Today at service I learnt one of the most interesting things about the Our Father prayer. Jesus taught us that prayer, well for the lack of a better word, it contains the exact structure or format we need when we come to Him in prayer. I don’t remember the exact wording of the preacher, but I guess I’m not supposed to. So let’s take a look.
Luke 11:
2 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.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 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.
Firstly, verse 2 points out that we must always put God in His rightful place. He is above all, therefore when we come to Him in prayer we first address Him.
Thy kingdom come then tells us that basically all nations must know of God’s glory, His grace, His love, His awesomeness and all that He is must be known here on earth. Thy will be done, well this is pretty simple. Our lives are not our own. What God wants goes. We are to come to Him daily and ask Him of His desires and completely submit ourselves to be used as His instruments for His glory.
Next, in verse 3, we must then humble ourselves and come to the realization that we cannot fend for ourselves, we are eternally dependent on God and His infinite wisdom.
As the Bible says, all have fallen short of the glory of God, what this means is that all of us have sinned. Therefore, we need to ask God to pardon us of our sins. It is again humbling ourselves. Most of us folks don’t like admitting when we do wrong, but too bad, we all do it one time or another. Brings me in mind of:
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Most naturally, if we are going to ask God for forgiveness we also need to show others the same grace that He has shown to us.
Finally, since sin infests the land, we must further ask God for His Holy Spirit, Whom leads us in the path of righteousness, the Divine driving force that aids us into fighting temptation.
Isn’t God awesome? Not only does He die for us, but also does He send forth His Holy Spirit to live in us. That’s awesome! Praise be to the everlasting God. 😀