Prayer was such an important part of Jesus’ lifestyle that He would break away from the crowds that followed Him to go and pray to His Father (Matthew 14:23). Often He would go alone up on a mountain or into a secluded place. One day the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. What Jesus taught them is known as the Lord’s prayer and it is an example of how we can pray as well.
The original King James Version uses old English that we don’t use today. However, many of us may have memorized it when we were children. The following is from the New King James version.
“Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.(holy and praise be to Your name )
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one (or evil).
For Yours is the kingdom and the
power, and the glory forever. Amen.”
This prayer was given to the disciples before Jesus went to the cross. After Jesus died, rose from the dead, and went up to heaven, the old covenant of law (Old Testament/agreement) was fulfilled. Jesus brought the new covenant (New Testament) of grace and truth through faith which was paid by His shed blood. Should we pray this prayer today or use it as an example of how to pray?
We can use this example for prayer, but keep in mind that this was directed to the Jewish people during Jesus’ time as they were transitioning from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament because He came to be the perfect sacrifice that would pay for our sins once and for all if we accept Him into our hearts and make Him our Lord and Savior.
As we start with the prayer, we should give praise and honor to God our Father. As we continue in prayer we can pray for spiritual and physical needs. Today, as a Christian, the kingdom of God is within us because Jesus our king reigns in our hearts. We ask for His will to be done in our lives. We can also ask for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Is it God’s will to heal, to forgive, to save? Yes, so let's pray for others as well.
Jesus is our daily bread and as we read, hear, and study the Word we are able to feed our spirit being and grow in faith. We can also pray for our physical needs to be met. Thank God we have our debts or sins forgiven because of Jesus. When we ask Him to forgive us of our sins and we receive Him by faith, we are forgiven. As we have been forgiven, we should also forgive those that have sinned against us.
Does God lead us into temptation if we don’t pray against it? James 1:13-15 says that God does not tempt man but man is tempted by his own desires. We are to pray that God delivers us when we are going through trials and temptations. God says that He will never allow temptations that are more than we can handle (I Cor. 10:13).Temptations can include unbelief, doubt, and fear. Finally, glory, honor, and power are the Lords Amen. As Christians we conclude or include the name of Jesus in our prayers (John 14:13-14) because the power is in the name of Jesus (Phil. 2:9-10).
Read the rest at: https://litwithprayer.substack.com/p/jesus-always-honored-his-father?sd=pf