how to pray and again it says this:

“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”

Maybe you’re asking why me? Why would God want me to pray? Especially if He says He knows everything even before we ask Him.

"So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Matthew 6:8 NASB

But here is where the wisdom of God is, I believe He asks us to pray because He wants us to have an intimate relationship with Him.  Like any relationship, you must spend a lot of time getting to know who they are and how much they care. You have to cultivate it; therefore it takes time and effort on our part. What an AMAZING God (and dare I say pretty smart too!).

God loves us so much and because He does, there are some things He wants to show us as we learn how to spend time with Him in prayer.

He wants to show us:

1. His enormity (Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name) 2. His authority (Thy kingdom come, thy will be done) 3. His provision (Give us this day our daily bread) 4. Our sinfulness (And forgive us our sins) 5. The disobedient sin of others (For we also forgive every one that is indebted to us) 6. Our dependence on Him (And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil)

Although prayer is about asking, it is also about knowing who this amazing God is and how much He loves us. It’s about finding who we are and how He sees us and finding out how much we need Him.

Is prayer an essential part of your day?