|
山姆小叔英语屋(012)：What should we pray?
主持人：Sam Yuan, 藉这个节目可以教导尤其是国内肢体怎么用英语来讲述属灵的事。
ello friends, welcome to the VOF podcast. In the last episode, we talked about how to trust God through prayer, which is a 2-way communication with God. In this episode, we will look at the content of our prayer - what should we pray as Jesus taught.
When asked about prayer, Jesus gave us a model prayer in the Bible. It can be found in two places Matthew 6:9-15 and Luke 11:2-4 . That single event was recorded by two of Jesus’ disciples.
These Bible verses lay out what the content of our prayer should look like. Jesus said. “In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven, Holy is Your name.
Let Your kingdom (reign) come.
Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom (reign) and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
We could break this prayer down into 3 sections and with 2 conditions. In the first section, we ask for 3 things in heaven. In the second section, we ask for 3 things on earth. And the prayer concluded in the doxology that ascribes God all kingdom reign, all power, and all glory. The 2 conditions for answered prayer are found in the first and last verse of this particular scripture, that is, in verse 9 and 15 of Mathew chapter 6.
Let’s take a closer look at the 3 things in heaven and 3 things on earth the Lord asks us to pray about.
First, we ask that God’s Name in Heaven to be honored and be held in the highest esteem among men
Second, we ask God’s Kingdom in Heaven to come upon the earth, starting with our own lives. Here, the word ‘kingdom’ really means the domain in which God reigns. We are inviting God’s reign over us, over our neighborhood, our city, our state, over our nation.
Thirdly we ask for God’s Will in Heaven to be carried out here on earth, especially in our lives. Man lives as he pleases. But for a Christian, his allegiance is to God the Father and to His Son Jesus, our King. This prayer postures our will in submission to God’s Will, inviting His Lordship to govern our lives.
In the next section, we ask for three things on earth
First, we ask for our daily bread, that is, everything we need for today, whether spiritually, emotionally, physically, relationally, financially, or professionally.
Second, we ask forgiveness for our failure, for sins committed in our attitude, in our thoughts, in our speech, or in our action, that broke God’s law. At the same time, we release, by choice, our forgiveness to anyone who has offended or wounded us today, when we pray.
Thirdly we ask for God’s power to deliver us from every temptation that lures us away from God, and we seek for God’s protection from every evil plan and device from the devil, intended to destroy us.
Now we know what we should be asking, let’s take a look at the two conditions for answered prayer. They may seem obvious, but are essential for effective prayer:
The first condition for answered prayer, deals with our identify. We must be in a relationship with God. This relationship comes by receiving God’s Son, Jesus, to be our Savior and Lord, thus, making us a child of God. All men are the creation of God, but not all men are children of God. We become a child of God when we are born again spiritually, with the nature of Jesus in us. We receive the spirit of God’s Son, by which we call Him, our Father. It is Jesus, who bridges sinful man to the Holy God. Receiving Jesus, alters our identify and change our destiny. “Our Father” is an endearing term that expresses the intimacy of our relationship to our Heavenly Father. When we become a child of God, we are positioned to receive an answer to prayer. Also the pronoun ‘our’ points to the truth that our Father has other children in His family, our spiritual brothers and sisters. This prayer is the communication between the creator God and his royal children in the Kingdom, not by people outside of the family of God.
The second condition for answered prayer deals with our heart attitude. We must always maintain a clean conscience from the offense. We must forgive every injustice done to us, every trespass that wounds us, every disappointment that grieves us. We need to be free from anger, free from bitterness, free from vengeance. This is done through our daily confession of God’s forgiveness on those who hurt us, disappoint us, or grieve us. It is a choice that honors God, not a feeling that justifies our right to hate. God is a merciful God. He desires for us, his children, to be like Him. As God has freely forgiven us every time we ask of Him, He expects us to show the same mercy, and forgive those who hurt us. A child of God cannot hold a grudge toward others and be in good standing with God. Holding on to past hurt or offense is not only disobedience to God, but it also prevents the Lord from bringing healing to our wounded soul and a broken heart.
Many of us walk around with a broken heart, a wounded soul, and it comes out in our speech, in our attitude and in our behavior toward others around us. That’s not God’s Will for us. He wants us to walk in peace, live in health, and be filled with the joy of our salvation. And the way to achieve that is through forgiveness. Receiving God’s forgiveness, and releasing God’s forgiveness.
This is a daily choice that needs to be practiced. Keep a short account with God. Don’t go to bed entertaining the devil’s voice of accusation in our mind. Don’t rehearse the hurt and injustice like a broken record. Don’t close our eyes at night with anger on our hearts. Forgive and forget the injustice done to us. Give mercy.
Why? Because God tells us if we don’t forgive others, He won’t forgive us. That’s a serious consequence. We forgive not because people deserve it, we forgive because we love God and obey His Command. For a child of God, forgiveness is not a suggestion, but a command.
What if the people who hurt us remain un-repenting? We could keep a distance, protect ourselves, but forgive anyways. When Jesus was been crucified on the Cross, facing the mockers, Jesus said, “Father God, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. That’s a picture of God’s love and forgiveness. That’s our model.
“But I just can’t”, you may be thinking. Of course, no one could forgive out of own strength, it’s impossible. That’s why we need God’s help. We need His Mercy in us to forgive. There is power in the forgiveness that flows down from the Cross of Jesus. The Cross is where all forgiveness starts. It flows from the heart and blood of the Savior. Just ask Jesus for the power of his Blood to cover us, it will give us the strength to forgive. All we need is a willingness, God will do the rest.
Say to Jesus, “Lord, I don’t feel like forgiving, but because you want me to, I forgive so-and-so for _______. By faith, I release Your forgiveness in me. I cancel that person’s offense, I choose to be merciful to him/her as You have always been merciful to me. Lord, I yield to Your golden rule: do unto others as I would others do unto me. I forgive and I release that person, now. And I also ask you to show him mercy. Give Him the Grace to recognize what he did wrong and help him to change. Thank you, Lord for your Mercy over us all. In Jesus Name, amen”
Friends, if you pray this from your heart, you will find an overflowing power from God that courses through your soul and enables you to forgive the unforgivable.
God’s mercy and love are the most powerful force in the universe. Once we yield to it, it will carry us to do what pleases God, on it’s Strength. When we have experienced God’s forgiveness, we will have the ability to release the same on others. What God does in us, He wants to do through us. By faith, we could forgive, by the power of the Cross.
When we have met these two conditions, we could then pray with a clean conscience. And we know that if our conscience does not condemn us, we will have whatever we ask in prayer according to the promise of 1 John 3:20-23
Here is a question I hear Christians ask often:
“If God is all-powerful and all-knowing, why do I still need to pray? He knows what I need, he could just provide for me without me asking. He could just protect me from all harm, couldn’t He?”
No God doesn’t, not that He couldn’t. Let me explain why. The answer lies in our “free will”
Man is made in the image of God; and one of God’s intrinsic nature is that He is a free moral agent. And so are we.
When God exercises his free Will according to His Nature and Wisdom, He is expressing His intention through the things He does. When we exercise our free will to invite God’s involvement in our lives, we are telling God that we want His leadership, we want Him to take our wheel, to sail our boat.
Just because we accepted the Lord Jesus and became a child of God, He doesn’t take away our free will. It is a gift for mankind. God will not take back the gift nor will He violate our free will, because God doesn’t take pleasure in robot-relationship. He is looking for volunteer lovers who would choose Him because they love Him. Therefore, God will only get involved with our lives when we ask Him to, through our prayer.
There is a famous prayer in the Bible where Jesus extends his invitation to us, "Behold! I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock. If anyone hears My Voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat (or fellowship) with him, and he with me” Revelation 3:20. Jesus said, “if you hear and open, I will come in”, not “if you hear and not open, I will kick down your door and take over”. God is looking for - volunteer lovers.
Knowing Jesus never said things just to fill up space, according to the Lord’s model prayer, everything we desire God to do for us comes about as a result of our daily prayer. If we don’t pray for God’s reign to come on us, we will simply not see his Kingdom Power manifest in our lives. If we don’t ask for God’s intended Will to be done in our lives, we will miss God’s goodness and blessings. If we don’t ask for forgiveness and cleansing, we will walk around with a broken fellowship with the Lord. If we don’t ask for provision and protection, we will live without them. And when things go wrong, we can’t blame God.
The bible instruction is clear: The Lord acts on our invitation-only, He works through our prayer. The whole creation is governed by the written Word of God, whether things in Heaven or on earth. When we pray according to the written Word, we will experience God's Kingdom reign, his Power and his Glory.
This elevates prayer to a significant place in our faith journey. Without prayer, we will not experience God's Power and His Presence in our lives. Without prayer, we will not know the fulfillment of God’s intended will toward us on earth, as good as it may be. Without prayer, we will not see God’s Kingdom Reign manifested in our surroundings. Without prayer, we will not have God’s forgiveness, provision or protection as we go through each day.
What a sobering thought!
If God asks us to pray for forgiveness, It is God’s intention to show mercy to us and to forgive our every sin, as we confess them.
If God asks us to pray for provision, He desires to take up the responsibility of providing for our every need, as we pray.
If God asks us to pray for protection, our safety and health are on God’s mind. He intends for us to live in peace and health, shielded from every evil, accident, and mishap.
So what should we do? We pray.
Every request we made under the guideline of the Lord’s Prayer, is God’s perfect will for us, because this is the instruction the Lord Jesus gave, to teach us what to pray.
Everything Jesus mentioned in this model prayer, is God’s intended will for us. However, Intention without execution brings frustration. God needs your prayer and my mine, to fulfill His good intention toward us! Our lack of prayer frustrates the plan and purpose of God for our lives! Think about its ramification...
As a dying man writes up his Will to express his intended will to be carried out after his death, God’s Word, the Bible, expresses His intended Will for all mankind, especially in the household of God.
God’s Word contains his Will. And when we pray as instructed in the Word, we are praying the exact Will of God here on earth. Pray the Word back to God, and we will see the result. God may not always answer men’s prayer, but He will always answer His Written Word.
In conclusion, the Lord's prayer is a blueprint that teaches us what to pray for, in our daily communication with God. It instructs us to honor God's Holy Name, ask for God's Reign and His Will for our lives. The Lord's prayer also tells us to ask for forgiveness of sins, provision for our daily needs, and deliverance from every temptation and evil after our destruction. The prayer is conditioned on two things: First, we must become a child of God and be in a relationship with Him through our personal faith in Jesus Christ. Second, we must choose to forgive every offense and hurt, on a daily basis so as to keep our conscience clean to receive from God. The prayer ends with our praise and worship, ascribing our Heavenly Father all kingdom reign, all power, and all glory, as we invite his reign, power and glory to invade on our lives and to remain with us. This prayer is not seeking for God's visitation, it’s asking for God's habitation.
Friends, if that is what your heart desires, set aside a daily time for God.
Seek Him and you will find Him.
Ask Him and you will receive of Him
Invite Him and He will come make His Home in you.
In part two of this podcast, I invite you to come join me, praying the Lord's model prayer.
Until next time, may the Lord keep you and bless you with his loving-kindness and tender mercy.
|