How's Your Prayer Life?

[Deborah]

How's Your Prayer Life?
We all make time for what we value the most. Have you gotten into the habit of praying to God on a regular basis? Need some instruction and encouragement? Here it is!
by Andy Burnett
How's your prayer life? Some would answer, "What prayer life? I don't have a prayer life. I'm too busy!" Yes, we are all quite busy, but is that a legitimate excuse? Several years ago, a good friend of mine passed on a phrase that his father used to tell him: "You make time for what you value most."

What do we value most? If what we value most is a relationship with God, our Father in heaven, then we will set aside regular time during each day to pray to Him.

David was king over the entire nation of Israel. Can we even imagine all the responsibilities that came with the job? Still, he prayed to God morning, noon and evening (Psalm 55:17). Daniel, one of the chief advisers to the Persian governor of Babylonia, found time in his busy schedule to do the same (Daniel 6:10). Both men placed God first in their lives, in spite of their many commitments. Their examples leave us without excuse.

Others might say, "But I don't even know how to pray! What am I supposed to pray about?" That's a fair question. The 12 disciples asked the same of Jesus. On one occasion they saw Jesus praying, and when He finished, "His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray'" (Luke 11:1). The instruction Jesus gave them in the words that followed we could call the model prayer.

This sample prayer (found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4) is not intended to be recited over and over when we pray to God. Rather it is a general outline of the topics to cover with God as we come before Him daily in prayer. Let's look at what the various phrases in this prayer mean.

The model prayer

Our Father in heaven—We are to pray to the Father. In the introductory part of our prayers, we are to acknowledge Him as such. We should express our thankfulness for His role in our lives as a loving and involved Father. We can discuss with Him how He works with and helps us just as a human father looks after the needs of his own children.

Reflect with Him about His glorious throne where He sits in heaven. Read passages about God's throne in all its majesty (for example, Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4).

As we bow to God in prayer, we are to revere and honor Him for who and what He is. It helps us consider the third of the Ten Commandments: "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain [in an empty, useless or meaningless way], for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain" (Exodus 20:7).

The various titles used of God in the Bible tell us much about Him. Here are some examples of names of God taken from the Hebrew language, the language in which most of the Old Testament was written. Elohim is a plural term representing God as creator, connected with His creation of all things (Genesis 1:26).

YHWH is the Eternal, the Immutable One, the One who was, who is and who is to come. YHWH represents God in a covenant relationship with those whom He has created. YHWH is connected with a variety of descriptors in the Bible: YHWH who provides, who heals, my banner, who sanctifies, who is peace, of hosts, our righteousness, who is there, Most High and my shepherd (Genesis 22:14; Exodus 15:26; 17:15; 31:13; Judges 6:24; 1 Samuel 1:3; Jeremiah 23:6; Ezekiel 48:35; Psalm 7:17; 23:1).

El is the Almighty in all His strength and power (Genesis 14:18-22; 16:13; Psalm 57:2).

All of these names give us a better understanding of our Father's majesty and greatness. We are to honor Him as we address Him.

Hallowed be Your name—While we honor God for His greatness, we also ask God to cause His name to be made holy. The Twentieth Century New Testament captures the meaning more accurately, rendering this "May thy name be held holy."

This and the next two items mentioned in this prayer—"Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"— all go together, asking God to extend to earth the peaceful, righteous conditions that now exist in heaven.

Essentially what the opening of the prayer is saying is this: "Our Great and Almighty Father in heaven (where Your name is hallowed in constant angelic praise), may Your name be made holy throughout the earth as it now is in heaven, may Your Kingdom be established throughout the earth as it now is in heaven, and may Your will be done throughout the earth as it now is in heaven."

Your kingdom come—We are to pray that God will hasten Christ's coming to establish the Kingdom of God (2 Peter 3:11-13; Matthew 6:33). We are to talk with Him about why we need His Kingdom to come, giving specific situations that we see going on in the world, in our own lives and in the lives of our friends and family (Ezekiel 9:4).

The world overflows with tragedies. God wants us to spend time reflecting on the pain and sorrow in the world around us so we can vividly see the need for Him to send Jesus Christ back to earth to set up His government, a kingdom that will yield peace, joy and abundance.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven—Here we continue to let Him know that we want what He wants. We ask Him to help us seek what He wants for us. And we ask that He do the same for others. We can also ask for God's blessing on His work being done through the Church.

This section of prayer prevents us from becoming self-absorbed. It helps us realize, "It's not all about me." It's about God, His plan and His purpose. Jesus Christ sought God's will, not His own, as He prayed to God before His trial and crucifixion (Matthew 26:39). We must do the same, never forgetting that God always has our best interests at heart (Romans 8:31; 1 Peter 5:6-7).

If we are to ask sincerely that God's will be done throughout the earth, we must of course be willing to completely surrender to His will now in every aspect of our lives.

Give us this day our daily bread—God wants us to continue asking Him to look after our physical and spiritual needs. He assures us that He will (Matthew 6:25-33), but He still wants us to ask (Matthew 7:7-11).

We are to be specific. It is not selfish to discuss with Him our specific needs. It's acceptable and appropriate to continue asking for something (Luke 18:1-8) if we are seeking His will.

Some of our needs include protection during travel, at work and at home; guidance in what we say and do; an income for food, clothing, shelter and so we can be in a position to help others in need; strength to ward off the pulls of the world (1 John 2:15-17) and the influence of Satan.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors (or "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us")—We are to ask God's forgiveness for our specific sins. We ask Him to help us see areas in our lives where we don't realize we are sinning. We confess to Him our sin, how we fell short, what we did or didn't do that got us there in the first place (Psalm 51).

We are to also thank Him for Jesus Christ whose sacrifice enables us to be cleansed of our sins. Of course we have to commit to change. We have to talk with God about the plan we will devise to keep ourselves from sinning in that area again. We ask for His help and guidance in implementing that plan.

Also, we solicit His aid in helping us to be forgiving to those who have sinned against us. We ask for His help to "let the hurt go." We must both forgive and ask for forgiveness!

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one—This is where we pray for God's spiritual guidance and help in our lives and in the lives of others. The wording here can be somewhat misleading, since we are tempted and led astray by our own shortsighted and selfish desires, not by God (James 1:13). God does not tempt anyone.

The Greek word translated "temptation" would be more accurately translated as "trial" or "test." The New Revised Standard Version translates this as "do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one." The overall thought is that we should always ask God for His protection and help against our enemy, Satan the devil (1 Peter 5:8), and that we should learn our lessons now so we won't have go through sore trials to be corrected.

Again, we are to be specific. We know what we and those close to us are battling and can talk to God about those battles. We ask for His help as we develop a plan. We can claim the promise of James 4:7, which is a strategy for victory over Satan's influence.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever—We began with praising God's greatness, and we end doing the same. This portion of our prayer reminds us again that we are not the focus of our prayer—God is. He is great; He is love; His will is going to be accomplished; and we are thankful that He has given us a part to play in His plan.

Here we talk with God about His wonderful plan that will come to pass. Of course, we can't talk to Him about that plan unless we know what it is! Read passages such as Revelation 21 and 22 that reveal to us a much different future than what we experience now. Ask that He keep us mindful of that magnificent plan so we don't lose the vision as we experience trials in our lives.

Amen—"Amen" means "truly" or "so be it." We conclude our prayers in Jesus Christ's name as He instructed the disciples to do in John 14:13-14. He makes it possible for us to pray to the Father.

Final tips

• Become "conversational" with God, being always mindful of honoring Him as we address Him.

• God converses with us as we read His Word, the Bible. One-way-only conversations don't work—with others or with God.

• Pray in private (Matthew 6:6) at a time when there will be minimal distractions.

• It's a good idea for us to clear the cobwebs from our eyes before we pray. Otherwise, we can tend to fall asleep!

• We must strive to become totally dependent on a relationship with our Father to the point that we feel like we can't survive physically and spiritually without Him. In reality, we can't.

• We must make time for prayer daily for it to become a habit. It gets easier as we stick with it.

Do you value the opportunity you have to develop a strong, lifelong relationship with your spiritual Father? To do this you must pray daily. Remember, we will make time for what we value most. GN




http://www.gnmagazine.org/[/b]

[ronjohn839]

a-men!!! prayer is powerful too. Lining up with his will we can do great things 1 jn 5:24, jn13:14 ,jn 16:24, jn 15:7. And we are to pray always never giving up hope or thinking prayer is in vain.(lk 18, thes 5:18, james 1:5-6. God bless!

[Kurieuo]

My prayer life is dull, and often feels repetative...

However there is something special to the Lord's prayer, when focusing on the words and applying each "segment" to ones own life. Eg, as I forgive those who trespass against me, gives you a chance to reflect upon your current hurts from others, present them before yourself just as much as God, give the hurts over to God and ask for help.

Definitely, I feel the Lord's prayer is like the absolute model to follow. You don't need to read 100+ Christian books on prayer which probably add a lot of wrongness, just examine the Lord's prayer and apply each part to your own life when going over it with God.

I have noticed the specialness when praying, but still often go to the repetative style of prayer... But this message from the past has made a penny drop. Thanks Deb!

[jlay]

I think the model for prayer today is Eph. 3:14-21.

This may be receieved the wrong way, but Jesus' prayer was very much a prayer for his Jewish disciples. Does His instruction to them mean taht this prayer has some universal application? For example, how would you like to live under the contingency that your sins are forgiven on the basis of whether you forgive others? Now, of course we should forgive others. But I certainly don't want to be forgiven, as I forgive others. I want to be forgiven as God has already forgiven me through Christ. When Jesus healed a man, He told him to go and offer the proper sacrifice. Should we also do that today, just because it's 'scriptural?'

Prayer is really a state of mind. No one can 'formally' pray without ceasing. But we can, in Christ, have our minds renewed. Whenever we look to ourselves we will fail. If you are concerned with 'your' prayer life, there is a reason why. It's yours. When we focus on Christ, who He is and what He did, then prayer begins to become the natural condition of our minds. It's not us, but Him. And looking only to Him, we begin to test and approve the will of God in our own lives.

[Kurieuo]

I don' t see the contingency in the Lord's prayer that in order to be forgiven we must forgive others. That isn't said in the Lord's prayer, although I can see how one might assume it is.

For me the Lord's prayer is more God's desired order of things of being in unity. If we're the one's reciting it, and we say to God to forgive me as I forgive others -- there is no contingency but rather this is simply our expression being said to God. It is God's perfect picture of how He desires us to be, not only with himself but also with each other.

Like God's love is so overflowing it overflows to others, God is so in our lives that we can't hide the candle from glowing, so God's forgiveness is so overflowing that we can't contain it within us... no contingency here for forgiveness, but being a receptive vessel that is usable by God in life.

When I pray, and reach the forgive me as I forgive others part, I remember all my current sins and thank God for His forgiveness and seek His help to change and forgive others. Then I reflect upon those at this time in my life who have sinned against me, and bring them before God...so that I can be cleansed of my hate which will otherwise consume me, so that I can receive consolation from God, so that I can be bigger than what I otherwise would be if I did not forgive the person and let go of the spite and hatred.

I do not ridentify in the Lord's prayer as you do that we would not be forgiven if we did not forgive others. Rather it is an expression from us to God -- we're saying the words -- the expression in the prayer is ours -- as God would ideally desire us to be as someone who loves Him in Christ.

[Kurieuo]

And I note that much of what I say also complements your Scripture in Ephesians.

[jlay]

K,
I understand what you are saying, and you said it beautifully.
But what you are ignoring here is the very clear context. The prayer is immediately followed by Jesus saying, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt. 6:14,15)
So, to say the Lord's prayer doesn't say that is to ignore the immediate context. To put it bluntly, it's wrong. What that does, is says that we can selectively edit what we want, and mystify the scripture in a way that says, "To me, this says......" Jesus didn't give this prayer as something that looks good in a picture frame. Or to be given as some repetititous rosary.
Those are most certainly the words of our Lord. There is no question this statement is true. And there is little way to argue that this isn't a contingency. The question, as with any scritpture, is whether this statement applies to us today. Is forgiveness of sins, today, contingent on our forgiving others? I agree that forgivness should overflow. Afterall, it is the foundation of our new identity in Christ.

And thus why I said, "this may be received the wrong way." The general hermanuetic today is, "If the Bible says it, we need to do it." I'm not trying to be argumentative here, only trying to challenge what we do based on tradition. I too, not only learned this prayer, but taught it, and did numerous studies on it as, "the model of prayer." So,in that regard, we need to understand what the Lord was teaching, to whom, and for what purposes. And then understand how that relates and applies to us, now. I know, I know, it won't be long before someone will be on here saying, "So you are saying Jesus was wrong!?!?" Heaven forbid.

When I pray, and reach the forgive me as I forgive others part, I remember all my current sins and thank God for His forgiveness and seek His help to change and forgive others.

I also understand this. Not long ago, I would have said something similar. But the reality is that God says (in view of the cross) He doesn't remember our sins. (Heb. 8:12) Of course God doesn't have a memory problem. We know that what God is saying is that our sin, all of it, is already forgiven and removed. It really is gone.
Seeking God's help to change is really just saying that we want God to help us to be the best us we can be. But that is not what God says. He says you are already changed. It's done. Finished. You are brand new. The old man is crucified. That means he is dead. When we hold unforgiveness over others, we are simply not trusting who we are, "in Christ." Forgiven. If we are looking to Christ, then forgiveness is simply the natural outflow. Certainly, we sin, but when we ask God to make us 'better' we are really denying the identity God has given us.

[Kurieuo]

K,
I understand what you are saying, and you said it beautifully.
But what you are ignoring here is the very clear context. The prayer is immediately followed by Jesus saying, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt. 6:14,15)
So, to say the Lord's prayer doesn't say that is to ignore the immediate context. To put it bluntly, it's wrong. What that does, is says that we can selectively edit what we want, and mystify the scripture in a way that says, "To me, this says......" Jesus didn't give this prayer as something that looks good in a picture frame. Or to be given as some repetititous rosary.
Those are most certainly the words of our Lord. There is no question this statement is true. And there is little way to argue that this isn't a contingency. The question, as with any scritpture, is whether this statement applies to us today. Is forgiveness of sins, today, contingent on our forgiving others? I agree that forgivness should overflow. Afterall, it is the foundation of our new identity in Christ.

Reading the entire context, it is clear Jesus has in mind "love" -- love for God and others concerning those who follow Him.

The entire concern in Matt 6 is therefore that -- loving relationships. So it seems odd to introduce a salvatory judicial forgiveness.... rather I see Jesus more intends a "relational forgiveness" (if I may coin a term from thin air).

Paul on the other hand deals with a salvatory forgiveness that is unconditional based on faith in Christ. Christ is dealing with something entirely different here because he is talking to those who already love God to the extent they are praying to Him. Jesus is talking to those who are "saved" and as such the "forgiveness" here is not one that saves or doesn't save.

Now some may argue that "not forgiving" can undo one's own forgiveness, but they've changed the context of what Jesus is dealing with. Which is the ideal "loving" relationship God wants us to have with Him and each other. They've replaced the "relational forgiveness" with a "forgiveness that saves" for no apparent reason other than the term "forgiveness" is being used. This is equivation, and a wrong one at that in my opinion.

I agree with you, that many things given to Israel don't apply to us today as they did in the past, and certainly Jesus gave this prayer to his followers prior to the New Convenant coming in... which creates an easy out. But the Lord's prayer is something I think one needs not to hastily and unnecessarily forsake. I believe His prayer is still relevant to us as much as to His followers when he delivered his prayer on the mount.

Consider this. As a father, I desire my children to get along with each other and I will guide them that way. Now I might see resentment being built up in one, over something they considered unfair, or perhaps they were wronged. It makes me happy when I see them make up, one says sorry and they give each other a big hug and kiss. So great to see! Makes me feel proud. Yet, when one says sorry to the other, only to be pushed and shoved away... well I become disappointed and saddened. Now, as "karma" would have it, my unforgiving child ends up doing a similar wrong to me... and guess what? I teach them a lesson. I make sure they feel the error, and then when I've had my fun I asked how it felt and compare it back to their own unforgiveness of their sibling.

My intent in my "unforgiveness" here, is not to separate myself from my child, but rather the opposite -- to bring about greater love and deeper relationship/s.

So when Jesus says unless you forgive others God won't forgive you, He isn't saying that God is going to cast you out of heaven. Rather, you can expect that when you do wrong that God'll be sure to make you feel it. There are many things I've resented others over, and then I find myself doing the same and go "Oh man... that bites!" Sometimes it seems like I was setup. That, I believe, is God's "relational unforgiveness". I don't want to forgive, and I want to hold onto the hurt... but then I realised I've erred myself and it's like "whatever"... I give it up to God and say sorry -- and I learn and grow with much more grace.

I say "relational" because the intention of the "unforgiveness" is not to cause separation, but rather to bring about a closer relationship. And it is precisely this, our relationship with God and others, that is the context of this chapter and what Jesus is focused upon -- not a "judicial forgiveness" where we risk going to hell if we don't forgive others.

In any case, if you feel the prayer doesn't apply to us, at least you haven't erred in saying our own forgiveness for salvation is dependant upon our forgiving others. Just note, I am in agreement with you here. I just read Jesus' words differently to you.

[jlay]

I agree with you, that many things given to Israel don't apply to us today as they did in the past, and certainly Jesus gave this prayer to his followers prior to the New Convenant coming in... which creates an easy out. But the Lord's prayer is something I think one needs not to hastily and unnecessarily forsake. I believe His prayer is still relevant to us as much as to His followers when he delivered his prayer on the mount.

I agree that we should never hastily dismiss ANYTHING our Lord and Savior instructed.
I see what you are saying here and I'll certainly give it consideration. After all, Jesus also said in this same discourse that if your eye casuses you to sin, remove it. I think most would never interpret this as a literal instruction to start cutting off body parts.

So when Jesus says unless you forgive others God won't forgive you, He isn't saying that God is going to cast you out of heaven. Rather, you can expect that when you do wrong that God'll be sure to make you feel it.

Maybe that is the case. I can't say I'm convinced, but in light of what we've already discussed I can understand your point of view. I have to be consistent in how I am applying my hermanuetic, so in that respect I can't dismiss your interpretation. For example, the RYR asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life, and was instructed to sell all he had. Do we think Jesus literally meant that if the RYR sold all he had and gave to the poor, that he would merit eternal life? No.
Of course I believe in a literal interpretation in the sense that we want to literally understand what Jesus was communicating. And it's a fairly good bet that Jesus was actually challenging this man's understanding of good as well as his self-righteous view of himself.
Still, I'm still having some struggle when it comes to the prayer. Specifically, because of the context in which it is being taught. With the RYR, you can read the dialouge and understand that Jesus seems to be communicating in a way that the will leave the man hopeless in regards to his pride of earning eternal life. I don't detect that in the context of the prayer.

Otherwise, I agree. Yes, we should always extend forgiveness even if it doesn't seem reasonable. It only makes practical sense considering what is already done through the cross. It is very hard for us to think of forgiving someone who say, murdered one of our loved ones. Or perhaps someone who stole from us. The effects of that crime are temporally felt. To forgive in this way, we must have the mind of Christ. We must see through the mind of Christ, who has already removed that sin.
My dad abondoned our family when I was 18. It was really hard to forgive my dad. I held on to bitterness for years. Until I realized that it's already forgiven. Certainly my dad's actions had consequences, many of which can't be erased. But that isn't what forgiveness is based on. It really isn't up to me to forgive him. God already has. I can live out of that resource or my own. In that sense I agree with what you are saying. God wasn't witholding forgiveness from me because I was not forgiving my dad. But how could I walk in the light as He is in the light if I am denying forgiveness? How can I rest in the assurance of forgiveness if I'm not assured God has done the same for someone else? Even though our forgiveness was and is assured in Christ, we need to live out of His resource to experience this.

[ronjohn839]

k and jlay, you affirm that we as Christians can solve our differing beliefs in a loving manner. Keep in mind Jesus speaks figuratively often, by metaphor, hyperbole, or parable. These techniques really drive the point Jesus is making home. In matt 6:15 he is not saying forgiveness is conditional but that it's imperative.