"This, then, is how you should pray: "`Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one'" (Matt 6:9-13).
Jesus' model for prayer is less about getting what you want in prayer and more about getting prayer. While prayer is a means of making petition to God in regards to our needs: "daily bread," it is more about His will and about His way.
Establishing His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven is the foundation of the prayer. When God's Kingdom reign is established, our need will be met, forgiveness will be the order of the day, His name will be praised and we will be delivered from the evil one.
Getting prayer is to understand its purpose is to get God, to get His vision, to get his heart, to get his purposes of a redeemed world and to get oneself in line with the Master rather than the servant getting the Master to provide all the things his heart desires.
Getting what we want without getting what God wants would be selfish and self-defeating. God did not intend prayer to be a way in which man manipulates the will of God but rather where man is molded by the will of God.
Getting prayer is to understand that it is a dialogue not a monologue. It is an asking, sharing and listening with the emphasis on listening as what God says is infinitely more important than what we ask or share.
God wants to hear from us, to hear our wants, our fears, our needs and our goals; but moreover God wants us to listen to His will, His purpose, His plan, His desire for us. For God's will is always good and right. What we ask of God may help us in this life, what God has to say actually brings life. Jus' Say'n.
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