How To Pray

WHAT ARE YOU PRAYING FOR?

When the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, He goes on to teach them The Lord’s prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is not a literal, word for word on how to pray but, it provides great structural and value teachings on prayer.

' “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'
Matthew 6:9-13

If you look closely, not one line of the Lord’s prayer is self focused, nothing is about satisfying worldly passions. Prayer ,calls for us to honour and reverence, to set our focus on His Kingdom and align to His will. Far too often the approach we take to prayer is seeking our own will and not God’s.

Days before Jesus was arrested, He consecrated Himself to pray, full of emotion and hurt He said, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Prayer is the place we gain revelation on God’s will and strength to align ourselves, it’s not about you, but all about Him. Our prayer has become a selfish, self centred thing we do out of desperation, as opposed to the avenue to breed intimacy with the Father.

KNOWING GOD THROUGH PRAYER

' “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.'
Matthew 6:5-6

When Jesus says, “and your Father who is IN secret…” it eludes that praying in secret isn’t merely about location but about going to where God is, consecrated, hidden, secret, not praying like those who merely want to be seen to know God, or have wisdom, or to be DEEP Christians.

If God is in secret, then we must enter the secret place to know Him, we cannot know a secret-place God with a public-place heart and mindset. Prayer no matter where it happens, in your closet or in an open arena must be about an Audience of One, it has to be about God and God alone, about hearing Him, knowing Him and being led by Him.