Sunday, April 12, 2009

Biblical Prayer (part 3)

Happy Easter to every one. I am happy that it is Sunday once again, and we are now on the part 3 of this Biblical Prayer. We are now down to the last 2 part of this series. I hope you will find this useful in your spiritual life.
PATTERN IN PRAYER
(first half part)
Matthew 6:9-11
"Our Father who art in heaven."
*God is Father only of those who come toHis family through His Son, Jesus Christ.
*Knowing God's fatherhood should settle the matter of selfishness. Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father" using the plural pronoun because we are fellow children with all the rest of the household of God. There is no singular personal pronoun in the entire prayer. We pray holding up to God what is best for all, not just for one.
*Knowing God as our Father settles the matter of resources. He is our Father who is in heaven. All the resources of heaven are available to us when we trust God as our heavenly supplier.
"Hallowed be Thy name."
*At the beginning Jesus gives a warning against self-seeking prayer. God is to have priority in our prayers. To hallow God's name is to revere, honor, glorify and obey Him as singularity perfect.
"Thy Kingdom come."
*To pray "They kingdom come" is to pray for the program of the eternal Deity to be fulfilled, for Christ to come and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Therefore when we pray They kingdomg come, we are praying for God's rule through Christ's enthronement to come, His glorious reign on earth to begin.
*His program and His plan should be the preoccupation of our lives and of our prayers.
"Thy will be done."
*When we pray "They will be done", we are praying that His will prevail all over the earth as it does in heaven.
"Give us this day our daily bread."
*Bread not only represents food but is symbolic of all of our physical/basic needs. John Stott has observed that to Martin Luther, "everything necessary for the preservation of this life is bread, including food, a healthy body, good weather, house, home, wife, children, good government and peace."
NOTE: it is significant that the petitions come in the order they do: first, God's vindication; then, disciples' satisfaction.
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This series is from my hand-out notes during our six months Church Membership Class in LWCM , Banilad, Cebu, Philippines. The class was conducted by our Senior Pastor Mel Caparros.

8 comments:

Denise said...

So beautiful.

pet said...

happy easter po...god bless everyone...

Heather said...

I hope you have a wonderful Easter!

orangee said...

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Anonymous said...

Happy Easter Grace!

Sidney said...

Happy Easter !

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

Happy Easter, Grace!

Faisal Admar said...

happy easter grace! :)