YOUR Lord's Prayer

Good Morning,

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)
In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be 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.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

There are many Christians who feel that these words are the exact words that should be prayed and in exactly the same way that Jesus used these words. But, I think that we should pay very close attention to the verses that immediately precede "The Lord's Prayer." So, let's look at them today, as well.

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." (v v 5-8)

Nowhere does Jesus say, "I want you to use these particular words when you pray and you should say them exactly as I have done." No, what He says is, "In this MANNER, therefore, pray..." My dictionary says that the "manner" of doing something is: a way, style or mode of doing something. I think that's what Jesus meant.

While doing a Bible Study some years back, and I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember exactly which study it was, we were asked to "personalize" the 23rd Psalm. That is, we were given the task of using the format of what David wrote and making it truly personal to ourselves. It was a wonderful experience and it showed a lot of what each person felt and believed in their hearts. Now, I would suggest that it would be a good idea for each of us to take "The Lord's Prayer," personalize it, and make it a true prayer from our hearts and minds and souls to God.

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name..." we should start our prayers with praise and worship of God, don't you think?

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..." and I think it would be great if we could visualize and then tell God exactly HOW we would like to see His kingdom come to this earth and HOW we would like to see His will being done in the here and now.

"Give us this day our daily bread..." Thank Him for His provisions and present our petitions before Him, in specific ways; exactly as we feel the needs and wants for ourselves, our loved ones, and those on our hearts.

"And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors..." Now, we know, I hope, that this can also be translated as "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us." We need to confess our wrongdoings, in specific words of exactly how we've sinned against God and our neighbors. Then, we've got to get into that most difficult of actions...forgiving those who have done some wrong to us in our lives.

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one..." God NEVER leads into the ways of temptation, I pray that we realize that and know that truly in our hearts and minds! Here we need to ask God for His protection in a world filled with temptations; that He will lead us directly AWAY from those temptations that are most likely to cause us sin. And, of course, to protect us from the enemy each step of the way.

"For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever..." Again, praising and worshipping God...all He is and all He does...at the end of our prayers.

Precisely, I think, what we should be doing is making our prayer very, very personal from us to God. Perhaps this is very simple and even a bit juvenile for some, and if so, I apologize. But for many, maybe we need to be reminded that it isn't necessary to use exact words given to us in our prayer time, but much more necessary to connect with God in a personal and one on one manner. We need to remember Jesus' words, "...go into your room...shut the door...pray to your Father...do not use vain repetitions..."

Most importantly, we need to go to God as any child would go to a dad here on this earth, and talk to Him. He is Abba, Father to every one of us who has chosen to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. We need to be sure our prayers are from our hearts and minds, in our own words, do God.

He will hear our prayers and He will honor them.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David