"God, thank you for all that you have done for me. Please give me more of the same. In Jesus name. Amen."I'm slightly exaggerating, but not by much! In effect this is oftentimes my prayer. It is "what's in it for me"! God has competition for our adoration. For me it's "me". For you it's your "me".
There are several things which may be wrong with this prayer:
- It may be a mere routine without emotion.
- I ask of the right person, God, in the name of the right person, Jesus, but they may be mere words or even "commas". What I mean by that is their names are not magical. The use of them is not the incantation to get what I want. Some people even insert "God", "Father" and "Lord" when they take a breath. It sounds holy, but the prayer must be sincerely directed toward a Holy God and his intermediary Jesus Christ.
- It's short. That can be good, but not if it's said hurriedly.
- It may be a mere repetition one time to the next. Our prayers are not to be a ritual, but a conversation.
- Prayer is to be a two-way conversation. In this one I merely spew forth religiously correct (RC) words. Praying is listening too. We are to wait for God to ask us "Is this what you think my will is?" "How does this prayer show love?"
- This prayer is more about me than God. We don't actually say "give me more of the same", but that may be our expectation.
- The prayer fails to ask for forgiveness (with sincerity) for the sins not yet forgiven. We can't forget that for prayer to be effectual, it must be with a clear heart. We are to make things right before we ask of God or even serve him. That also means animosity between each of us and another!
- It's not specific. God has been generous to most of us. It's best that we thank him for the prayer which he answered. "Thank you, Father, for giving me hope!" "Thank you for forgiving my hateful remark!" You get the idea! It's more than about food too.
- It may be too casual. Yes, it's okay to pray as the day goes by, but eventually sometime during the day, prayer should be in a quiet place and in reverence to God. It could be on the knees or eyes to the sky, but it must be reverent.
- Prayer is most effectual if something is sacrificed to the Lord. Of course it's "me" he wants. That means that I am to sacrifice something important before I pray. Fasting is the most effectual. That is taking the "EAT" (the "e") out of "feast" and make it "fast".
Jesus told us how to pray:
- Matthew 6:9 "After this manner therefore pray ye:
- Our Father
- which art in heaven,
- Hallowed be thy name.
- 10 Thy kingdom come,
- Thy will be done in earth,
- as it is in heaven.
- 11 Give us this day our daily bread.
- 12 And forgive us our debts,
- as we forgive our debtors.
- 13 And lead us not into temptation,
- but deliver us from evil:
- For thine is the kingdom,
- and the power,
- and the glory,
- for ever.
- Amen."
I put bullets by each phrase because each phrase is a point made by Jesus. This is how he would have us pray! Verse 9 tells the reader that our prayer should be similar to what follows. The "manner" is not only the words, but the emotion in which we are to pray because prayer is talking to our most Holy Creator. Think this "I am in the presence of the One who created the universe and everything in it. He made me. He deserves my respect!" and with that talk to God as if he is holy because he is!
"Our Father": Yes. He's that! He made us and we are to honor him. He commands that. We are to acknowledge his rightful position. Calling him "Father" and meaning it, is reverence.
"Which art in heaven": God is more than a person. There is no word complex nor dignified enough to describe who he is! God is existence. His name is "I AM". He is who always was and always will be. So rather than "who" it's "which" because "who" narrows his existence while "which" widens his majesty. "Which" allows for "the Glory of God" which is his magnificence.
His Glory has a place. It's in heaven. That's not the name of where he is, but a condition in which he lives. His divine mind has a throne on the River of God in paradise. That is the center of the kingdom of God. It's where there is no sin. It may be without size nor time, because God is not constrained by those. It's where we will be if he is truly "our Father"!
"Hallowed be thy name": God is without name. He just "IS". For our limited ability to communicate "I AM" is described by JHVH the tetragrammaton of Hebrew for "I AM THAT I AM". We pronounce "I AM" "Jehovah". Saying that doesn't make us a cult, so we can call him that!
Because he just "IS" we can use titles. He is our Father being our Creator. We can call him that too. We can call him "God" because that is his position. Indeed he is our "Lord" or should be if not. When he hears us speak to him he knows who we mean. He loves the fragrance of being revered. Use his name always in reverence. When saying casually "OMG" or "Oh My God" or "Oh My Gosh" it's in vain. Save that for when it's not! That's when worshiping him. Prayer is one way we worship God.
When it says "hallowed be thy name" that's to what is being referred. That means to honor what God is called because he is holy. He's much more than an emotion or a cheer! When praying the person is praying in a holy place: in the presence of God. Honor his name!
"Thy kingdom come": This is more than the destruction of Satan and the place of eternal life. It is a request that your heart be made righteous. That's the time when sin is displaced in your own heart by the loving will of God. Yes, God's kingdom is eternal life in paradise, but once a person submits to him, a visa is issued. It's "hope". When we seek to do God's will, it is his kingdom we approach. Our desire is for our comfort to be now in preparation for later!
"Thy will be done in earth": This phrase compliments the first. Doing now what shall be done in heaven starts now. We aren't to wait until we're dead and in his kingdom to do his will. It starts now! Each day with every move, it is to be done with our eyes on God's will. Sin is not anywhere in his will. We are in effect praying for purity in our own lives and in the lives of everyone. God wants us all to be righteous, albeit he knows we won't be. We don't have to sin and his will is that we make the conscious choice not to sin.
"As it is in heaven": This complements "thy will be done in earth". The pattern for kiving here is how things are done in heaven. There is no sin in the presence of God and that's what we are to strive for here. "Heaven" is the model we are to pattern ourselves after.
"Give us this day our daily bread": This is a staple. This is the minimum food we need to sustain ourselves. We are to pray for what we truly need. No "wants" are included here.
Our "daily bread" is manna from heaven. It is communing with Jesus. He is the bread of life. We are to pray for closeness to our Savior. Sure, we can pray for our basic needs, but we know that Jesus is more important than food! Only one time did I pray for "things" which I wanted. God ignored that prayer because he knew that it wasn't a need. I no longer pray for gain, but for sustenance. God is not a socialist nor a genie. He will provide for us if we are right with him. He made that deal with Abraham for all his seed. I prosper not because I expect it, but because God blesses me without asking. I am thankful that he does that, but that's not the focus of my prayer.
When we ask him to "give" to us, even our own works are of him! Everything comes from God and all that we have is a gift from him. We need to thank him for his generous giving. We deserve nothing. That "giving" is God's grace.
"And forgive us our debts"; Jesus died to redeem us. He paid the price for our lavish spending! How we spend is called "sin" . We are borrowing what is not ours. We use pleasure to appease us, but there eventually payment must be made. We can't pay for those sins ourselves so we ask God for his forgiveness. In effect this is "forgive us our sins". Jesus paid the price and all that we owe him is contrition and love.
"As we forgive our debtors": This complements "forgive us our debts". It is an unfair metric to ask God to forgive us when we fail to forgive others. Scripture is simple: before we come to God to offer our sacrifice (us), we are to make things right with others... whether we are in the wrong or not! In fact forgiving others when we are in the right is more gracious than forgiving others when we're wrong!
"And lead us not into temptation": Temptation is not yet sin, but leads to sin. We need to stay away from those things. God doesn't tempt! However, he allows Satan by his rules of the game to tempt us. How we please God is when we turn our backs on temptation of our own volition. Adam and Eve stood under the forbidden tree. Thereunder was temptation. God didn't lead them there. Satan did. What we pray to God is for strength and discernment to stay away from the poison of sin. He will keep us if we only ask. This prayer is asking!
"But deliver us from evil": This is tied to temptation. By protecting us from Satan and his tempting, we are delivered from doing wrong. If we are heeding the word of God, Satan will flee from us. Scripture is the sword which makes him flee and when we are in communion with God, we wear his full armor! Satan doesn't stand a chance if we are in God's will!
"For thine is the kingdom": That's what was explained before. We enter the kingdom of God when we learn to trust him. That trust is called faith. When we have even a little faith, we inherit his kingdom. When we have much faith we endear ourselves to God and Satan is even more helpless. Great faith is putting on the whole armor hanging in God's armory, his kingdom!
"And the power": That describes the armor. The power is in God's word and The Word is Jesus Christ. There is power in the blood. Faith in Jesus us using God's power and denying that we have any power beyond that!
"And the glory": Glory is whatever God IS! He is the focus of it all. He is truth, perfection, love, eternal and such. All these admissions are praise. It's giving God his due. Prayer is more praise than asking. It's more praise than even thanking. It's magnifying God! My feeble prayer at the beginning said little about God's divinity nor did I even praise him. That's the spiritual aroma God wants to smell. That's our burning of the incense to him It pleases him!
"Forever": Time describes God who is timeless. "Forever" admits that God just "IS". He's the alpha and omega. The beginning and the end! It's part of his glory! "Forever" is his name because being eternal is just "being". That he "IS"!
"Amen": This means that what I say is true! It's not merely to appease God, but it comes from the heart. He knows your heart before you pray, yet he wants to hear it too! He wants your prayer to be true, and "Amen" allows you to evaluate what you just said. I do that sometimes and say aloud "God, strike that. That's not what I meant. I am being true in what I'm saying."
Praying is a way that we praise God. These are examples of how to and how to not praise him. We can all do better than what we do and my commentary is an attempt to examine how to pray how God wants us to pray; and to be reverent and honest in our praying. The Lord's Prayer is lavish sounding, but ours can be common. It's not the words, but it's the heart. The meaning of the prayer is more important than the words we select. That's God's omnipotence. He understands what we mean before we express it!
Talk to God as you would anyone who you love. Lavish words are for our understanding, but it's our heart he really hears. Our words are to be a true reflection of what we feel for God. Amen!
"Thy will be done in earth": This phrase compliments the first. Doing now what shall be done in heaven starts now. We aren't to wait until we're dead and in his kingdom to do his will. It starts now! Each day with every move, it is to be done with our eyes on God's will. Sin is not anywhere in his will. We are in effect praying for purity in our own lives and in the lives of everyone. God wants us all to be righteous, albeit he knows we won't be. We don't have to sin and his will is that we make the conscious choice not to sin.
"As it is in heaven": This complements "thy will be done in earth". The pattern for kiving here is how things are done in heaven. There is no sin in the presence of God and that's what we are to strive for here. "Heaven" is the model we are to pattern ourselves after.
"Give us this day our daily bread": This is a staple. This is the minimum food we need to sustain ourselves. We are to pray for what we truly need. No "wants" are included here.
Our "daily bread" is manna from heaven. It is communing with Jesus. He is the bread of life. We are to pray for closeness to our Savior. Sure, we can pray for our basic needs, but we know that Jesus is more important than food! Only one time did I pray for "things" which I wanted. God ignored that prayer because he knew that it wasn't a need. I no longer pray for gain, but for sustenance. God is not a socialist nor a genie. He will provide for us if we are right with him. He made that deal with Abraham for all his seed. I prosper not because I expect it, but because God blesses me without asking. I am thankful that he does that, but that's not the focus of my prayer.
When we ask him to "give" to us, even our own works are of him! Everything comes from God and all that we have is a gift from him. We need to thank him for his generous giving. We deserve nothing. That "giving" is God's grace.
"And forgive us our debts"; Jesus died to redeem us. He paid the price for our lavish spending! How we spend is called "sin" . We are borrowing what is not ours. We use pleasure to appease us, but there eventually payment must be made. We can't pay for those sins ourselves so we ask God for his forgiveness. In effect this is "forgive us our sins". Jesus paid the price and all that we owe him is contrition and love.
"As we forgive our debtors": This complements "forgive us our debts". It is an unfair metric to ask God to forgive us when we fail to forgive others. Scripture is simple: before we come to God to offer our sacrifice (us), we are to make things right with others... whether we are in the wrong or not! In fact forgiving others when we are in the right is more gracious than forgiving others when we're wrong!
"And lead us not into temptation": Temptation is not yet sin, but leads to sin. We need to stay away from those things. God doesn't tempt! However, he allows Satan by his rules of the game to tempt us. How we please God is when we turn our backs on temptation of our own volition. Adam and Eve stood under the forbidden tree. Thereunder was temptation. God didn't lead them there. Satan did. What we pray to God is for strength and discernment to stay away from the poison of sin. He will keep us if we only ask. This prayer is asking!
"But deliver us from evil": This is tied to temptation. By protecting us from Satan and his tempting, we are delivered from doing wrong. If we are heeding the word of God, Satan will flee from us. Scripture is the sword which makes him flee and when we are in communion with God, we wear his full armor! Satan doesn't stand a chance if we are in God's will!
"For thine is the kingdom": That's what was explained before. We enter the kingdom of God when we learn to trust him. That trust is called faith. When we have even a little faith, we inherit his kingdom. When we have much faith we endear ourselves to God and Satan is even more helpless. Great faith is putting on the whole armor hanging in God's armory, his kingdom!
"And the power": That describes the armor. The power is in God's word and The Word is Jesus Christ. There is power in the blood. Faith in Jesus us using God's power and denying that we have any power beyond that!
"And the glory": Glory is whatever God IS! He is the focus of it all. He is truth, perfection, love, eternal and such. All these admissions are praise. It's giving God his due. Prayer is more praise than asking. It's more praise than even thanking. It's magnifying God! My feeble prayer at the beginning said little about God's divinity nor did I even praise him. That's the spiritual aroma God wants to smell. That's our burning of the incense to him It pleases him!
"Forever": Time describes God who is timeless. "Forever" admits that God just "IS". He's the alpha and omega. The beginning and the end! It's part of his glory! "Forever" is his name because being eternal is just "being". That he "IS"!
"Amen": This means that what I say is true! It's not merely to appease God, but it comes from the heart. He knows your heart before you pray, yet he wants to hear it too! He wants your prayer to be true, and "Amen" allows you to evaluate what you just said. I do that sometimes and say aloud "God, strike that. That's not what I meant. I am being true in what I'm saying."
Praying is a way that we praise God. These are examples of how to and how to not praise him. We can all do better than what we do and my commentary is an attempt to examine how to pray how God wants us to pray; and to be reverent and honest in our praying. The Lord's Prayer is lavish sounding, but ours can be common. It's not the words, but it's the heart. The meaning of the prayer is more important than the words we select. That's God's omnipotence. He understands what we mean before we express it!
Talk to God as you would anyone who you love. Lavish words are for our understanding, but it's our heart he really hears. Our words are to be a true reflection of what we feel for God. Amen!
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