In recent weeks, I have again been reminded of the power of a prayer given to us in answer to this question, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
Though I imagine many of us find the Lord’s Prayer a comforting prayer, it is so familiar that on this side of heaven, we may underestimate the power in those words of Jesus that Matthew and Luke recorded. We may forget their significance and how God can use them to change not only our lives but the lives of others. Because of this, we neglect to pray the very model of prayer Jesus taught His disciples ... and us.
The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer of worship,
of surrender, of petition, of repentance, of seeking protection, of exaltation
of our God, and much more.
Some have said that though it seems a
short prayer, it would take a long time to thoroughly pray every word.
The Lord reminded me in recent times to use
it in praying over health situations—one of them is as difficult as difficult
can be. Now I wake in the night repeating those words.
At times, when our faith struggles and our
eyes tell us a situation is impossible, we may be challenged to know how to
pray, but we can always count on the words Jesus spoke, “Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.” We know what
our will is for ourselves or our loved one, but we surrender our wills to His
in order that His will be done. We want our will to align with His will. We are
asking that the heavenly order would overtake the earthly realm and that God’s
will would reign supreme.
For His is “the kingdom, and the power and
the glory, forever.” God alone is all powerful, all knowing, and He alone is capable
of handling the sometimes overwhelming problems around us.
With all the Lord has been speaking to me
about the Lord’s prayer, I shouldn't have been surprised to find those verses the subject of
a Bible lesson this past Sunday. It was if the Lord were saying, just in case
there were any question about how important His reminders of praying the Lord’s
Prayer have been, I should persist praying this prayer given to us straight from the lips of Jesus.
If you find yourself in a difficult circumstance,
not knowing where to turn--turn to the Lord and the words He has given us to
pray. If you don’t know them from memory, find them in the gospel of Matthew 6:9-13
or Luke 11:2-4. Linger over the verses. Let’s let the words work
in our own hearts as we pray them.
“Our Father which
art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy
name.
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
in earth, as in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
And forgive us our
debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
For thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.”
Amen, indeed.