Let us Pray!

Let us Pray! I have been mulling over prayer and how important it is.  The topic comes up occasionally in my devotionals and I always think, I need to dig deeper here.  So, I decided to write out the Lord's prayer, the prayer Jesus gave us as a template of the perfect prayer, and expand on what each part means based on the study notes I find, and what it means to me.

So, here goes:

Matthew 6 vs 5 - 14

The Lord's Prayer

(5) “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.  (6) But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(7) “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.  (8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  

(9) Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

God is our Father, we are His children, Holy is His name

(10) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

May Your ways and order come to us, may Your plans and purposes be done, here on earth as it is where You are in heaven.  (May how Your perfect will is experienced in heaven, be experienced here on earth)

(11) Give us this day our daily bread, 

Give (please Lord would you supply) to us our daily needs, not wants.  (We acknowledge that You are our provider and sustainer and we trust You to provide for us daily)

(12) and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Forgive us all we have done wrong to others, to ourselves and to You, as we should/have/must forgive what others have done to us.  (Restore us to perfect relationship with You)

(13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Please don't allow us to be put into temptations way or be led into temptation by our friends, lifestyle, life, etc, but if we are, help us to recognize that temptation and give us the strength to overcome it in Your name, and deliver us from it and any evil intent connected to it.

(14) For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, (15) but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

PLEASE NOTE:  notes in BLUE are mine and what I believe the Lord's prayer means to me.  If I am wrong, I trust the Lord will open my eyes to it as it is my heart's desire to know what it is God's word would have me know!

                                                     

My ESV notes state that the Lord's prayer has 6 petitions, the first 3 petitions focus on the superiority of God, and the next 3 petitions focus on our personal needs.  

I think this is a great passage of scripture for when one does not know how to pray.  It is a great start which emphasizes God's holiness and authority over our lives.  He is the source of anything good we have or need, and it is He who protects us from the evil one.  

There are many scriptures about prayer and I will seek them out and do another post on prayer so that I dig deeper into what the Word, God's manual to us, leads us to do and how to do it!

I would love to hear from you and what the Lord's prayer means to you.

God bless

Tracy