Let's pray - Let us pray

6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

² “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵ “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:

¹⁴ For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

We can see that Jesus encourages that prayer be done privately, this is not though a matter of discouraging public or corporate prayer. Jesus is talking about who are prayer is directed to. When we pray privately with no one watching or listening but God there is less chance that our prayers will be insincere.

Have you ever noticed how differently people talk to a baby than to adults? Their voice changes, their language changes, tone, inflection and volume are all different than normal conversation. Often people do a similar thing in prayer. They use "holy" words, they have a prayer voice. Prayer is conversation with God. We may not address God quite as familiarly as some one we pass on the street, we wouldn't say yo what's up. Conversation with God should though be comfortable and normal.

Jesus instruction on how to pray, what we call The Lord's Prayer, is really a model for prayer. It begins by addressing who God is, our Father, where He is, in heaven, what He is, hallowed or holy. That's the position from which we pray. It then acknowledges that the purpose of our prayer is not to change God's mind, not to move Him toward our will, but rather to seek God's will.

Give us this day our daily bread. We ask God to meet our needs. Philippians 4:6 says  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  God know's what we need, our asking is more about us acknowledging our need of Him. Jesus closes the prayer with a critical element to effective prayer. Praying from a position of forgiveness. There is nothing that can hinder and block the effectiveness of our prayers more than an unforgiving heart or attitude. Unforgivenss is sin. No sin can come into the presence of the holy God we pray to. We can not come boldly to the throne of grace with judgment in our hearts.

Remember, like that repairman, our heartfelt needs expressed in desperation to God are often our most sincere and effective prayers. Think of Peter in Matthew 14: ²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him,...

Peter's effective prayer, 3 words Lord save me. Jesus responded.

Sometimes it might feel as though the water has already come over you. You no longer have words to cry out or a voice to say them. Ask others to pray for you and with you. The body of Christ is called to stand with and bear one anothers burdens. God know's your need before you ask. Other people intercessors don't. You don't need to give all the details but if you have a need, let us know. There is a prayer request page here on the web site. We would count it an honor and priviledge to pray for you and with you. We believe in the power of prayer to change things. Healing, provision relationships all can come into alignment with the kingdom of God. That's what it means when we pray Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. That's what a miracle is, the things on earth coming in to alignment with the realities of heaven. That's how we'll pray for you.                 

 Italichttp://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=MJ1CJNNU 

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