Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer - Lee Brainard
For many prayer is a formality performed at church and at mealtime. For others it is a “christianized” form of meditation. For yet others it is an experiential journey, seeking to “feel” something. In the Bible it is none of these things. It is merely talking to God.
God gave us a pattern for prayer in Matt. 6:9-13 — the so-called Lord’s Prayer. I say pattern because that was and is God’s intent. He never meant for us to turn it into a rote formality.
This pattern reflects seven things about God which should be reflected in our prayers: 1) God’s love — God is addressed as Father which implies love and kinship. 2) God’s honor — a recognition of God’s holiness and a desire to uphold it. 3) God’s will — a desire to see God’s will fulfilled on Earth and in our lives. 4) God’s provision — trusting him for our needs, physical and spiritual. 5) God’s grace — looking for forgiveness and help to forgive. 6) God’s help — seeking him for direction and deliverance. 7) God’s sovereignty — recognizing that he is the Almighty and that he can do all that we ask or need. The kingdom is his. All power is his. The glory is his.
Do we mouth the words of the Lord’s Prayer, neither understanding nor caring what the words really mean? Or do we talk with God as one who really has been taught by God how to pray?
~Lee Brainard, November 14, 2014