Prayer

Here is one area of my life that I seem to overlook, but God wants to hear from us, and Jesus gives us a great model of prayer in Luke 11:1-13 & Luke 18:1-8.

In following with the pattern of previous studies, we follow Christ by reading His word and meditating on it. We also have direct communication with the Father through prayer. In Luke, Jesus is asked to show us how to pray. He gives a structure of praise, thanksgiving, forgiveness and asking. He then goes on to say how much God would give us if we simply ask consistently. Later in Luke, he tells of the story of an unrighteous judge who relents and gives justice to a woman because she consistently begs him for help. His point is that even the unrighteous give what is needed due to persistence. Jesus shows us to pray with consistency, and not lose heart. How many times to we pray about something we need, but it is in quick passing- “Hey God, could you do me a favor?” We talk so much in our prayers, and our prayers are all about us, not God. We need to first give praise to Him- He’s our king! Let YOUR will be done God, not mine. It’s not about me. Second, we should thank Him for all we have already- that kind of puts things into perspective, and even the thing we are preparing to ask God about might not even seem that important comparatively. Third, we need to ask forgiveness for anything that might be hindering us in our conversation with God, and we must remind ourselves that since we are forgiven, we must also forgive those who have sinned against us. Deliver us from evil- ask for protection against temptations. After this part of the conversation, feel free to ask what you want. Jesus says: “You have not because you ask not.” Our earthly fathers give us good things and not bad things, and they are human and sinful. How much more will a gracious, heavenly father give us if we ask? But asking according to His will is the key. Once we put our prayer into perspective, we must ask according to what will please and glorify Him. It's not an option, it’s part of following Jesus.