Prayer

Matthew 6:9 "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven....

If you are an active member of Bethel Baptist you will be receiving a letter in the mail from me within a day or two. I am calling the church to a season of fasting and prayer. So in my devotional time, I am doing some personal study on prayer, and I will be sharing some of that with you on this blog.

What we have come to refer to as "The Lord's Prayer" in Matthew chapter 6 is Jesus' instruction on prayer. He tells us to pray in this way. So Jesus did not mean for "The Lord's Prayer" to be an incantation that we repeat. He was teaching principles about prayer as He prayed.

Notice how He starts the prayer: "Our Father who is in heaven..." This is a recognition of the authority of the Father. He is Father, and He is in His exalted position in Heaven.

God the Father is the Creator, the All Mighty, the All Knowing, the All Powerful God of the universe, the Great I Am. Powerful prayer starts with a proper understanding of who God is. And even though we will never fully comprehend our awesome God.....we should continually pursue getting to know who He is. As you do, you discover that God is an inexhaustible well as you reach deeper levels of understanding in regards to who He is. The more you understand who He is, the more in awe you become of Him.......and it will affect your prayer life.

In "The Lord's Prayer" Jesus is teaching us to start our prayers by acknowledging the authority of God the Father. When we pray this way, it helps to put us in the proper mind set, so that we pray the right way.