Our Father Which Art In Heaven

Have you ever used the Lord's Prayer as an actual prayer? When Christ said "after this manner therefore pray ye," it was because he wanted us to use His prayer as a guide to teach us how to approach our Heavenly Father.

There's a simple order in the prayer that helps us get our hearts and minds into the right attitude of humility and worship before we begin to demand what we want;

1. Magnify the Lord
("Hallowed be Thy name")
2. Surrender to His will
("Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done")
3. Request fulfillment of needs
("...our daily bread")
4. Confess insufficiency of self
("forgive us...deliver us...")
5. Give the Lord the glory due His name
("for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory")




There are times when I have no words to pray. I try, but there doesn't seem to be anything to say. When it comes to that I can always begin with this prayer and let each piece of it lead me into praying what the Lord wants me to pray. It's often something like this:

My Father (who purchased me with the blood of Christ Jesus and adopted me as His daughter) which art in heaven, (because only You are King of Kings, and only You have the power and wisdom to rule the universe) hallowed by Thy name, (teach me to worship You in purity and holiness. Sanctify me, and give me grace to honor You in all I do and say) Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (I surrender my plans, my goals, my ambitions to You. Help me to forsake all and want only what You have set apart for me)

Give us this day our daily bread, (You know our needs and You have promised that You will not suffer us to be in want, but Lord, I also recognize that You are sufficient, and that You may call us to live with less than we perceive as "enough." Help me to see that everything I need is You, and to be content with what You provide.) and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. (I am sinful and selfish and my heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Help me to see others with the same forgiveness and mercy that You have when You look at me.) and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (In my own strength I cannot withstand, so help me to walk in your strength and give me wisdom to see and strength to flee the temptations that come into my life) for Think is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever,

Amen

-JRB