The next problem is that not many people really know how to pray. The Apostles themselves asked the Lord to teach them how to pray as John the Baptist taught his disciples (Mat 6:9 – 13). The first thing Jesus told them was to recognize who they were praying to: “Our Father which art in heaven”. Next, before you start asking him for anything, worship him, “Hollowed be thy Name”, give Him praise, let him know that your flesh is beneath him. “Thy kingdom come” is accepting Him as the Ruler, for the universe is not a democracy. “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” means that it is His will that rules your life. “Give us this day our daily bread,” is our petition that God gives us daily heavenly instructions that we may be edified. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” means we must be willing to forgive everyone who has wronged us, as hard as that may seem, Jesus went to Calvary to forgive our sins, and likewise we should forgive those who have offended us as well. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:” is asking the Lord not to put us in areas where our flesh struggles, lest we fall into temptation. Finally, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” We end by once again recognizing who rules our lives.
You don’t have to say the Lord’s prayer verbatim every time, but we should follow His format and make it personal. From here on forward speak with God plainly, yet earnestly. Make the most of it, for as you know most of the time we don’t like to pray or at least the flesh part of us doesn’t. We never seem to make time for Him unless we are in dire need. It is very crucial that you pray to God directly and not some statute or some graven image as this will upset Him and you will kindle his wrath against you. I asked the Lord why was it that He was always so quick to bring down his wrath on his people when he saw them worshipping idols. His response to me was that the flesh never wants to pray, and when we finally make the flesh kneel down we do it in front of some image, even if it is supposed to be an “image” of Him, it still angers Him, because we pray to some image that can’t hear or see. So what’s the use of praying if we are going to give more credit to some statute instead of God. Trust me, you are better off cheating on your spouse than to cheat on God. God is very much alive and sees and hears all, so don’t waste your time with something man has created here on earth. Remember what the scriptures says:
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me…
