Tuesday, April 26, 2011

When We Pray


Two things are true of prayer. (1) Never is a Christ-follower STRONGER than when s/he is praying. (2)Nothing in the Christian life is HARDER than praying. We desire to pray but honestly we fail so often at it. Prayer gets misunderstood. Evidence of this is seen in how much time is spent discussing and debating postures and volume - sit or stand, quiet or loud, hands up or folded, eyes open or closed, written or spontaneous. Which is the right way? Which is better? Which way works?

Did you know the original disciples of Jesus were just as curious about prayer as we are? They once asked Jesus (the master pray-er), "how do we pray?" Jesus told them, WHEN YOU PRAY say...
“‘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.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

You've heard it before. It's been called the Lord's Prayer, the Our Father, even the Disciples' Prayer. What's important to remember is that the words of this prayer are not a rhetorical rabbits foot, or spell or incantation, they contain the Lord's insighful teaching on prayer. And the prayer is POWERFUL!

In the next few weeks at Breiel Church we are going to plunge the topic of prayer by looking verse by verse at the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6. We're not going after pat answers or evidence to defend our preferred method of prayer. We are seeking illumination into the power of prayer and inspiration to do it! I'd love to have you join me in this study of prayer. The series runs from May 1 - May 22.