Perfect Prayer (Part 2)

Influence: King's Cross by Timothy Keller and the book of Acts, not to mention Matthew 6:5-15

Praying is desiring God and His will for your life. That is evident when Jesus tells us one of the secrets to a disciple's prayer life is to be alone in your heart, soul, and mind. Always pray with an audience of one, God the father.
After Jesus tells us to cherish the "secret" place of prayer with the Father He gives us a model for how to pray which is called the "Lord's Prayer." Basically, Jesus tells us, "Pray to the Father using my example of prayer." It is kind of a skeleton prayer that all of our prayers should wrap around.
Here's what we see in the Lord's Prayer:
- God's glory, authority, and will
- Subsistence living - (during Jesus' day you lived day to day for work, food, clothing, etc)
- Statement of trusting God that He will provide and meet our needs
- Forgiveness and assistance in forgiving others

There should be a special note that nothing in the Lord's Prayer mentions 'our wants.' This may trouble some, but you see, the point of prayer is about desiring what God desires. Our conversation in prayer does not revolve around us, it revolves around Him. It's why even before Jesus asks that God would provide for the day He asks that God's will would be done. I think Jesus understood that God's will came well before our wants and desires. So I ask you this question: If your desires were a desperate hunger and thirst for God, what would you ask for? (Meditate on this question in your quiet time with God today.)

So here are three things Jesus' disciples must be devoted to when they pray:
1. Desire what God desires (not the other way around) -
       -Rely on the Holy Spirit to teach you what God desires
2. Trust that God's provision is enough
      -We don't need to live on excess
3. We must extend to others what God has already extended to us - "Practice what you pray"

Perfect prayer has little to do with the right words in the right spot. It has everything to do with a human heart surrendering like Jesus Christ to God our Father.
So pray perfectly. Desire God.

Secret Prayer (Part 1)

Influence: Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard and the book of Micah

In Luke 11:1, one of Jesus' disciples is watching as Jesus is praying off in the distance (being watchful: a common characteristic of a disciple). When he sees Jesus he asks him to teach all the disciples to pray. Obviously, praying like Jesus was foreign to them. Jesus' prayer time seemed different from every leader they had ever watched pray. So what can we learn from Jesus' prayer life?

Do not be like them. Jesus tells us first who we should and should not be like before we model His prayer life. The ones we are to not be like are the "hypocrites" and "gentiles." The hypocrites were men who led worship and prayer in the temple. Jesus refers to them as 'stage actors,' people who's main goal is to receive the applause of the crowd. And, of course, Jesus tells us that their reward is exactly that. That's it. Secondly, He tells us to stay away from praying like gentiles, because they pray thinking about the length of their prayers. They seemed to think that the longer they prayed the louder they got in God's ears. That isn't the case. So, Jesus says, "Do not be like them."

When you pray. Jesus tells us that when we pray we should go into our rooms and close the door so that we can be alone with the Father. It's no wonder that Jesus spent so much time alone praying. He was in the presence of God. And it's what he desires of us! Sure we're going to pray in public, and that's a-ok. Jesus wants us to realize that when we pray, it is in front of God alone. For the presence of God, see Revelation 4, and then pray. So, very simply, when you pray, be alone with the Father, in your heart, soul, and mind!

Here are 3 things Jesus wants us to focus on before we begin praying:

1. Be alone with the Father - He is the only one you are communicating to, so pray like it.

2. Cherish the unseen over the seen. Our Father is in secret, so dwell with Him there.

3. Trust God and His reward. If we get excited over a certificate or special award from men, how much more will we celebrate our Father's reward?

If our hearts aren't in the right place, our words mean nothing. Be alone with God today and pray!