Give Me Jesus, As We Pray, God My Rock, Good Good Father, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, Made Me Glad

Share one memory that you have of bonding with your father (or a father-figure) that you still remember with gratefulness to this day.

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰ ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]

Many people have bad experiences with their father, but the perfect Father does exist. No earthly father is perfect, but we can have access to a perfect Heavenly Father!  His disciples asked Jesus to teach them only one thing – how to PRAY (Luke 11:1). Jesus modeled the importance of prayer. He taught not to pray with meaningless, useless repetition, supposing that God will be swayed by our many words (Matthew 6:7-8). Jesus taught that God knows what we need.

Jesus gave a pattern or model of how to pray, changing traditional mindset about prayer. The first part has to do with who God is (Matthew 6:9-10). Our FATHER in heaven is supreme, and His name must be HALLOWED. The Greek word “hagiazo” means to make holy, consecrate, treat as sacred, make something our ultimate concern, and give it the greatest honor. We are to do this with our Heavenly Father. We are all CREATURES of God, but not all are children of God. We become children of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26). Without Christ, we cannot be sons and daughters of the Most High! To connect to God our Father, pray with these considerations:

RECOGNIZE

Recognizing God as our FATHER is uniquely taught in Scripture. In the New Testament, God is called FATHER 173 times! God is the perfect Father, He knows what is best. He is merciful, forgiving; He disciplines and transforms us; He is patient with us, and yet He has full power over everything in heaven and earth. “HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME” shows that He is not just our Father, but also our King, the One who is in control of everything! Therefore, we must bring honor and glory to Him. The idea of God being “hallowed” is that He should be glorified in everything we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).

God is KING, we pray that His kingdom will come (Matthew 6:10). There are two types of people – those who are part of God’s kingdom, and those who do not and therefore belong to the domain of darkness (Colossians 1:13-14). God rescued us from the domain of darkness; He transferred us to the kingdom of Christ in whom we find redemption and forgiveness. We become God’s children by faith; we trust Him and receive Christ as Lord and Master (John 1:12). One day, Jesus is going to come again, and His kingdom shall reign (Revelation 6:15). We pray THY KINGDOM COME because we want Him to come, now! We desire to please Him always, for Him to be glorified, and return soon. When King Jesus returns, justice will be done (Revelation 11:18). He will reward His “bondservants, prophets, and the saints”! The last prayer in Scripture is “COME LORD JESUS!” (Revelation 22:20). Be part in hastening the coming of the King by sharing the gospel. The gospel must be preached to the whole world, then the end will come (Matthew 24:14).

REALIGN

“YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN” (Matthew 6:10). When we pray this way, we tell God “I only want to do Your will”! There are many ways to respond to God’s will. The first is indifference – some don’t care about His will, because they have no relationship with Him. Second, is resignation – believing they have no choice. Third, in anger, frustrated and angry at God. But the fourth way is to trust – “Lord I don’t understand, but I submit to your will”. This is how Jesus prayed– “…yet not my will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). We submit to God’s perfect will, trusting He has our best interest in mind.

RELY

GIVE US TODAY OUR DAILY BREAD (our physical needs), FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS (our spiritual needs), DO NOT LEAD US TO TEMPTATION, DELIVER US FROM EVIL (our future needs) (Matthew 6:11-13). We are to ask God for our “daily bread”. It is a unique word in Greek, “epiousios”, referring to what appears to be a grocery list – the need for the day! God knows our daily needs, and He is not stingy. We worry because we do not know that God loves us, and we are worth much more than sparrows (Matthew 6:26)! We are not to worry, because our Heavenly Father knows we need all these things, and He is a faithful Provider (Matthew 6:31-32). Our Father in heaven will give WHAT IS GOOD (Matthew 7:9-11).  When He says “no” to our prayer request, trust that He has something better.

Next, ask God for your spiritual needs, particularly the FORGIVENESS for our SINS. “Debt” in this prayer is OPHEILEMA, a moral obligation. However, if we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven by our Heavenly Father (Matthew 6:14-15, Mark 11:25-26). We must choose to forgive, as we have been forgiven. When we don’t forgive, we are the ones who will continue to suffer! Jesus says we don’t forgive seven times, but seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). He shared a story of an unforgiving servant who was handed over to torturers (Matthew 18:34-35). Such is what awaits us when we withhold forgiveness!

Finally, “DO NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION” (v.13) – the Greek word “peirasmos” can mean temptation to sin, or trials, in order to strengthen us. In this prayer, we ask God to let our life become storm-proof, that we continue to stand in the midst of trials. James 1:2-4 uses the same word for TRIALS. God can give us strength to overcome but we are also to do our part (James 1:13-14). We must flee from temptation so that we are not carried away and enticed by our own lust.

Victory is guaranteed when we align our lives with God. Peter was able to recover from failure and even became stronger because Jesus prayed for him (Luke 22:31-32). God will help us recover, so we can give glory back to God (Jude 1:24-25) – glorify Him who can make us stand holy, blameless, and with great joy!

Pray to our Heavenly Father that many more people will become part of His family through Christ.

Live a life connected to God in prayer and share the gospel to those you are praying for to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

• Worship God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives.

• Upright and moral governance of public servants; repentance and salvation for government leaders and citizens for a Christ-centered Philippines.

• For legislators to promote and support bills and laws aligned with God’s Word.

• War in Ukraine to end, loss of lives prevented.

• For the rest of the Israeli hostages to be restored to their families safely. For Israel’s war with terrorists to end according to God’s purpose and for His glory.

• Pray for Jewish people worldwide who are experiencing a surge of antisemitism; may this lead them to the Messiah, Jesus as they turn to God for help and comfort.

• For the civil war in Syria to end peacefully, protection for Christians and other minorities; that there will be freedom from oppression for Syrians. Pray for the gospel to spread rapidly throughout the country.

• Pray for Nigeria and persecuted Christians there; earnestly seek God’s intervention to stop the bloodshed. Pray for freedom from oppression, that God’s word and His people bring them comfort and hope.

• That CCF Members would honor and love God and make disciples.

• Elders, pastors, dleaders, and families (holy, humble, harmonious, happy, heart-working).

• Ministries and churches expand worldwide.

• Worship and Training Center

• Prayer Mountain

• Deeper intimate relationship with God.

• Righteous living.

• Salvation of family and friends.

9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread. 12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]