Preface
This is my sixth article submitted for publishing as a member of the Young Writers Program organised by Press Services International. This program helps to provide a ready-source of content for the magazine publication Christian Today Australia. You can read that article here.
The version that you read here is an extended version of the original article. Whereas a 900-word limit applies to article submissions, this version has no word count limitation so some of the ideas will be more fully explored here..
“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.
When he finished, one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples”
(Luke 11:1)
The above line provides us with the immediate context that precedes what we know as the Lord’s prayer. A great technique for instilling into us the discipline and technique of prayer is to analyse the Lord’s prayer and rewrite it in our own language. Along the way, the principles of each line are infused with wonderful lessons. Over the years, I have revisited the activity of rewriting the Lord’s prayer and each time, the three verses speak meaning into my life for that season and empower God’s words even more. The Armour of God Ephesians passage (hint: theme for future articles…) also is underpinned by prayer because it concludes with verse 18 – my emphasis added:
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Context & Analysis
Jesus regularly prayed as part of his ministry. Within the Gospel of Luke, there were six different examples prior to Luke 11 where Jesus had been praying. Luke 11:1-13 as has three sections of teaching which verse 1 introduced. The Lord’s prayer itself was the model, followed by a parable about prayer and finally some additional commentary on the importance of prayer in relation to God our Heavenly Father.
Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be Your name
Rewrite: To the Most Holy One, Lord of all Creation. I believe You are a triune God revealed to us in three persons: Father, Son & Holy Spirit. You are Lord of Lords and Your presence dwells in heaven.
Prayer Principle #1: Focus first on God and give Him the glory. We belong to him and all of earth and our lives are subject to him. God is God. The great I am, who was and is and is to come. Yahweh. Jehovah. Yeshua. There is power in the name of Jesus.
Prayer Principle #2: God’s name is and is to be kept Holy. “Hallowed” means to be kept Holy. Names, in particular God’s name, is to be set apart and revered. Contrast this to the way the secular world has completely warped this and turned “God” and “Jesus” into exclamations of profanity, the complete opposite to what God intended. As Christians our ability to influence the world in this area is getting harder and the disrespect that the secular world has specifically against God and Christ. It does make you wonder why other identities have not been subjected to this kind of trashing…
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done in earth as it is in heaven
Rewrite: Help us Lord to proclaim daily the Kingdom of God here on earth. Living and following You, filled with Your Spirit in loving one another. Help us to keep our eyes on You, having the eternal written on our hearts.
Prayer Principle #3: God’s Kingdom is near. Indeed, this was a position advocated by John the Baptist. Jesus taught so much on the Kingdom of God and its nature. We should seek and draw close to God and His Kingdom and ensure our behaviour, actions and heart attitudes all align to this. What truly matters is the direction we are heading in – nearer to God instead of away from God, no matter where we are positioned currently.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Rewrite: Thank You Father
for being our Provider, Jehovah Jireh. For providing us with homes, food and
the means to live in this world.
Prayer Principle #4: Focus on our needs and be grateful. Particularly in developed nations like ours, our needs are taken for granted. How super blessed are we that we do not need to worry about a place to sleep or rest our head, or where our next meal comes from? We give thanks to God humbly for his daily provision, let us not get ahead of ourselves. Planning for the future is important, but let us not lose sight of today and being present for the needs of others around us.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.
Rewrite: You teach us of the power and importance of forgiveness, since it is a core matter of the heart. Help us to forgive each other so that our hearts remain open to receiving Your heavenly forgiveness. Help us write more in the sand so that it can be washed away unlike those things written in stone.
Prayer Principle #5: Forgiveness is a special act required of us. In order to receive God’s forgiveness we must first forgive others because the act and process of forgiveness enables our hearts to remain tender and open to receiving the transformative power from God.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Rewrite: Just as Jesus faced temptation, help us face it with Your Word and conviction. Help us to resist the devil so that he may flee at the sound of Your Name. Help us grow close to You, recognize Your voice, Will and purpose for our lives.
Prayer Principle #6: God can equip and guide us through the challenges of life. It is important for us to realise that we are not taught to remove or avoid evil or the challenges – spiritual, physical or other form – that come our way as part of life. The teaching here is the same principle of Psalm 23:4:
“Though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
God’s presence is available to us through the Holy Spirit and with His help we can face the challenges and evil head on. We will not just receive the support to avoid the temptation, but we have the assurance and freedom of being delivered from the sinful ways of the world.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.
Lord be glorified, as You have been through past celebrations of Your majesty and power. Continue to help us live out this physical life – feeding the hungry, finding the lost, clothing the naked, loving the unloved and freeing the oppressed – until You call us home so that our souls may dwell before Your eternal presence.
Prayer Principle #7: We come full circle and return to praising and worshiping God. In all that we do, in all that we experience, it is all about Jesus and the transformation He has done and is doing in our lives.
Amen.
In all these things, we are united and in agreement.
Prayer Principle #8: Please let it be as we prayed. In Hebrew, it literally translates as “truly” or “so be it”. There is power when we boldly declare the power of prayer as truths, following in the exact same model of the apostles and Jesus himself.