SESSION 5 - HOW DOES BELIEVING IN GOD AFFECT HOW I PRAY?On Friday, we continued our study, "Following After God - What difference does God Make?" We studied the Lord's prayer from Matthew 6:9-13
"This, then, is how you should 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 today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
We talked about how the Lord's Prayer is prayed in many contexts, ranging from weddings to weekly worship services to funerals. It can be tempting to think that it is nothing more than a liturgical creed to recited in times of difficulty or celebration. But the Lord's Prayer was intended to have a much deeper meaning in our lives.
We also talked about The Lord's Prayer is kind of like a prayer template. It can show us how we can approach God, as well as what kinds of things should characterize our communication with God. If all we do is recite the Lord's Prayer without filling in the outline with our own unique information, we haven't really begun to use the Lord's Prayer the way Jesus originally intended. Jesus taught them 'how to pray' not 'what to pray.'
Self-Reflection
Accept the challenge to take a few minutes out of your day a couple of times a week to pray through the Lord's Prayer. It may feel awkward at first. If so, try writing out your thoughts as you go through each part of the Lord's Prayer. Or work through each part of the prayer in a setting that lends itself to prayer. Begin following this template that Jesus gave to those of who desire to learn about prayer.
* Taken from - "Following After God - What difference does God make?" - Daniel Hill
