Luke 11
1And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3Give us day by day our daily bread.
4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
It appears that the Catholic and some orthodox Churches that the Pentecostal sometimes look down on got it right after all. The Lord says when ye pray say – ie anytime you pray say these words. Simple, child like prayer. So it is not the technics but the heartfelt prayer that counts. When the Catholics said “Our Lord’s Prayer daily, I thought or we were taught that they were missing it but they were actually doing the right thing and God is blessing them, taking missions round the globe. God is no respecter of persons. Anyone that puts His principles into practice receives the reward. So we need to get back to basics. The account of Matthew on the Lords prayer seems to be as most pentecostal believe today that it is pattern or the model Jesus taught and is not to be repeated verbatim as orthodox churches do. However both accounts are correct. In Luke 11 the disciples specifically asked Jesus to teach them about prayer and so He spent a third of that chapter talking about prayer specifically. To show that saying the Lord’s prayer verbatim and daily is not wrong, Jesus gave a story which highlight the importunity of coming regularly before the Lord to pray the same thing using the friend asking for 3 loaves as example. Again He emphasised that the friend may not give him based on the dept of their relationship, he will give because of importunity or continual coming. Again in Luke 18 Jesus talk about the widow coming to the Judge saying exactly the same thing – Avenge me of my adversary. This is just to make things simple for us who cannot pray eloquent prayers but heartfelt ones. The account in Matthew 6 on the other hand was a general sermon. The disciples did not ask Him to teach them on prayers at this time, so Jesus as part of His sermon gave a run down of the normal Christian lifestyle including prayer, fasting, alms giving, focussing on heaven, day at a time lifestyle, thought life and what to emphasise generally. The Lord’s prayer according to Luke emphasise continual seeking of God’s face concerning His Kingdom, will, provision and deliverance fron sin and evil. He actually narrowed this to say that it is the way we should keep on asking, seeking or knocking. He further simplified this by narrowing to asking for the Holy Spirit who we need daily. So continually ask for the Holy Spirit and the Lord will fill us because there is no living the Christian faith without the Holy Spirit in our generation. Seek Him daily as many times a day. Jesus Himself when He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane actually said the same things until He got the answer of peace from above. That should be our lifestyle.
Much of the epistles of prayers we have today, are mostly selfish to get our needs met, rather than seek God by faith to know his heart beat as Jesus said – Thy Kingdom come, Thy WILL be done. All the others request follow this. 2 Tim 1-2 says
1 Timothy 2
1I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
This scripture instruction is usually last on our prayer list or to do list. Indeed in all the prayers of the apostles – Peter, John, Paul etc, none of them prayed these technical prayers and their prayers were targeted at others and posterity. The word says we are a house of prayer for all nations, not ourselves because as we do His will, our needs are met in the land according to later part of 1 Tim 2. Note that Jesus even taught them the Lord’s prayer in the Old Testament, now we are forgiven so we can forgive freely without condition. We now have Jesus our daily bread from heaven. Essentially, now we have the major bit of the prayer which is to seek God’s will and His Kingdom to reign on the earth. The Ten or 20 steps or ways or technics came from the fact that many of us go through trials from time to time. Now, the Lord may ask you do some things and you are delivered, but that does not mean that God will bring the other person out the same way. We need to let some people find God for themselves rather than follow formulae. We can encourage them by letting them know that God is able because He did it for you. We need to give glory to God for bringing us through, not write formulae for others to follow. Ministers sometimes preach the glamour rather than the process of seeking God. We need to cultivate a lifestyle of seeking God for who He is and for his glory. The Lord says, it is not by might or by power but BY MY SPIRIT!
My believe is that we are His children. Just like our children, as we mature in the Lord, He introduces us to certain things and certain things also manifest that you need for that level of maturity. You do not give your 2 year old a car and when your child is up to age of schooling, you look for a school and put him or her there, and when he has learnt what he needs in the primary school, you work on getting him to further education and sometimes University. God is even more than that. He builds you up in prayer, praise, thanksgiving etc, not as a means of getting things from Him but preparing you for his work, plan and purposes so you can have character, compassion and love when you deal with others and also to trust Him in all things. God raises His children either in the wilderness or right bang in the enemies camp, very few go in Rolls Royce initially depending on your assignment. Human wants are insatiable according to economic laws but when you hunger or seek God daily instead of running after fig leaves, you will be filled and satisfied
There are a couple of scriptures below and one is the Lord’s Prayer from the Message Bible and clearly says it all.
Matthew 6 (MESSAGE BIBLE)
7 -13“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals. (JESUS – DAY AND NIGHT)
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. (Know that we are now forgiven bit)
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Isaiah 56:4-12
4For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
7Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
10His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
11Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
12Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.
Verse 11 and 12 sometimes depict our state today. Come for your blessings today, and then fast for your breakthrough next week, the other week come take back what the devil stole. Jesus came to take the earth the devil stole and the things in it. We were no match for the devil. God wants us to tell the nations of the substitute sacrifice and did for us what we could not do, so others can take hold of the free gift.
Isaiah 57:13
13When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain
Faith seeks and trusts God diligently. Faith rests in God’s work which is also the work of Christ. I know humans like to work and be proud of the achievement but faith attribute the work to God and give Him the glory. It is His plan, it is His work, and it is His praise, worship and thanks to the glory of His name. When we seek, He rewards, not when we fight battles, or do ten ways or ten steps or use formulae, or technics or being prayer warriors. – The battle is the Lord’s, the victory or tangible evidence is ours and the heathen to see. – Loud Amen! God answers some prayers out of mercy but He wants you to get the real thing – the land. God did awesome miracles never repeated in history apart from the miracle of salvation. However out of about 2 million Jews only 2 of that generation got the real thing, God’s perfect will – the promised land. The rest settled fro momentary gratification like onions, cummins, cucumber etc. So most times we need to do NOTHING but to rest in Him, praise Him, minister to Him, wait on Him and as we do so the Lord begin to speak to us by the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit of God knows the mind of God, and “No eye has seen, nor ears heard and no mind has conceived what God has in store for us but by His Spirit He reveals day by day and as He does so we walk in Him. Also the Lord says “Not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit. Just because someone gave £100 today and got £1000 does not mean you should do the same. That is what God told that person to do at the time and so should not become a formula. God might just tell you to praise Him and you will see manifestations though this praise should be our lifestyle not a means to an end. Men ought always to pray and not to faint, prayer (simply communing with God) is your strength not a mean to twist God’s hand. We are a house or temple of prayer. That is who we are not what we do to get things from God. Things should follow us. Seek His face continually the bible says. Giving is our lifestyle in Christ whether giving yourself or your substance. Simply put, we the children of God give, we praise, we pray, we worship, we fellowship, we fast, we love, we joy in the Lord always etc. These works of righteousness are attributes of Christians by the grace of God and is heavenly life style which puts us in touch with heaven constantly. They are not means to get things from God. As we do these things of the kingdom those things for our personal good eg clothes, house, jobs, prosperity etc follow. What has happened to us today is that we are chasing after the additions to the kingdom like the gentiles instead of focussing on God’s plan. Human wants is insatiable according to economic theories and this is what can keep saints being merchandised because they continue to fight for more earthly stuff. Moreover the doctrine of give £10 and get £40 pounds is not sound. We children of God do not give to get, we get from God first and we give. It is first out of what the Lord gives you that you can give. Don’t write IOU to God. God says owe no man nothing, how can he tell you to owe Him. He paid your debt in the first place. He made the garden first with the animals, plants and seed before He put man there. God is responsible to us to protect, guide, provide etc. He did not ask man to work before man got the garden, God gave man the garden and then asked Him to work it. Be free, God is in control
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Amazingly, when the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, he did not give them an epistle as we do today. In fact, He taught them in just 3 simple verses though He did explain why in further verses. That is why I have chosen the Luke account because I am a doctor and doctors usually have eyes for details.
