How Jesus taught us to pray- Lord’s Prayer part 2

Your kingdom come… (Matthew 6:10 MKJV)

Where is Gods kingdom? Isn't it in heaven and why do Jesus tell us to pray for it? Isn't God just going to establish His kingdom on Earth at the second coming of Jesus?

Christians and churches around the world pray the Lord’s Prayer in different languages. It is probably one of the most prayed prayers around the world. But do you know what it means? Do you know why Jesus included “Your kingdom come” into the- Lord’s Prayer?

The main reason that Jesus included “Your kingdom come” into the Lord’s Prayer is because the Earth is a disputed part of Gods kingdom. You see, evil still exist on Earth and the devil is still busy trying to lure people away from God.  

“Your kingdom come” in the- Lord’s Prayer, means that a believer is transformed into a soldier for God. When we pray the “Your kingdom come” in the- Lord’s Prayer we acknowledge that we are going to oppose the evil in this world and focus on to promote the kingdom of God in this world.

Till next time!

How Jesus taught us to pray- Lord’s prayer part 1

Therefore pray in this way: Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name. (Matthew 6:9 MKJV)

This is how Jesus taught his followers to pray. It can be seen as an example prayer. Everyone can pray it. But sometimes if we say the same prayer over and over it becomes a meaningless string of words that come out of our mouths.

It is of vital importance that the example prayer must stay important to us. We should know what we say or ask for when we pray the example prayer. I mean, if the example that Jesus gave us becomes meaningless, then where can we learn from? In this post and those to follow I am going to talk about the example prayer that Jesus gave us.

Jesus addresses the Lord as “Father”. This was not the normal way of talking to God in the ancient times, as the Jews did not address the Lord as Father! But Jesus is the Son of God and out of that intimate relationship Jesus calls the Lord “Father”.

Christians today also believe that we are children of God. Christians also talk to God as the “Father”. The following may sound familiar: “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost”. It is general knowledge of every Christian that God is also their Father.

But of course that makes Jesus our brother, our next of kin! That is perhaps why some Christians greet each other as brother and sister in Christ.

But God is still holy, “Hallowed be Your name” is the words that Jesus used to talk to God. Even though He is holy, he is still our Father in heaven. He is thus our holy father in heaven; we must still have respect for the Father as God the holy one or God the almighty one.

What can we learn from the first part of the “Lord’s prayer” prayer?

·         God is the father of Jesus.

·         God is the father of his followers.

·         Jesus is our next of kin.

·         But the Godhead is still holy!

We continue with the example prayer next time!

We should pray with confidence!

Core verse for this post:

They don't really pray to me; they just howl in their beds. They have rejected me for Baal and slashed themselves, in the hope that Baal will bless their crops. (Hosea 7:14 CEV)

In our core verse we read about people being sad and having no confidence in the Lord! It’s all about ATTITUDE. In the core verse we see people only complaining about their bad circumstances. They aren’t grateful at all for what the Lord has done for them.

Being not grateful for what the Lord has done for them, they also appointed a different god. They now ALSO pray to Baal- a pagan idol! Their prayers to the Lord God Almighty were the prayers of complaints. In other words, they prayed WASHED OUT prayers!

They didn’t pray with confidence! Now that is an ill-considered way to pray. I mean, how can a washed-out prayer be prayed with confidence? God did so much for His people and they just forgot it all and walked over to a different god. In other words they joined a different faith. That’s bad!

What can we learn from Hosea?

We can learn from Hosea how NOT to pray! We should pray with confidence. We can remind ourselves what God has done in our life or for others- knowing that God will give us His blessing!

Till next time!

Spiritual Praying (Part 2)

Core text

Then what should I do? There are times when I should pray with my spirit, and times when I should pray with my mind. Sometimes I should sing with my spirit, and at other times I should sing with my mind. (1 Corinthians 14:15 CEV)

We read in our core verse that the apostle Paul prayed with his spirit. Christians should also try to do the same!

The previous post was about the spiritual armor of God. I wrote about it in such a fashion that it can be prayed. Prayer should include your mind – in other words thinking in a cognitive perhaps even a religious way. You should not only pray with your mind but also your spirit. This can be applied differently to each praying believer.

We know that before you can pray with your spirit your spiritual side must take over. Consider a car for example, if it is in gear the engine will work. If it is not in a gear the engine wouldn’t work. It is exactly the same with our minds. If our mind is taken out of gear the spiritual side can take over. In other words we should be focused on God and not on things of this world.

This is perhaps why you should be calm when you try to pray with your spirit. Yes- it can take a while for a new believer to learn to pray with his/her spirit but it’s important that we try to.

Till next time!

Spiritual praying

Spiritual praying

Core text

Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God's people. (Ephesians 6:18 CEV)

Our core text for today originates at the end of the spiritual armor that the apostle Paul described in the letter to the Ephesians. He says: “Never stop praying” linked to the spiritual armor. Now what was that spiritual armor again?

·         Belt:- truth

·         Breastplate:- Gods righteousness

·         Shoes:- go where peace is.

·         Shield:- Faith that stops the attacks from the evil one.

·         Helmet:- the salvation that Christ brought.

·         Sword:- the Word of God.

What does it mean for our prayers? Can it help us?

The belt symbolizes that we have to seek the truth in our religious beliefs. When we pray we cannot lie to God. God knows the truth. The breastplate symbolizes Gods righteousness. When we pray we must remember that God is just and fair. The shoes symbolize the fact that we must go where the evil one cannot get- that is with God. The shield symbolizes a strong faith. If we have a strong faith we will be focused on the Lord.

In prayer we can ask that God must forgive our sins. This is the helmet of salvation of Christ. Christ was crucified on the cross. That brought us the helmet of salvation. The sword is the Word of God. Most Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God. It is possible to pray Bible verses like Psalm 23: “The Lord is my Shepard. Thank you Lord that I will never be in need!”

It is possible to structure our prayers around the spiritual armor of God. It may take a lot of practice to master prayer but these easy steps simplify it a lot.

Till next time!

Can God forget His promises?

The title question is a question that many people are asking! I’m not only talking about Christians, but also other people from other faiths- looking at Christianity. We can find an answer to the question in the Bible. The core Bible verse of this post is from the prophet Isaiah:

“Jerusalem, on your walls I have stationed guards, whose duty it is to speak out day and night, without resting. They must remind the LORD and not let him rest till he makes Jerusalem strong and famous everywhere”. (Isaiah 62:6-7 CEV)

Talking about speaking faith! These guys stood on the high walls of Jerusalem, reminding God of His promises. Long ago God promised the Israelites that He will make Jerusalem a strong city! They were speaking to God out loud. While that is a good thing to do, praying is also speaking to God- just softer.

The Israelites had something to speak to God about. That made their prayers more MEANINGFUL  The background of the core text of this post is that the Israelites were defeated. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. Now they had to rebuild the city. The felt the need for their God and they weren't afraid to remind God of his promises.

What can we learn from the core text?

1.       We can remind God of His promises found in the Bible. After all, God made those promises. He will not forget them!

2.       Speaking to God about His promises makes our prayers more MEANINGFUL!

3.       We should speak to God about our problems- out loud or in our prayers, just like the Israelites and the prophet Isaiah. We should do it in a humble way and not in an arrogant way.

Till next time!