By Bobbie Jean Dicking…….
May Our Father open our ears to the Word of God as we read these Words of Life. May the Scriptures accomplish the purpose for which Our Father pinned it. May the enemy of our soul, the devil, be rendered helpless in any attempt to block or prevent this word from being heard and understood. Amen.
After Salvation (BORN AGAIN), Praying is the essential activity in which the people of God can and must engage in especially during these last evil days and critical times. We are living in the last days and God has poured out His Spirit as recorded in both the Old and the New Testaments. (Joel 2:28-32 and Acts 2:17).
God has called us to revival! He told us what to do when the evil of the fallout of sin and unrighteousness overcomes us. He said in 2nd Chronicles 7:14; “if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (KJV, ASV)
Therefore, I say again, “Praying is important”. I will dare to say that it is THE most important God given resource in which to excel. It is obvious that praying is the one thing the devil does not want believers to do. The devil has an arsenal of excuses and distractions to keep us from praying. WE HAVE NOT, BECAUSE WE ASK NOT.
Many of us believe that we are too busy to pray. We leave it to those who we regard as prayer warriors to pray for us. We want to leave it to the pastor to pray for us as if we are not allowed to approach God or God only hears the pastor. Prayer is vital. Prayer is our lifeline to the Lord. Prayer is the oil that secretes victory to the armor we are encouraged to put on to ward off the constant attack and presence of the devil. We are told to put on the Whole Armor of God and
after putting it on we must Stand praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
Prayer IS vital. In these 80 years I have been on Earth, I have learned that God hears and answers prayer. I really do not think I am telling many of us anything we do not know. The fact that the devil works so hard to stop us from praying is evident; why? The devil knows that
Prayer is the lifeline to God. The enemy of prayers encourages us to cut down prayer time to fit our schedule.
Prayer is communication and communion with God. Prayer is talking to God and listening to Him talk back to you. Yes, He does talk back to us. What kind of relationship is it when we do all the talking and none of the listening. God does not cram himself into our idea of Him. He does encourage us to get to know Him. “Study to show thyself approved unto God…” If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God..”
Many times, Jesus prayed within earshot of the disciples. They listened, heard, and were impressed with His conversations with His Father; so much so that they asked Him to teach them how to pray. They said, “Master, teach us to pray”. The prayer that He taught them to pray can be found in the 6th chapter of Matthew, the 6th through the 15th verse and also in the 11th chapter of Luke verses 2 through 4. This prayer is called the Lord’s Prayer traditionally by theologians and other scholars. It is not the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer that the Lord prayed for Himself is in the 17th chapter of John. This prayer that we call the Lord’s Prayer is the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray when they asked Him to teach them to pray. Both prayers are vital to our understanding of God and what He wants us to have and know.
I have heard others refer to this prayer as a child’s prayer, that is, one who is young and just beginning to learn to pray… a baby prayer. There are those who put it forth as a pattern for prayer, not meant to be adhered to (word for word) as we grow in age and mature in the Lord. Again, I refer to my age. I am a ripe old eighty, and I have found that this prayer is as simple and profound as it appeared to be when it was taught to me when I was four and also when I repeat it as I enter into my second childhood.
I grew with this prayer and this prayer grew with me. Oh glory! Yes, it can stand alone, and Yes, it is filled with power and pattern, and Yes I still pray it today. The prayer that the Lord Jesus taught to his adult disciples is simplicity buried in the complex and the complex buried in simplicity.
First Jesus taught us to say OUR FATHER. Here I meet the Love of God. I look for it in all the dealing of His sheep who know His voice. He answered in response to the question, “Which is the greatest law?’ Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart all thy mind and all thy soul; and so I
look for His love in all His dealings with us. I found it in this prayer in the words Jesus taught us when He said to approach Him as ” OUR” Father.
It seems that we cannot pray for ourselves without praying for us all. The pronouns in this prayer are inclusive. We are instructed to use inclusive pronouns throughout this prayer. Give us our daily bread, Lead us not into temptation. Forgive us our trespasses or our debts those who trespass against us. If we use these pronouns we cannot avoid praying for others as well as ourselves.
Just in these first words we see that God’s love is for everyone as reflected in this prayer. It is true that we are all God’s children, even the stubborn hard-headed ones, and we pray for them as we pray for ourselves. Is the love of God in our prayers. Of course it is.
We are to address Him as Father. We have a Father who is ever present. He did not leave us. Our Father is not a stepfather. Our Father is not an absentee father. Our Father is not a negligent father. Our Father is not a poor father. Our Father is not an abusive father. Our Father is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present. He is not a baby daddy. He is not behind in child-support. His DNA is ours.
And an eye-opening revelation is since He is Our Father, then we are brothers and sisters. Some of us may be in a far away country spending our inheritance on foolishness or ready to eat swine food. Others of us may be right here in the house with Father, but out of relationship or fellowship, despising our work, but working ungrateful just waiting for our reward, not knowing we are living in it right now. Thank you Father for the privilege of prayer. Thank you, for you.
We thank you Father for being our real Father. We thank you for your mercy and grace, for your love and guidance, for your peace and patience, for you constant presence, for your son who came to show us you, for your Holy written Word, for our comforter Holy Spirit, for your gifts, for your guidance. We praise and honor you O Lord God, Our Father. Amen