Dear Precious Friends, It's TGIFF!!! Thank Goodness I'm Forgiven Friday and we are in Luke Chapter 11 of our Read A Chapter of Luke a day Challenge. There are so many pearls in Luke 11. I will share how Jesus taught us to pray and gave us the words in the Our Father... we all pray and know and all Christian religions share this prayer in common.
Jesus taught His disciples how to pray as well as the importance of persistence in prayer. We should pray to God, not in an attempt to impress Him or others, but in a simplistic and authentic way as a child speaks to his loving and providing father. Notice the order Jesus teaches: first, Jesus praised God; then He made His requests. Praising God for who He is and thanking Him for all He has done through Christ puts our minds in the right frame of mind. But in this humility, Jesus also teaches that we should pray with boldness and expectation. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
I love remembering these basic truths. The order of prayer Jesus taught was to praise God first, then he made His requests. Praising God first puts us in the right frame of mind to tell him about our needs... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND LISTENING TO HILLSONG OR BETHEL WORSHIP BEFORE YOU BEGIN YOUR PRAYERS AND PRAISE GOD FOR WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE. It's a game changer to prepare your heart to be with the Lord and His word reminds us to start in praise to the King of the universe...what better way then to listen to this music...
Here's a song I love that prepares my heart before I pray: Take a moment to listen:
Too often our prayers are more like shopping lists than conversations. These verses in Luke 2-13 focus on 3 aspects of prayer : Its content, our persistence and God's faithfulness. God's provision is daily, not all at once. We cannot store it up and then cut off communication with God. And we dare not be self satisfied. If you are running low on strength, ask yourself.. How long have I been away from the Source?
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He made forgiveness the cornerstone of their relationship with God. God has forgive us in our sins: we must now forgiven those who have wronged us. To remain unforgiving shows we have not understood that we ourselves deeply need to be forgiven. When we think of those who have wronged us. .. have we forgiven them?
When we pray in the "Our Father" ...
"FORGIVE US OUR SINS AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US".. We are asking God to forgive us the way we forgive others... If we haven't forgiven them... what are we praying??? Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. God will deal with the wrongs we have had against us... Just forgive those who hurt you and leave them at the throne for God to deal with.
My Friends have a beautiful TGIFF and know how loved you are...
AMEN!!
