“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples”.”

Luke 11:1

 

The disciples saw Jesus praying, and asked him to teach them how to pray. Jesus didn’t give Lord’s Prayer as a formula or incantation to recite but as a model, it was not ‘here’s what to pray’, but ‘here’s how to pray’. Matthew says it plainly; ‘pray like this…..’

He gave them a pattern that also included prayer principles. That prayer has at least four elements we can learn to use when we pray: Adoration, Confession, Temptation protection, and Supplication. There’s the example. It’s up to us to follow it.

Friends, do you want to grow in prayer? Learn it, pray with others, read books on prayer, watch how Jesus prayed and how the heroes of the Bible prayed frequent and often. How many have studied foreign languages? You might read books on the languages, listen to tapes but nothing replaces practicing speaking the language. Same with Prayer, it takes practice.

God is to be approached as a loving Father not a distant Deity. It often seems that a much higher focus of Christian prayers focus on our needs instead of who God is, prayer is also a time to praise God. Beloved, practice try this week on your way to work, praise God the entire way until your destination; it might be hard but it’s worth trying. We don’t just need to practice praying, but practice praising God. In the time of intimacy, God is close to you.

Prayer deal with our past, our present, and the future; the past relates to forgiveness and it is conditional. Don’t ask God to forgive you if you are unwilling to forgive others if they have wronged you. The future is asking for the Kingdom of God and His Will to be done; this is the hardest prayer for us to pray especially if God’s will is not the same as our will. And the present is about our need for today not tomorrow which means we should pray every day.

Whatever your needs are, bring them to God on a daily basis. Even if you think they’re petty, go ahead and ask. Our heavenly Father delights in giving us good gifts the same way you delight in giving your children what they need. Ask specifically. Ask confidently. Ask persistently. Ask with faith. Just don’t give up. Spend time with the Lord and your day will be well spent.

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Garment of Praise

Monthly Insights for Spiritual Growth, Encouragement and Personal Victory.

Oluyemisi Onanuga

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible.

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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