Praying to Our Father

Big complicated process? 

Sometimes, people think about prayer as this holier than anything, a grand procedure, that one must be skilled with the knowledge of how to do it. Well, no. Not exactly. Did Jesus give us the "Our Father Prayer?" in Matthew 6? Of course. But what was He actually telling us? 

You see, He was teaching us how to Pray, by teaching us the formula. He was giving us an example of how to pray. He never meant for us to put on a show, or to simply repeat it, in the hopes that we would be heard by God, and God will do whatever we asked Him. As a matter of fact, right before He gave us this example, He said this.

"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. 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.

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. "

The King James Version says it like this.

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."

Do not simply repeat "Our Father, in heaven." three times, say four "Hail Marys" and all is good.

"Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

But what does it mean? Let's break it down, shall we? First, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Stop. What does it mean? Have no other God before God. Jesus tells us when we Pray, we should start off, by recognizing God, first as our Father, our Daddy, and we need to recognize His Godhood. We should praise Him. Thank Him. Honor Him. Let Him know we understand that it is not about us, but His Will. Put Him first in our lives.

See the very first Commandment is "Have no other God before God." Jesus tells us we should "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." So of course it makes sense that Jesus tells us the very first thing we should do when we Pray, is worship Him and give Him the honor He deserves.

"Give us this day our daily bread."Stop. What does it mean? Jesus is telling us that we must rely on God, and not ourselves, to meet our daily needs. He just tells us right before this Prayer example, "for your Father, knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him." Jesus then goes into great detail explaining this truth.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Again, He tells us "for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." Fear not. Your Daddy will meet your needs. Know that He is with you always. Thank Him for meeting those needs. Have faith He will.

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."Stop. What does it mean? What is He saying here? Forgive those who have sinned against you. Those that have abused you. Mistreated you. Used you. Forgive any that you have a cause to forgive. Why? In explaining the Prayer example, Jesus starts out with this.

"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:"

Be careful Child of God. Jesus tells us plainly.

"But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Remember, when Peter asked our Lord, Matthew 18:21-22

"Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times."

And in Mark 11:25

"And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

As we have discussed before, there is NOTHING you could possibly even dream up, that is worthy to be compared to what God can do to these people. The most powerful words you could ever use against them is "I forgive you." Why? because then they are in God's hands. You are forgiven of all those sins you are worthy of Hell for, and they are out of your hands, and control, and are now God's.

Never forget Romans 12:19 says this.

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

If you give in to your anger, it can lead to hate. You could lust after the desired end of another person.

"Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death." James 1:15

Do not let it take you. Forgive. Besides all that, what have you, or what do you, still do, daily, that is worthy of damnation? Trust me. There is a list. Mine is really long. Do not fool yourself.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Did you know that God will never test you with Sin?

"Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." James 1:13-14

What Jesus is, in essence, saying here, is ask your Father, to protect you from yourself. What He is saying is that you need to strengthen yourself in Truth and Righteousness. Strengthen your Spirit, to overcome the temptations of the flesh.

The devil never screams. He whispers. He reminds. He allows you to feel. Were you ever, or are you addicted to porn? Have you overcome it? Now, you are walking through the mall with your family, and right there in front of you, is a teenage girl in one of the skimpiest little outfits you ever saw. Now you can't get the image out of your head. Or recovering from Drugs? All of a sudden, out of nowhere, you smell it. You taste it. Perhaps you have a dream about doing it. What happens? Now you can't get that image out of your head. If you give in, you may go right back into the bondage of the sin you have overcome. Did the devil make you? Nope. You did it. All by yourself.

So Jesus tells us to be ever vigilant. Spend time with your Father. Ask Him to give you the strength to overcome. To be steadfast. Yet? This is not all. God wants you to be His child. He wants to be your Father. Your Daddy. He wants you to simply talk to Him. This is what we will be talking about next time. Now that you have the basics down, what else is there to say? EVERYTHING!

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you been adopted into the Family of God? If not, say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will heal you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray.

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a Sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus and His Sacrifice for me. I believe that He was raised from the Dead. I repent my Sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is just that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if you shalt confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shalt be saved." {Romans 10:9} You need to find a Church that God leads you to, and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A New Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." {Colossians 3:10}

If you want to tell me, comment, questions, give testimonials or just say "Hi," the Email is opntalk@gmail.com

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. {2 Corinthians 13}

Until next time, be Blessed, be a Blessing, and Jesus is Lord!