This week we’ve been exploring the topic of prayer. Today I want to offer a very practical way to pray that has been very helpful to me and is especially helpful on days when you don’t feel clear on what or how to pray.
Jesus said, “this, then, is how you should pray” when he was teaching on prayer. He proceeded to give us the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father depending on your tradition. Most of us can recite some or all of it by heart, and for that, it’s powerful and yet also dangerously familiar. Yet there must be something to it – for Jesus himself gave it to us.
So to reignite the fire of this prayer and perhaps give you a fresh way to pray, I would encourage you to pause in each section and make it real. Here’s how that can look:
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Pause here and reflect on the glory of nature, perhaps your favorite outdoor spot, the goodness and hugeness of God or a few minutes on the concept of a Creator.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Here we can not only ask, but seek, “how can I bring God’s kingdom into reality in my life today? Who can I love? Who can I serve? How can I shape my community to look a little more like the kingdom?” Ask God to show you.
Give us this day our daily bread.
What do you need for sustenance today? Ask for it. Perhaps its financial, emotional, physical. I sometimes pray for supernaturally productive days, or provision in a certain area.
Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.
Confess your sins and ask God to forgive. Turn away from them and ask God to help you by His Spirit. Name people who have wronged you and verbally forgive them. Maybe you need to reach out and tell them in person.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Pray against the schemes of the devil. Identify your temptations and ask God to lead you away from them today.
And we close in adoration:
For yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever, Amen.
May you be richly blessed, and your prayer life enriched today.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Joel
Joel Searby
“This engaging, gripping book is at its core a call for renewal. It recognizes the problems our society confronts, but it also highlights our strengths and our capacity for social regeneration. The combination makes for just the kind of wake-up call America needs to hear.”
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