I have been attending Mission church and during their "On Earth as it is in Heaven" series they went over prayer and love. What I really got out of it was a challenge- to pray according to the structure of the Lord's prayer.
First let's read the Lord's prayer, and remember that this is how Jesus instructed us to pray:
"Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.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.
Matthew 6:9-13
I have taken my notes from Pastor Brent's service that morning and this scripture and created a prayer structure, but before I go into that I want to challenge you-
Does your prayer life have structure?
Do you wait patiently for God to speak?
Do you expect an answer from Him?
Do you set aside TIME to spend in prayer, concentrated, deliberate, determined and intentional, time in prayer?
For me, when confronted in my heart with these questions by the Holy Spirit, it was a huge, "Wake up Mary, you do not do these things at all and you really need to!"
This is how my past prayer life has gone for as long as I can remember: I sit down, begin to gush out all of the petty things that I want, then get distracted, cut my prayer time short, forget what I'm praying about and then give up after spending 5 minutes reading the Bible. That... or I pray long, gut wrenching honest prayers of my needs and my desires, my problems, but usually it's all about me, me, me, me.
sound familiar?
Thankfully after looking hard into the mirror of God's Word and realizing my spiritual hair was a mess by the conviction of His perfect Holy Spirit- I decided to act and use a spiritual comb.
This is the prayer structure that God inspired me to create for myself (my "spiritual comb" as it were) and let me tell you what, if you want your spiritual life to be blessed, if you want to dig deep into your relationship with the Holy One, if you want to be challenged in the aspect of waiting and spending time with God- if you want a spiritual comb to run through your soul- this is an exceptionally powerful tool.
A key element of this is to remember to be perfectly open and transparent with God- after all, He created you and the earth you live in, oh and He raised up from the dead on the third day and defeated death and hell- I'm pretty sure He can handle whatever you have going on, no matter how big.
The Lord's Prayer
~ made personal ~
WORSHIP
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name..."
This is how to start off your prayer, recognizing God as who He is, Holy, Perfect, Eternal Savior and Lord.
Example: Lord You are my Redeemer, thank You for hearing my prayers last night and answering all of them so miraculously just like I knew You would. I am so thankful for Your friendship, I would be lost without You.
Note: When I first began my prayer structure I used this section to ask God to teach me HOW to praise Him, He led me to the Psalms, and the more I practice praising Him, the more natural it becomes.
HIS KINGDOM, HIS WILL
"Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done as earth as it is in heaven."
This is where you check your heart, surrender your will to His. You can generalize this or you can make it very personal.
Example: Jesus, I want (insert desire here) but not my will, Yours be done. Oh Jesus... Help me to desire Your will! Change my heart so that it reflects Yours, so that my desires are aligned with what You have in store for me. Establish Your kingdom, direct me in ways to the furtherance of Your Kingdom, open my eyes to ways that I can do this, don't let me forget that I am living for Your Kingdom- not mine.
Note: This is a crucial part of the prayer structure! Our requests need to be aligned with His will before He can really work in our lives and move mountains- so before asking for things, ensure that your heart and His are on the same page, and if not ask Him to align your heart! He loves an honest and willing servant!
DAILY BREAD
"Give us this day our daily bread"
This is where you ask for the things that you need, this is where most of us start our prayers-but what a sweet blessing to get to this part of prayer after having praised God, and set in our hearts that we trust Him, and submitted our wills to His!
Example: Father, You have said that You will not withhold any good thing from Your children and I am Your child by the gracious blood of Jesus- so I ask that You continue to provide what I have need of, thank You for your faithfulness.
FORGIVE AND BE FORGIVEN
"And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors"
This is a part that most of us skip past, either one part or both, whether intentionally or not- but I have found that this part can be one of the most freeing aspects of my prayer time.
This is where we confess before God forgiveness to those who have wronged us, and ask Him to change our hearts towards those people.
It is very important to do this before asking forgiveness,
"For if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matthew 6:14-15
This verse is directly after the Lord's prayer- hmm, must be important in regards to our prayer life then, huh? Then of course, confess to God your sin.
Example: Father, help me to forgive (insert name here). This person hurt me so deeply and I don't understand why. I am so angry, but I choose to forgive them because You forgave me.
Forgive me for getting angry quickly- make me like You, slow to anger, slow to speak and quick to forgive.DELIVERANCE
"...And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil..."
This part is so crazy good for me, I love laying all of my struggles out there before the Lord, because when I lay them down at His feet then He can deal with them and I don't have to bear their weight anymore. This is a great place to be super transparent with the Lord, tell Him what trips you up and ask for His help!
Example: Lord, deliver me from an angry spirit, self-righteousness, self-pity, resentment, hostility, anxiety, depression, covetousness, dissatisfaction, restlessness, moping; disbelief. Teach me to trust in You even when what You are telling me to do doesn't make sense. Teach me how to guard my heart, let Your Holy Spirit have full reign in my life, convict me of anything that would keep me from being close to You.
WAIT EXPECTANTLY
"For THINE is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, amen."
I think that most of us struggle with this part more than any other part, but read that verse one more time.
Okay now read it again.
He owns the entire Kingdom...
He holds all the power...
He contains all the glory...
FOREVER.
I challenge you to ask in faith, believing that God is who He says He is- and wait upon Him. I typically use this section to ask God to speak to me through the Bible.
Example: Lord, please teach me to wait upon You as I read Your Word- speak to me. Help me to be still and know that You are God.
ANSWER
This is the section where you record how God answered your prayer.
I always write this part down, before I even start reading my Bible. It's a very cool way to activate your faith- it is the most triumphant and powerful feeling when I end my prayer this way, believing that God will answer me as He has promised. Ever since I have started praying this way the "Answer" section has been filled- and it is still amazing and wonderful and life changing every single time He answers me. Typically He answers me through His Word, God truly speaks to us through His Word:
"For the word of God is
quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
Thank you all for taking the time to read this, I hope it encouraged and challenged you as I know it has me!
