P.R.A.Y.

P.R.A.Y.
Matthew 6:5-8

Prayer

5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one


Perhaps you are at a place now where you want to have a more fulfilling prayer time but you simply don't know where to start. The answer is to start at the beginning.
John 1:1-3

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

The word that John refers to is Jesus Christ. As with anything that we do our standard of how to do something should always be to try and measure up to Jesus Christ. He is the only perfect mark we have to shoot for, and even though we will never meet his high standard it is through the attempt that we better ourselves. When it comes to prayer, Jesus laid the perfect example down for us to examine and mimic.

Many churches today choose to incorporate this perfect prayer in their services each and every week. While this practice is admirable and fully understandable I want to help you move from a place where you may be reciting words and into a place where you are holding conversation. Often times when we recite a prayer over and over again it begins to lose it's meaning. It becomes more ritual and less communication. It becomes religion instead of spending time with God. While reciting the Lord's prayer can be powerful and enriching, over use can have it's pitfalls.

So what should we take away from the Lord's prayer if it is not meant to be recited word for word every time that we communicate with God? Jesus was laying before us a blueprint for prayer. If you look at the Lord's Prayer and break it into parts you see that he has shown us the structure as much as the finished project. Let's break apart the blueprint and take a close look at how prayer should be approached.

1) Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

The opening of Jesus' prayer reveals a few things to us. First of all, notice that Jesus does not open with "My Father", he opens with "Our Father". Why is this significant? Jesus obviously has the closest of connections with God, he is intertwined with God the Father on levels that man cannot fully understand. You may remember the series we conducted on God-Three in One. The trinity is a complex idea that even if we do not understand we can appreciate that it is a closeness between the persona of Jesus and the persona of God the Father that we can only liken to Parent and Child. However, Jesus shows us here that we are included in the family, God is "Our Father". When we approach God in prayer it does not have to be a formal expression, it does not have to be perfect, it can be like a child sitting down with his Father. God affords his children a closeness.

The second thing that Jesus does in his prayer is to praise God. "Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus makes it clear that life, the world, and this prayer are all about God. How often do we enter prayer in an "all about me" mode. I am coming to ask for something. We see prayer as rubbing on the lamp and we wait for the Genie to pop out and grant our wishes. Jesus did not pray this way. Yes he came with petitions, but he did not jump straight into a give me give me spill. He approached God with the proper reverence and awe. Jesus recognized the supreme power of God and put himself second and God first in his prayer life. Every prayer should start off with Praise.


2) Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors

This portion of the prayer is obviously put in as a guideline for us. Jesus had no reason to repent of his sins, he had none. Yet he realized the importance of us being completely open with God, this includes coming clean in his presence when we have done wrong. How can we develop closeness when we try to hide things from God? How do you feel when a friend tries to hide things from you? Betrayed, slighted, used, or maybe you feel like they must think you are stupid if you couldn't figure that out, it was so obvious. Now imagine that the friend who is hiding something is you and you are trying to keep things from an all-knowing, all-powerful God. It makes no sense, but we have been trying to do it ever since Adam and Eve went bush diving in the Garden of Eden. Repentance is important because it shows God that we realize we have been outside of his will and that we have a desire to come back into his perfect plan. It's not just an "I'm sorry", it's a tight gripping hug with tears rolling down your face that says I never want to hurt you again. When we sin we hurt God, we deny him, we remind him of why his son had to die on the cross, yet he still desires for us to grab him around the neck and kiss him on the cheek and tell him we love him and we are sorry.

3)Give us this day our daily bread; Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

How much time does Jesus spend on the give me what I need part of his prayer? 19 words. Why is it that Jesus is not going on and on about all that he needs? He understands that God already knows what he needs and realizes that God is just in providing our necessities. This doesn't mean that God is always going to supply all of our wants, but he will always supply our needs. We may not always like the way our needs are met, but again we must remember that we have been raised as a generation of all about me's, Christianity is all about God.

Matthew 6:25-27

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

This does not mean that we are not to gather and pray for healing of loved ones, it does not mean we do not carry our cares and worries to God. If Jesus did not want us to mention our needs at all he would have skipped the topic entirely. Just remember to keep your asking in it's proper perspective. The whole point of praying should not be only to ask favors of the Lord.


4) The final part of prayer that I think we often forget is the time to yield. As I stated in last night's devotion, prayer is not a one way street. We must be aware that God loves us and wants us to be in fellowship with him. We cannot do that if we spend all the time talking and none of the time listening. This is the hardest part of praying for some Christians, sitting quietly, focusing, trying to keep plans for later and did I leave the stove on come in and crowd out our peace and meditation. Yet the gift of the Holy Spirit makes it clear that God will communicate with us if we only afford Him the opportunity. We must make a quiet time focused on hearing God a real part of our prayer life if we are to truly be opened to God's will.

To wrap up. Will every prayer always have all of these parts? No, sometimes we get broad sided by bad news and it is all we can do to mumble out a quick prayer of, "please let them be okay." But in your day to day time, when you sit aside those moments for God where you are focused on him we should incorporate all four parts into out prayer life. I think if you do you will find that your time with God is more meaningful and more centered on his will instead of your own.


P-Praise God
R-Repent
A-Ask (but don't stay here too long)
Y-Yield and listen for God's stirring in your heart