Jesus Taught a Specific Order to Prayer

15 Jan Jesus Taught a Specific Order to Prayer

When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, He gave them what has come to be known as “The Lord’s Prayer,” which has a specific order to it. In principle, here is what He taught His disciples:

1. Hallow (revere) God as your loving heavenly Father.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

2. Accept God’s will as better than your own.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

3. Ask God for your daily physical needs

Give us this day our daily bread 

4. Ask God to give you strong relationships and moral authority

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

5. Ask God to give you victory in life’s spiritual battles

Deliver us from the evil one

However, no loving parent gives a child everything the child asks for. Life is more complicated than that. So a problem often arises when we ask God for things Jesus said we could ask for… and we do not get them.

Significance of the Order

Here is the significance of the order of prayer Jesus presented in His model prayer:

1. If you do not hallow (revere) God as a loving heavenly Father, you will not accept his will as being better than yours.
2. If you do not accept His will as being better than yours…
3. You will be frustrated or fearful when He does not grant your prayer requests for physical needs, personal relationships or victory in life’s spiritual battles.

The key to a vital prayer life is to resolve the question of God’s love first, and interpret his answers in light of His love… rather than to look at His answers first and interpret His love in light of His answers.

The Starting Point

So, the starting point for everything is to resolve the issue of His love for you first, and  “hallow” God as your loving heavenly Father.

That is why, several blogs ago, I listed 7 gifts of God’s lovingkindness:

1. God loves us (1 John 3:1).
2. God forgives our sin (Psalm 103:12).
3. God gives us new spiritual birth (1 Peter 1:23).
4. God gives us a home in heaven (John 14:3).
5. God gives us good works to do on earth (Ephesians 2:10).
6. God rewards us disproportionately for things suffered in this life (Romans 8:18).
7. God shares His glory with us forever (2 Corinthians 4:17).

(By the way, if you haven’t accepted the 30 challenge in that post, I encourage you to do so! It doesn’t matter when you start. The important thing is to start… and continue for 30 days!)

Then last week I gave 5 evidences that God is a loving heavenly Father:

1. God hurts when we hurt (John 11:35).
2. God will cause all things to work together for good in our lives (Romans 8:28).
3. God will use trials to transform us into powerful and joyful Christians (James 1:2-4).
4. God will transform our trials into ministry to others (2 Corinthians1:3-4).
5. God will reward us disproportionately for our pain (Romans 8:19).

Conclusion

If we can embrace, absorb, comprehend, accept God’s 7 gifts of lovingkindness…

If we can embrace, absorb, comprehend, accept God’s 5 evidences of love…

Then we will be able to

• More fully to revere Him as a loving heavenly Father
• More completely accept His will as being better than ours, and
• More entirely rest in His love and perfect will when we do not get the things we ask for.

Everything we long for in life rests on fully accepting God as a close-at-hand, emotionally-invested, loving heavenly Father.

Pray for, and look for, ways to expand your grasp of God as your loving heavenly Father.  Re-read the past blogs above as a starting point.

 _____________________________________________________________________

Help spread the message, “Like” my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/maxanders.author and invite your friends to do the same. If you know someone you think may find this blog valuable, please forward it to them. I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at max@maxanders.com. I try to answer all emails, but, if not, I may address in future blogs the questions/issues you raise.

Share this Blog