How to pray
How to pray part 6
This devotional is written by Charlotte Anderson. Charlotte is queen of all things prayer.
Matthew 6:9-13
"'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
Reflection
Over this ‘how to pray' series we are working our way through Matthew 6:5-15 which contains one of the most famous prayers in the whole Bible the Lord's Prayer! It is how Jesus taught his disciples to pray and whilst there are no rules or formulas stating how you must pray it provides a great place to start.
Last time we looked at how Jesus begins with adoration or worship. He then follows it up with the line ‘your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven'. Jesus is praying for the world, he is asking for God to have his way in every part of society, in every country and each life. In one word this could be described as ‘intercession' - or praying/asking for others.
I find it amazing that God wants to partner with us to change our world! It is so exciting to me that when we pray for things they change in our world. I think every Christian I know has stories of answered prayer.
The Prayer Course has a really helpful ‘3 I' method to help us get started with intercession. Why don't you give this a go now? What one area do you want to see change in our world?
1. Get informed: learn the facts by checking the news, or updates about the people you're praying for.
2. Get inspired: What is God saying about this? Invite the Holy Spirit to speak into the situations you're interceding for.
3. Get indignant: Engage your own heart and allow yourself to think and feel honestly as you pray.
Top tip: try and only focus on a few things at any one time - pray for the areas you really care about. God gives specific things to each of us to pray for and when we try and intercede for everything we can easily get burnt out or overwhelmed!
Last time we looked at how Jesus begins with adoration or worship. He then follows it up with the line ‘your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven'. Jesus is praying for the world, he is asking for God to have his way in every part of society, in every country and each life. In one word this could be described as ‘intercession' - or praying/asking for others.
I find it amazing that God wants to partner with us to change our world! It is so exciting to me that when we pray for things they change in our world. I think every Christian I know has stories of answered prayer.
The Prayer Course has a really helpful ‘3 I' method to help us get started with intercession. Why don't you give this a go now? What one area do you want to see change in our world?
1. Get informed: learn the facts by checking the news, or updates about the people you're praying for.
2. Get inspired: What is God saying about this? Invite the Holy Spirit to speak into the situations you're interceding for.
3. Get indignant: Engage your own heart and allow yourself to think and feel honestly as you pray.
Top tip: try and only focus on a few things at any one time - pray for the areas you really care about. God gives specific things to each of us to pray for and when we try and intercede for everything we can easily get burnt out or overwhelmed!
If you want to find out more about what the prayer course teaches about intercession there is a great video you can watch here:
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