Pressing Forward

There are many times I’ve felt like I don’t know what decision to make regarding my future.  High school, college, working; all of these areas have presented big decisions for me. 

I have been reading in Scripture this week about prayer.  Prayer is one of those amazing things we (if believers and followers in Christ) have in our lives given by our awesome Creator.  Prayer is our communication with God.  Yet even though we are able to talk to God, the Creator of this universe, I often find it a hard thing to implement in my daily life.  For some reason, prayer doesn’t come naturally for me and maybe it doesn’t for others either.

But the Bible tells us: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and
requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for
all the saints.”  (Ephesians 6:18)

It also says “pray continually” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  Apparently prayer should not just be an effort to get what we need out of God in a state of desperation, and it should not be limited to just before eating or bed time. 

Prayer should be a lifestyle.

Prayer should be a habit. 

A habit of talking to God.  But then the question comes often of “what do I say when I pray?”

Last night, I led a discussion with the youth at Bethel on prayer.  I broke down the Lord’s prayer we find in Matthew 6:9-13 to give us a guide of how to pray:

This, then, is how you should pray:
    ‘Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name,
 your kingdom come,
   your will be done
      on earth as it is in heaven.
 Give us today our daily bread.
 Forgive us our debts,
      as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.

This prayer is recited in many arenas- football teams say it before a game, it is heard in movies and songs, and of course recited in churches sometimes.  But what if Jesus didn’t mean it to be just something to recite, but as a guide for our prayers?

Think of it this way- Jesus’ prayer could be broken down into categories like this:

1. Praise  “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name”
2. Priorities “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done”
3. Provision  “Give us this day our daily bread”
4. Pardon  “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”
5. Protection  “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us”

These are things we can do through prayer!!  I’m really chewing on the second one though.  Why do I need to ask God who created all things and sovereignly puts all things in order, to do His will?  Won’t he do it anyway if he is sovereign?

More on this next week…