The model Prayer 1

May 17, 2022

Devotions:

          “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew‬ ‭6:9-15‬ ‭KJV‬‬

This is the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray. It is a model prayer not to pray religiously. It is also is a Old Testament prayer. We can learn from the principles in this prayer but we must judge it by the events of the New Covenant. First Jesus taught us to pray to the Father. Throughout the New Covenant we never find any one praying to Jesus but only to the Father. In John 16:23 Jesus tells us not to pray to Him but to the Father.

The next thing is that we are to honor the Father. Hollowed is thy name, means that God’s name is Holy or sanctified. We are not to be flippant about our approach to God but we are to show the respect due to the holy God.

Then Jesus told His disciples to pray that the kingdom would come and the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven. In the New Covenant the kingdom has come. In the new birth we are born into the kingdom of God. We do not have to wait until we get to heaven but we are to walk in the kingdom now. We have the authority in our lives and in our family to bind on earth what is already bound in heaven and to loose on the earth what is already loosed in heaven. God does not have two wills, one for heaven and one for the earth. The earth is in the mess it is in because of the rebel, Satan gained some control by getting Adam to sin. So now we can pray that the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven. God is only good and His will is to bless His creation including mankind.