A 40-day journey in Jesus’ School of Prayer
“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.”
~Jesus (Matthew 6:9-13)
Written by: Doug Rowse
The greatest need of the human spirit is to connect deeply with God. We all know that prayer is vital to this connection, yet for most of us prayer is a struggle.
Prayer is simply talking with God. But God is invisible, so talking with Him is different than when we talk with anyone else.
The Sermon on the Mountain (Matthew 5-7) is probably the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached. It is without a doubt, the single most important piece of Scripture that we hold. Think of it like this: God in the flesh summarizes the entire Bible into what He considers to be the most important information.
It is no surprise then, that prayer is one of the topics taught in the sermon. Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, teaches us how to talk with God.
You hold this book because like me, you desire to connect more deeply with God in prayer. I have long struggled to pray. The biographies of great saints inspire me to wake up early or stay up late to seek God. Honestly, in my experience, I have tried those things but my mind wanders and I feel guilty because God seems far away.
How can I connect with God if I cannot even learn to pray for five minutes?! If prayer is meant to be enjoyable, why does it often feel like an endurance test?
This book may help you. Jesus taught us how to pray. Protestants call it “The Lord’s Prayer”. Catholics call it “The Our Father”. Let’s think of it instead as an invitation. Jesus is inviting us to join Him in speaking with our Father God. Let’s take the next forty days and attend Jesus’ school of prayer.
Enjoy Jesus!
Pastor Doug
Day One: Our Father
This then is how you should pray: “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name...” ~Matthew 6:9
At the risk of being simplistic, the entire Bible can be summed up in these two words, “Our Father”. If you grasp their meaning and bury it in the depths of your soul, it will change your life. Think of it: We, the prodigal children are invited back into the family by Jesus, the perfect Son. He invites us to go with Him into the presence of OUR Father. Jesus places Himself at our level, as one like us, and He says, “Let’s go talk to our Father”.
Breathtaking!
These two words encompass every important theological concept. They speak of redemption, because Jesus bought us back. They speak of reunion, because Jesus invited us back. They speak of grace, because Jesus paid our ticket back. They speak of restoration, because in Jesus we can have our Father back. They speak of forgiveness, because Jesus welcomed us back.
These two words bring together the lost souls of mankind, covered by Christ’s blood and now given access to God. Jesus invites us to receive Him and go with Him into our Father’s presence.
Do you see it? We cannot stand alone before God. Anyone who dares to go alone will surely be judged a sinner and condemned before Him. But with Jesus we can enter right in: “In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” (Ephesians 3:12)
The Lord’s Prayer is not only an invitation to pray like Jesus, but to pray WITH Jesus. It is why this prayer journal has been called “Our Father”. We must understand that in the precise moment when we begin to pray, we join our older brother Jesus in talking with our Father.
Prayer:
What a privilege Jesus, to join You in talking with our Father. Thank You for inviting me to be part of Your conversation today. Help me to listen to Your heart and to join You in the things that concern You as we talk with Father together. As we start off on this journey, please teach me everything that You know about prayer. I’m eager to learn!
Day Tw0: Ever Interceding
“Who then is the one who condemns? No one! Christ Jesus who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” ~Romans 8:34
Jesus is always talking to His Father, and you are often the subject of their conversation. When you go to pray, you literally join into the conversation that is already flowing. Think of it, as soon as the words cross your lips or the thoughts cross your mind, you have entered into Heaven’s living room where Father and Son converse. What do you find them discussing? It’s safe to assume they are not discussing the score of last night’s game or how awesome the newest X-Box is.
These words give us a clue: “…is also interceding for us.”
As you enter Heaven’s living room you find Father and Son talking about you. Father God loves you as much as He loves Jesus. (John 17:23) So, becoming your friend was a dream come true for God. How can we be sure? Jesus died to make it happen. His life, death and resurrection became the fulfillment of the ages. You becoming His friend, made it all worthwhile. When you come to pray, you will find that the Trinity is discussing you and all those who are near to God’s heart.
Begin prayer by listening closely to this conversation. God is concerned by what concerns you. First Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” You see friend, your Father in Heaven already knows what you need before you ask Him. He is already working on it.
So as you enter prayer, relax. Rest in knowing that God cares for you. Imagine yourself walking in on a conversation that is already happening. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are talking and you have entered the room.
Prayer:
Jesus, it is wonderful that You and Father are always talking. It is humbling to think that You would be discussing my needs. I feel so small when compared to all that You oversee. Thank You for caring so much about me. As I come to prayer today I can imagine You and Father talking. You laugh, You smile, You are fully engaged in the conversation without distraction. There is no judgment. There are no hidden agendas. All is in the open and the words flow freely. Wow! You are amazing!
Day Three: Access Granted
“For through Him, we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” ~Ephesians 2:18
Imagine you are at a concert where your favorite band is playing. You are just one of the many faces in the crowd. There is nothing that causes you to stand out and you really do not expect to stand out either. After all, this band is really popular and they have throngs of fans. You leave the concert hall to grab a hot dog and on your way you pass by a discreet, non-descript door. Suddenly, the door opens and you see the face of one you instantly recognize. It’s the lead singer of the band! You are stunned by his presence and you are surprised to hear him call your name: “Hey friend, won’t you come backstage with us?!”
You soon find yourself in a private room with just the band members. You’re eating shrimp cocktail and blue M&M’s (the band’s request). You pinch yourself, “Wow, how did I get this kind of access to the band?!”
The scripture above says, “For through Him…” Jesus gave you access to the God of the Universe. You have been granted a backstage pass into the throne room of Heaven. This is not just a one-time pass. Nor is it like the three wishes you get with a genie. It is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. God is forever accessible and available to you.
Yesterday we learned that when you begin to pray, you enter into a conversation that is already happening. How will Father God receive you? Will the Trinity turn their backs and speak in whispered tones because you have entered the room? Absolutely not! You have been granted access into the conversation through Jesus Christ! When you enter, Father, Son and Holy Spirit speak your name and motion you to come closer. In fact, you don’t even need a ticket any more. God is yours.
Prayer:
You have said that You are mine. Jesus, I am Yours! Thank You for giving me access to God. I do not deserve to be here on my own. It is only through Your invitation that I am able to come. What an amazing blessing to be welcomed into Your conversation God. I dare not barge in, and I dare not try to change Your conversation. It is a privilege just to join in!
Day Four: YOUR Father
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” ~Matthew 6:6
When you pray, you are talking to God. But God is your Dad. So when you pray, you are really talking to your Dad. It may be a little like if your dad was the President of the USA. When you talk to him, you are talking to the POTUS. But since the POTUS is your dad, you are really talking to your dad who happens to be the POTUS.
Your Dad happens to be the God of the Universe. He was God long before He was your Dad. However, He considers being your Dad as a greater honor than being your God. Is this really true? Yes. Philippians 2:6-7 tells us that He “did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing…being made in human likeness.” Pastor Kris Vallotton says, “Jesus became the Son of Man so that you could become a son of God.”
Make no mistake, God is the God of all, but He loves being your Dad. Of the two titles, He most cherishes the latter. So when you pray, Jesus welcomes you to “pray to your Father”.
One of my favorite tasks as a dad was putting my children to bed each night. Like most kids, mine delayed sleep as long as possible and I used it to my advantage. At bedtime, I went to each of their rooms, sat on their bedside and we talked. Many nights the conversations were not very deep at all. But then there were nights that we talked about serious issues and those were wonderful! Although I am a pastor, my kids never called me “pastor”. Why? Because I am their dad. They have a different relationship with me than anyone else on earth.
Can you receive this? God wants to be your Father. To call Him “Lord” is proper. To call Him “God” is correct. But if you want to hold His heart, simply call Him “Dad”.
Prayer:
Father. Dad. Papa. It still feels strange that You are my Dad. I’ve spent so many years apart from You, it’s a bit awkward to be welcomed back into Your home so quickly. But thank You. Teach me how to be your child. Teach me how to relate to You as my Dad.
Day Five: Leaning In
“But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all Your deeds.” ~Psalm 73:28
If God is everywhere, why does He sometimes feel so far away?
The answer to this question is found in your awareness of His Presence. We can be around something without being aware of it. The odds are good that you drive the same route to work each day. Have you ever suddenly noticed a house that you hadn’t seen before? It was there all along but you were not aware of it.
God’s Presence works much the same way. He is an Omnipresent God. There is nowhere you can go to escape His Presence. He is with you at home and He is with you at work. He has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) To experience nearness with God, you must lean in.
Let’s say that you are talking with a good friend at a party. The room is crowded and filled with voices and laughter and people having a good time. In order to hear your friend more clearly, you lean in, and perhaps even tilt your head to one direction in order to listen with one ear. By leaning in, you focus your attention and tune your ear to your friend’s voice.
As you move through today, practice leaning in to God. To enjoy His nearness, you need to enlist your awareness. The writer of Hebrews challenges us to “fix our eyes on Jesus.” (Hebrews 12:2) You live in God’s world. You go to work in God’s world. Keep looking for His hand at work in each event of this day. Exercise your senses. Use them to perceive God’s Presence with you. Practice tilting one ear towards Heaven today. You will find that your Heavenly Father is constantly talking.
Prayer:
Father, what are You saying today? I want to hear Your voice speaking as this day unfolds. Holy Spirit, You know how easily distracted I can be. Please keep me on a short leash today. Please remind me to continue leaning in to Father God. When I get sidetracked, please pull me back. Thank You God for the joy of spending this day with You.
Day Six: The Invitation
“This then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.’” ~Matthew 6:9
The Lord’s Prayer is not a formula, it is an invitation. Did you catch it? Jesus says, “Hi friend! Let’s talk to OUR Father in heaven.” Jesus has placed Himself on your level as your brother and He invites you to go with Him to talk with “our” Father. Check out the first person, plural pronouns used throughout the prayer.
“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 are actually not praying to Jesus. You are praying WITH Jesus. This is what it means to pray “in Jesus’ name”. The other day we talked about how Jesus is always interceding for us. He constantly talks to Father about you. Imagine how delighted He is when you show up to pray! It’s as if Jesus says, “Father, this is the one I was just telling you about! And now he is right here with us!”
We can follow the Lord’s Prayer not as a recipe or a formula. We can follow it as an invitation from Jesus to speak to Father with Him. So we begin by imagining that Jesus and Father are already talking. Jesus sees us at the door of Heaven and He invites us to come in. “Let’s go talk to OUR Father today!”
If you are uncomfortable with using your imagination in prayer, consider this. God created you with an imagination. An unsanctified imagination can be given over to fears and fantasies and all sorts of unhealthy things. Using your imagination in prayer as a way to connect more deeply with God is actually why He gave it to you. Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Prayerful imagination is a powerful tool to accomplish this transformation.
Prayer:
Jesus, thank You for extending your hand to me and inviting me to join You in prayer to our Father. It is an incredible privilege to speak with You to our Father. It is amazing to think that this saint gets to talk in Your circle! Hanging out with You and our Father is truly a thrill. Please continue to teach me how to pray with You.
Day Seven: Like Jesus
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!...” ~I John 3:1
God is our Father through adoption, not nature. Jesus is the natural Son of God. We are the adopted children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. (John 1:12-13) So it is a great truth that God has chosen to lavish His love upon us as His adopted children. He has set His affections towards us, He has declared “You are Mine and I am yours!”
In order for us to fully enter into the “our” of Our Father, we need to become like Jesus in one important way: Jesus lived for the glory of His Father, and so must we. Without apology, Jesus confessed: “I do nothing on My own but speak only what the Father has taught Me…I always do what pleases Him.” (John 8:28-29)
The greatest way to be like Jesus is to love the Father above all else. (And the greatest way to love the Father, is to be like Jesus!)
When we pray “Our Father…” we join Jesus in seeking the Father’s ultimate good. Jesus wants His Father to be glorified and so must we. To seek God’s glory means that we want Him to get honored. We want Him to be properly recognized in all situations where we find ourselves. Imagine this practically in Jesus’ life. He’s at a lake and He sees a hungry crowd. His first act was to whisper a prayer to His Father, “Dad, what do You want to do here? Dad, how can I draw this crowd’s attention towards You?” Then He took a boy’s lunch and fed the masses.
Prayer is so much more than getting stuff. It’s mostly about getting my will merged with God’s so that what He wants becomes what I want. (And vice versa.)
Prayer:
God help me to see that what You want is best. I set aside my wants. Most of them are for temporary and lesser things anyway. Jesus, You lived Your whole life to please our Father. Everything You did and said was to bring honor to Him. I want to be more like You and honor our Father in the same way. Jesus, You have shown me how to obey our Father. (You even obeyed Him by dying on a cross!) I’d like to learn how to obey Him in the same way. Teach me, Brother Jesus. I have much to learn!
Day eight: Our Family
”’I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.’” ~II Corinthians 6:18
Christianity is a team sport. Prayer is a group effort. You may be physically alone right now as you pray, but spiritually you are part of a much greater family. When you pray, you join in the chorus of every saint who presently seeks God.
Revelation 8:1-4 depicts a breathtaking scene from Heaven’s great hall. Verse 4 tells us, “The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.” Your prayers, combined with mine and every other saint are carried on angel’s hands to the throne of our Father.
You see friend, prayer is much more than asking God for stuff. Prayer is how you work with our Father and our family to expand His Kingdom on earth. Prayer time is family time. Spiritually speaking, you are never alone when you talk with God. You join angels and saints in Heaven’s living room.
When our children were younger, we played “sharks and minnows” in our front yard. It’s a simple game played between two trees. One child is “the shark” and the rest are “minnows”. The minnows line up at one tree and must run to the other tree without being tagged by the shark. (In our case, the shark was often me and I would grab them, tickle them and wrestle them to the ground. Fun, fun!)
Sometimes prayer feels like sharks and minnows. We desperately want the safety of God’s embrace, but that nasty shark, the devil stands between us and home. Remember, you do not face off against the devil alone. There is safety in numbers and your prayer joins with the prayers of many others as incense before God. In this, you can be confident: the enemy, while threatening, is not a threat to you when you stick with your Heavenly family.
Listen (before you pray):
Before you say anything in prayer today, listen. Try to hear the prayers of saints around the world. Can you hear the saint who is living in persecution? Can you hear the saint who has just lost a child? Can you hear the one about to confess Jesus as their Savior? Can you hear the saint who is worshipping? Whatever you are about to pray will be combined with these and delivered as incense before God.
Day Nine: In Heaven
“This then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.’” ~Matthew 6:9
Today is “bring your kid to work day” and God is taking you to the office. He is our “Father IN Heaven”. Heaven is where He works. Therefore, heaven is open to you because your Dad works there. If your dad was the security guard at the White House it would give you access that others do not enjoy. Or, imagine that your dad is the president. You would have even more access!
Your Father is the King of all creation and He rules it from Heaven’s throne. He welcomes you to work with Him. Granted, your “help” may be the equivalent of organizing His paper clip drawer, but you get to be with Him nonetheless! Your Father is in Heaven and so are you.
One of the great mysteries of the Bible is found in Ephesians 2:6, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the Heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” You are presently seated with Jesus in Heaven. It’s almost like you are two places at once. Physically speaking, you are on earth. Spiritually speaking, you are in Heaven. You live this split life, except when you pray.
When you pray, your mind, your mouth, your heart and your attention are drawn to Heaven where you are sitting with Christ. No wonder it feels so good to pray. It’s the only time you’re all together in one place!
Where a father goes, the family will often follow. A dad in a bar typically does not bode well for his family. An absentee father will cause his family to flounder. As we pray, we are reminded that our Father is in Heaven. This speaks to His character as well as to where He is leading us, His family.
Your Father is in Heaven which means Heaven is open before you. Meet Him there today as you pray.
Prayer:
You are an amazing Father! Because You are in Heaven, You inspire me to greater heights than I could have ever dreamed. Your plans for me are good and Your thoughts of me are amazing. It is a privilege to come to work with You today Father. Even if I am not that much help, it is great to just be with You while You work!
Day Ten: Heavenly
“This then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.’” ~Matthew 6:9
Our Father is “heavenly”. Think about how we use “heavenly” as an adjective:
“Oh, that chocolate is heavenly!” (implying delicious chocolate)
A certain toilet paper brand calls itself “heavenly soft”. (So it must be soft!)
There is a coffee that declares it is a “heavenly roast”. (So it must be good!)
If heavenly chocolate is delicious and heavenly toilet paper is really soft and heavenly roasted coffee is really good, what does it mean when we say that our Father is a “heavenly” Father?
He is not earthly, meaning of the earth. He is not earth-ey, meaning like the earth. He is heavenly, meaning He is better than you can possibly imagine! And what is more, He is your Father. God is a Father unlike any other.
As you come to Him in prayer, you will not find Him distracted with something else. You will not find Him bothered or annoyed. You will not find Him tired from a long day or stressed about finances. The Apostle Peter tells us precisely how God will receive us:
“and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (II Peter 1:11)
With such open arms awaiting you, what are you waiting for? Run dear one! Run to your Father in prayer right now! He is heavenly!
Prayer:
You are my Heavenly Father and You are my Father who is heavenly. This means You are so good! Why would I ever hesitate to pray when You are waiting? Here I come Dad, right to You with all of my stuff! Thank You for receiving me today. I am Yours!
Day Eleven: Hallowed
“This then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.’” ~Matthew 6:9
The word “hallowed” is an old English word that simply means “holy”. God is holy, which means that everything He is and does is also holy. God’s holiness is what makes everything else about God so wonderful. It is God’s foundational quality. It’s the biggest part of what makes God, “GOD”.
We celebrate God’s faithfulness. But God would not be faithful, if He were not holy. We depend on God’s justice, but He would not be just if He were not holy. The same can be said of every other quality we enjoy about God. His holiness makes Him truly good.
The word “holy” essentially means, “set apart”. When we speak of God’s holiness we mean that He is set apart from anything that is sinful or bad or evil. There literally is not one speck of impurity in God’s character. He is 100% good and perfect. This means that His motives are 100% good. All that He does is good. All that He says is good. He never has a verbal gaffe or a moral faux pas. You will never catch Him in a contradiction or an embarrassing moment. He is the Holy God.
Have you ever stood at a lake’s edge on a sunny day and watched rays of sunlight dance on the ripples of water? Billions of sparkles in perpetual motion but choreographed by an unseen Hand as they take your breath away. Isn’t it wonderful? This is a picture of God’s holiness. It dazzles in beauty and delights with brilliance. It’s unmatched in purity and it’s never the same.
Isaiah 5:16 says, “But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy by His righteousness.” God is holy, but God also does holy. Holiness is more than a concept God has on a poster somewhere in Heaven. He does holy by doing righteous things. Holiness is a way of life for God and as you will see in the next few days, it is the very breath that gives meaning to your life as well.
Prayer:
You are a holy God, which makes You an awesome God! It is a huge comfort to me knowing that You are always good and right. You are worthy of my complete trust because You are holy. You deserve my absolute respect. You are God and I yield to You in everything today.
Day Twelve: The Name
“This then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.’” ~Matthew 6:9
A man is as good as his name. This is why the ancient sage said “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” (Proverbs 22:1) It’s much easier to earn money than it is to earn a good reputation. You can strike it rich quick, but you will never strike good reputation in an instant. It takes years of faithful behavior to build a good name. (And God has had a good name, always.)
God has no skeletons in His closet. There is no dark secret that will ever catch God off guard. He has always been holy and He always will be holy. God’s name is His reputation and HOLY is His name. God’s reputation is good because God is holy and nothing He does is bad.
The Psalmist prayed, “I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You, I will praise Your name, Lord, for it is good.” (Psalm 54:6) God’s good name is not an overnight sensation. He is eternal, which means He has been good for a very long time. His reputation for holiness goes back before the beginning of time. This means we can depend on Him for goodness. Any doubt as to the goodness of His character can be laid to rest once and for all.
About fifteen years ago I thought I was having a heart attack. After taking me through some tests, the doctor said that I had acid reflux. It was a relief to know that I wasn’t dying. (I only had gas!) The doctor’s word could be trusted because he had years of training and success in his field. God’s Word can be trusted because when God speaks, He does so from an eternal perspective and from an eternal track record of goodness. His name, His reputation is holy.
Prayer:
Dad, You have been good since before the beginning of time. You have always been and You have always been good. I apologize for all the times I doubted Your Word. You have never done anything to deserve my lack of faith. Please forgive me for allowing my smallness to cloud Your goodness. Your name is holy. Your motives are holy and all that You do is holy and good. I place my absolute trust in You today.
Day Thirteen: Highly esteemed
“This then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.’” ~Matthew 6:9
This word “hallowed” is so rich that we need to spend more time on it. We learned the other day that it is an old English word meaning “holy”. It also has a sense of being held in high regard. If something is hallowed, it is sacred, revered, and highly esteemed. For example, the great president Abraham Lincoln dedicated the Gettysburg Battlefield as “hallowed grounds”.
When you and Jesus pray that our Father’s name be hallowed, you are praying that He be held in the highest regard, highly esteemed. You ask that Father’s reputation be properly honored. It grieves you when His wonderful name is diminished by the foolish words or actions of some misguided person.
Above all else, we know that Jesus desired for His Father’s name to be glorified. In John 12:28 He prayed, “Father, glorify Your name!...” He lived for His Father to get glory. Any time that His Father got the credit for something good, any time that His Father received praise, Jesus was glad.
Declaring with Jesus that Father’s name be hallowed is more than a nice sentiment. It is a statement of intent. Along with Jesus, I choose to honor God in all that I do, say and think. May His name be hallowed in and through my life. I pray with Jesus, “Father, glorify Your name!” Whatever it takes for God to be glorified, that is what we are willing to do. May God’s name be held in high esteem.
Prayer:
Psalm 115:1 is our prayer for today: “Not to us oh Lord, not to us, but to Your name be glory, to Your name be praise.” This is our desire, that Your name would be hallowed here on earth as it is in Heaven. In Heaven, countless angels bow before You in hushed reverence. The mention of Your name brings them to their knees. Jesus and I join them now saying, “Hallowed be Your name, Your wonderful, powerful name!” May Your name be worshipped throughout all the earth.
Day Fourteen: Kingdom Come
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” ~Matthew 6:10
Walt Disney bought a swamp in central Florida and turned it into the Magic Kingdom. Today it is one of the most highly valued properties on the planet. It’s a great picture of how the Kingdom of God operates in this world. Two thousand years ago God established a beachhead in Bethlehem’s manger. The prophets announced “The Kingdom is here!” Since then, light has gradually displaced darkness, joy has displaced sadness and wholeness has trumped brokenness.
“Kingdom Come” is a declaration of war on the wretchedness of the devil’s doings in this world. If the King is holy, then His kingdom is also holy. If His kingdom comes, what does that mean for any other kingdom? The prophet Daniel gives us a strong clue: “Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all rulers will worship and obey Him.” (Daniel 7:27)
Is it any wonder there is so much resistance to the gospel of Christianity? Our oppressor knows that his time is limited. The more that Heaven’s Kingdom advances in this world, the more insignificant he becomes. The Apostle John said, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (I John 3:18) Do you see it? Jesus came to turn the swamp into a glorious kingdom! Everything Satan touches dies. Everything Jesus touches comes alive.
In Psalm 149:6-9 we are told that the glory of God’s saints is to sing His praise and wield a double-edged sword. We inflict vengeance on nations and bind kings with fetters. When we pray “Kingdom come” we partner with Jesus in righting all the wrongs of this world. It is the great destiny of every saint.
Prayer:
Your Kingdom come to this world God. You are holy. You are good. So Your kingdom is also holy and good. May it begin with me today. Let Your Kingdom come in my life, and let Your kingdom come around me, everywhere I go. Help me to be aware that Heaven touches earth everywhere I go.
Day Fifteen: Will be done
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” ~Matthew 6:10
God’s kingdom and God’s will are one and the same. The word “kingdom” is derived from two words: “king’s domain”. The kingdom is anywhere that the King has domain. The king’s domain is anywhere that His will is obeyed without question or hesitation. God is holy, so naturally His will is the best thing that could ever happen to us. His will for me is better than my will for me.
God’s will is best, but God’s will is not always done. For example, He wills that none should perish, (II Peter 3:9) yet sadly many will reject His salvation. God’s will is for you to have a will which means you are free to do as you please. Will you, like Jesus, choose our Father’s will?
It is one thing for us to submit to God’s will. After all, we are human and He is divine. But consider the great humility of Jesus in this prayer. He is every bit equal to Father God, yet He says, “Not my will, but Yours be done”. Jesus is God, yet as the Son, He bends His will toward the Father in submission.
In the Bible, there was a time when Jesus chose Father’s will above His own. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He earnestly pleaded with the Father to avoid the cross. Yet, after much agonizing Jesus concluded, “Not my will but Yours.”
And, in John 17 Jesus chose to submit to Father’s timing when He prayed that we would be one as He and His Father are one. He has been praying that for the last 2000 years and it still has not been answered. One can only conclude that if Jesus must persist in prayer, we must do the same.
Jesus recognizes the supremacy of His Father’s will in all things and He bows to it at all times. He invites us to follow His lead. When we pray, we join Jesus in seeking our Father’s will above anything else.
Prayer:
Father, Your will is the best thing that could ever happen to me. Where Your will is not done, everything is wrong. Where Your will is done, everything is right. So, why would I ever resist it? With Jesus, I come to You today seeking Your will to be done in all things. May Your will be done in my home, my neighborhood, my school, and at my job.
Day Sixteen: Just as
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” ~Matthew 6:10
This is revolutionary. If anyone else were praying it, you’d call them crazy. God’s will done on earth means that a lot of people are not getting their way. That spells conflict with a capital “C”!
If, like Jesus, we have settled the issue, we have come to discover how delightful our Father’s will really is. He would never wish ill upon you. He is all-knowing, so He always knows what is best. He is holy so He always wants what is best. He is all- powerful so He can always do what is best. The only roadblock to God’s best is your will. That is why we must pray for His will to be done right here on earth just as it is done in Heaven.
Heaven is where God’s will is done willingly. Can you imagine it? God probably has to curb His facial expressions because every wishful glance is met with 10,000 angels ready to do it! He barely says the word and Heaven responds instantly with joy. Angels probably create a log jam at Heaven’s doors as they rush out to do God’s bidding.
Think of this: Heaven is good and beautiful. In other words, Heaven is what happens when God’s will is done willingly. Would you like to taste a bit of Heaven on earth? Live out God’s will. Just imagine how good your home would be if God’s will were done 100% of the time. Or picture your workplace if God always had His way. This is precisely why we pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” By praying this way, we are wishing for God’s very best to come upon those around us.
Prayer:
May Your wonderful will be done right here just as it is done in Heaven. This is my desire Father! I want to eagerly do Your will today. You ask it, and I will do it. You lead and I will follow. You prompt it and I will follow through with it. I can only imagine how good my work place will be when Your will is done perfectly there. Please let it begin with me today.
Day Seventeen: In Heaven
“Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” ~Matthew 6:10
Let’s think about Heaven today. When you pray, you are as close to Heaven as you can get while your feet are still on this earth. Think of it, you access the very throne room of God. You, a mortal made of dust, stroll the halls of Heaven when you pray. The Apostle John described his experience this way:
“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me…” (Revelation 1:10-12)
John’s experience while praying in the Spirit is not unique to him. The prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, as well as the Apostle Paul all shared similar experiences. When you pray, you may not always see Heaven, but you are certainly in it.
Before we represent Heaven on earth, we need to know what Heaven is like. If you have never seen it, ask God to show it to you. Your Father delights to show you home. This is what John saw:
“I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9)
Today in prayer, sit quietly, breathe deep and allow God to take your imagination to Heaven. When you pray, it helps to envision Heaven and God’s throne. Can you picture it? Imagine that God’s glory is like the sun. You can only look at it briefly without burning your eyes, but you keep turning to look at it. Can you sense the warmth of His gaze beaming down upon you as you worship? God, Your Heavenly Father is dazzling, and He has set His face toward you!
Prayer:
Father I’ve become so caught up in daily life that I have lost sight of home. In the quietness of this moment I ask You to reveal Heaven to me. Just a glimpse of glory Lord. I long to see You. You faithfully meet me here in my earthly home often. But today, can we meet at our Heavenly home?
Day Eighteen: Give Us
“Give us today our daily bread.” ~Matthew 6:11
Technically speaking, we do not give. We give back. God is the only One who truly gives because He is the only One who truly owns everything. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lords, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” Before we can give something away, we have to first actually own it. Since everything belongs to the Lord, we are only re-gifting what He has first given to us.
God is the Great Giver. We are created to receive. Everything we have has been received from God’s gracious hand. This is why working for our income and working for our food is actually a gift. The ability to work is a gift.
We are receivers. It is literally all that we do. God is the sun and we, the moon. The moon has no light of its own and neither do we. We receive and then we reflect. This truth confronts our human pride. We like to think that somehow we got here of our own ingenuity. This is part of why tragedy is so unsettling. It reminds us that we are fragile and ultimately powerless.
Receiving is humiliating for us. We feel uncomfortable when we receive a generous gift. Our first instinct is to pay it back or try to pay it forward. Simply receiving and then saying, “thank you” is hard and we must swallow our pride to do it well. Can you imagine Jesus as a receiver? He is the Second Person of the Trinity and yet He humbled Himself on earth and received from Father. Perhaps this is what Hebrews 5:8 means when it says that “Although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered…” The humility of Jesus is astounding.
What is more, Jesus joins with us in asking the Father to “give us daily bread”. Jesus created the earth that grows the wheat that makes the flour that makes the bread. Yet He asks, “Father, can You please give my brother and I some bread?” Amazing!
Prayer:
Father, Jesus asked You for bread which inspires me to do the same. Please give us bread today. Not too much, lest I become proud. Not too little, lest I become tempted to steal. Just today. Just enough. Jesus and I receive from You what You know is best. You are the Giver of everything good, and I am the receiver. Thank You!
Day Nineteen: Daily Bread
“Give us today our daily bread.” ~Matthew 6:11
Is the word “today” really necessary when we are asking for “daily bread”? Daily bread today may seem redundant, until you remember the words of I Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray continually”. Daily bread today is not about saying the same thing twice. It is about living each moment in prayer. Remember prayer is more than asking. It is also communing. God wants you to hang out with Him all day long.
To live in prayer means we are constantly receiving downloads from Heaven. The daily bread continuously gets set before us as we pray continually. But remember, we are praying this prayer with our Big Brother, Jesus. He is asking for daily bread along with us.
Stop the tape! Why does Jesus need daily bread if He is in Heaven? We think of daily bread as food for ourselves, and it is. God certainly is our Provider in all things. However, there is another way to define “daily bread”. What does daily bread mean to Jesus? A look at John 4:34 will give us a clue.
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.”
His disciples had gone into town to buy food. As Jesus waited He conversed with a Samaritan woman at the well. Her life was wonderfully transformed and Jesus was deeply satisfied by it. He feasted off of that divine appointment by Samaria’s well. You see, “daily bread” for Jesus is the opportunity to be used by His Father to lead a lost one to salvation. There really is nothing more satisfying than to be used by God in this way.
When we pray, “Give us today our daily bread” we, along with Jesus, are asking for our Father to set us up with some divine appointments that day. Imagine it, you and Jesus get to partner with Father God to change a life! How satisfying is that?!
Prayer:
Keep my eyes open to the opportunities all around me today to be a witness for You Father. Jesus and I would love to meet a person who is eagerly seeking for You. We would love to be used by You to introduce them to salvation. Father, if You set up the opportunity, Jesus and I will follow through on it.
Day Twenty: Debts Forgiven
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” ~Matthew 6:12
It is vitally important that we keep short accounts with God. If we blow it, let’s immediately make it right. Ephesians 4:30 tells us that we can grieve the Holy Spirit. We can grieve God! You cannot lose your salvation with just one sin, but you sure can lose your closeness with God. Sin always creates an awkward gap between us and Father.
And so we pray, “Please forgive us our debts.”
But wait! Remember, you are praying this prayer with Jesus. It’s obvious that we need forgiveness, but how does Jesus need forgiveness? One of the most humbling verses in Scripture for us to read is II Corinthians 5:21.
“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
When Jesus died on the cross, He traded places with you. He took on your sin so that you could take on His righteousness. In short, He became as bad as you so that you could become as good as Him. What’s more, Jesus absorbed every sin ever committed. Therefore, He became the worst sinner the world has ever known! (This writer weeps just thinking about Jesus doing this for him.)
So naturally, Jesus would pray, “Forgive us our debts.” More than anyone else, Jesus knows how much that forgiveness costs! When you ask God to forgive you, imagine that you are standing with Jesus who is wearing the stains from your sins. Then humbly ask Father to “forgive us our debts.”
Prayer:
Father I do not deserve to be forgiven. I’m the one who did everything wrong and Jesus did everything right. Yet here we stand before You God seeking forgiveness for “our” debts. I know exactly whose debts they really are, but I kneel here righteous while Jesus stands condemned! Oh God, forgive us our debts we pray!
Day Twenty-One: Forgiven debtors
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” ~Matthew 6:12
Do you want to be just like Jesus? Forgive others.
You probably remember the scene from Luke 23:34. Jesus hangs suffering on the cross. Through painful gasps of breath, He makes one request of God the Father. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He was being reviled and tortured. He was falsely accused and railroaded to the cross. And in the greatest act of love ever known, He asked God to forgive His attackers.
You may think that forgiving our debtors comes easily for Jesus but don’t forget how much it cost Him. Our ability to forgive others is related to our appreciation of how much Christ has forgiven us. This is why we ask for forgiveness “as we also have forgiven” others.
In John 20:23 Jesus makes a bone quaking statement. “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Yes, Jesus really said it. You can forgive someone else’s sins and set them free from the bondage that sin brings. Let’s be clear, you cannot forgive sins that weren’t against you. Jesus is not saying that you hold the power to forgive all the sins of the world. However, sins made against you are a different story.
One of your clearest acts as a royal son or daughter of God is to offer forgiveness to those who wrong you. This begins in prayer. After you and Jesus seek forgiveness for sins that you committed, you ask Him to extend grace and blessings to those who have wronged you.
Prayer:
Father we thank You for being so gracious with our sins. You have cleared our names from any wrongdoing. Bless You! And Father, we pray for the same grace to be applied to our “debtors”. Would You pour out Your goodness on them Father and cause them to flourish in abundant living today? Thank You! And we, if given the opportunity will also bless them with the blessing You have granted us.
Day Twenty-Two: Lead us
“And lead us not into temptation...” ~Matthew 6:13
You cannot always choose who leads you, but you can choose whom you will follow. You may not have chosen our president, or your boss, for example, but you can choose whom you will learn from and imitate.
In prayer, we invite our Father to take the lead. He leads us to so many great places, but there is one place we beg Him not to lead us: “Lead us not into temptation.” We already know from James 1:13 that God does not tempt us. So why would Jesus teach us to pray this way?
Jesus faced temptation on a level that we have not. He went toe to toe against the devil when He fasted 40 days in the wilderness. Most of the time, our temptation comes from our own evil desires. Jesus’ temptation came straight from Satan! We easily give in to the temptations of our own flesh. Can you imagine how hard it would be to actually resist the devil in person?!
When Jesus thinks about temptation, His memory is drawn back to those horrific confrontations in the desert. The Bible tells us that He was actually led there by the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 4:1) Keep in mind that we are praying this prayer with Jesus. Although Father God does not lead you into temptation, He did lead Jesus into it. Thankfully Jesus emerged the victor! He invites us to pray with Him, that we might never have to face what He did!
Prayer:
Father, Psalm 23:3 reminds us that, “You guide me in paths of righteousness.” You lead us well. Jesus and I are grateful to You for Your protection from the evil one. Jesus is a much better Person than I am and even He had difficulty in battling our enemy! So Father, please lead us away from all temptation, and steer us clear from that evil one, that we may please You in every way.
Day Twenty-Three: we follow
“And lead us not into temptation...” ~Matthew 6:13
Consider the great humility of Jesus! He is God in every way, yet also a man. He has always ruled the universe. He has never faced a challenger. He has always been large and in charge. And yet, look at these scriptures:
“Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8)
“Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52)
“Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8)
It makes sense that we would ask God to lead us. We were created to follow so that’s just what we do. But Jesus was not created. He has never been “made” to do anything! Yet, in this prayer, God the Son willingly joins with us in asking to be led by God His Father. He demonstrates for us the kind of dependence we must have upon Father. Jesus never makes a move without His Dad, and neither should we. (John 5:19 & John 14:31) Jesus has even chosen to remain uninformed about His own second coming to earth. (Mark 13:32) Think of it, Jesus is the All-Knowing God and yet He has chosen to not know His second coming and submit to Father instead. We have no way of measuring the unmitigated humility of Jesus Christ!
Jesus truly is the perfect Son. He obeys every desire of Father. He shows us that the key to a great relationship with the Father is to honor Him as Father. He is a good Father after all, and worthy of our sincere admiration. And so, as siblings of Jesus Christ, we come to Dad together and submit to His perfect leading. Father really does know best and what a joy it is to hold the hand of Jesus and follow Dad together.
Prayer:
Jesus, please show me how to follow. Our Father is a perfect leader. I’m just not a very good follower! You submit perfectly to our Dad. My eyes are on You today Jesus. Today, let’s follow our Father together.
Day Twenty-Four: deliver to
“but deliver us from the evil one.” ~Matthew 6:13
A great package can be ruined by a bad delivery. A few years ago my wife and I carefully packed her mom’s china into a box and had it shipped to our house from Chicago. We were saddened to open the box a few days later to discover much of the china had been broken, some of it even shattered. It began as a priceless heirloom but ended in pieces because of a poor delivery.
As we draw near to the end of our prayer, we are reminded that life’s road can make for a rough delivery. We ask Father to get us to the other side, and preferably in one piece. Thankfully, we have other Scriptural support to bolster our prayer for deliverance:
“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious Presence without fault and with great joy…” Jude 1:24
You are God’s greatest prize. He has every intention of safely delivering you to Himself, “without fault and with great joy”. Your destination is certain, for this is what Jesus says of you, “No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” (John 10:29)
And so we can pray with confidence asking our Father to deliver us home safe. I wish I could say the same for my wife’s china!
Prayer:
Father, we ask you to deliver us. This day will be filled with twists and turns, but nothing can surprise You. You are more than the beginning and the end. You are the beginning TO the end and everything in between. Our eyes will remain on You as You deliver us through.
Day Twenty-Five: deliver from
“but deliver us from the evil one.” ~Matthew 6:13
Every delivery has two ends. It comes from and it goes to. Yesterday we noted that God intends to deliver us to Himself. But where is God taking us, from?
“…from the evil one.”
You may not have known this, but you were born with the word “condemned” stamped over your life. Ephesians 2:3 says that “we were by nature objects of wrath.” This is the condition of every human being who has not received Jesus as Savior. Now that you are a sibling of Jesus and you enjoy being in His family, you have been delivered from the evil one. You WERE an object of wrath but in Christ, you now are a cherished son or daughter of God.
We can confidently pray as the Psalmist did, “I cling to You, Your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:8) You cling to God and God clings to you. It takes two to hold hands. You hold God’s hand, but He also holds yours. (And He has a tighter grip!)
The devil wants you back, but you needn’t worry. Our Father’s got this. He delivers us from the evil one. And there is no return address. Your job is to keep a steady eye on your Heavenly Dad. No more looking back! Remember Lot’s wife? God delivered her from Sodom’s destruction but she looked back and became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26) So let’s make a break from our past and keep our eyes on Father as He leads us from the evil one and to our heavenly home.
Prayer:
Hebrews 12:2 tells me to “fix my eyes on Jesus.” So Jesus, I’ll fix my eyes on You and WE can fix our eyes on Dad! Father, You are so big, and yet we hold You as You hold us. You are more distant than the farthest star yet closer than our next breath. You are strong enough to deliver us from the evil one so Jesus and I keep our eyes on You today.
Day Twenty-Six: Evil Who?
“…but deliver us from the evil one.” ~Matthew 6:13
Let’s be sure we get this basic truth down pat: the devil is bad and God is good. Jesus tells us that our enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10) And James 1:17 tells us “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights.” In other words, if it’s good, you got it from God. If it’s bad, it came from your enemy.
Jesus ends His prayer with a request for protection because He knows better than anyone, what we are up against. The devil is no match for you and Jesus together, but that doesn’t mean he won’t put up a fight. And while you can win the battle, it would be better to avoid it altogether. So along with Jesus we pray for deliverance, we ask Father to keep our enemy on a short chain, in another zip code, far away from us.
As we pray for deliverance from the evil one, we also must keep in mind that many times, the devil is not our biggest problem, we are. James 1:14 says, “each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.” Your own desires are often the source of your greatest temptation. The devil didn’t make you do it. You did. This is why the Psalmist declared that the way we remain pure is to live according to God’s Word. (Psalm 119:9)
A prayer for deliverance from the evil one must also include a prayer for deliverance from my own evil desires that wage war inside of me. May God help us!
Prayer:
Jesus, You fought the devil and won, but now it seems the battle is in my own mind and heart. I yield my desires to You. I want to please You God, not just with the things I do, but also with the things I want. May my desires honor You as much as my actions, words and thoughts. Please deliver me from the evil one and also deliver me from ME!
Writing this booklet on prayer has been awkward. You have probably noticed that this author is not a prayer pro. Prayer has always been a challenge for me. I fall asleep. My mind wanders. I start off great and then get distracted. I have felt guilty because I should pray more. I have felt guilty because I should pray better. (After all, I am a pastor!)
All of these bombard my soul and attack my prayer life. I feel inept and weak. So, why would a guy like me write a book on prayer? Precisely! There is nothing about my experience in prayer that will make you feel bad. I struggle too! I am no expert, but I do know Jesus and that gives me access. If you know Jesus, you enjoy the same access.
It’s taken us several weeks to work our way through the Lord’s Prayer. Hopefully, it has blessed you as much as it has me. But now what? Reading a devotional thought each day is not enough to fire up one’s prayer life. To keep it burning, logs must be thrown on the fire often.
This journal has been intended to help get your fire lit, but you will need to keep adding the wood. How? Part of the effort of prayer is taking the time to get your heart and mind in the right place. It is helpful to think of prayer happening in four stages: presence, praise, petition and, protection.
We will use the remainder of our time together to explore these four essential aspects in a believer’s life of prayer.
Day Twenty-Seven: The Help
“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” ~Luke 11:13
You cannot cry, “wolf!” with God. He already knows what your need is and He is working to meet it before you even ask. You can cry for help as often as you like, your Father is faithful. Even though we pray with Jesus, there may still be times when we get stuck. In today’s scripture, Jesus tells us that we can always ask God and He will be glad to give us the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is our prayer Coach. All we need to do is ask for His help. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Romans 8:26)
Holy Spirit is like a Google translator. Your words may be coming out jumbled. Your thoughts or attitudes may even be all wrong. But Holy Spirit knows what you need to be praying and He prays it for you. Isn’t it a comfort to know that between here and Heaven, Holy Spirit takes your words and properly translates them before God’s throne? What a relief! Now the pressure is off. We can just enjoy God.
When you get stuck in prayer, ask the Holy Spirit to pray for you. He goes to work immediately on your behalf. “Father, this is what she really means…” or, “Father, this is what he truly needs….” You can rest in knowing that Holy Spirit will pray exactly the right prayer. Instead of wrestling over your prayer or feeling bad that you got stuck, try this: Thank Holy Spirit for His perfect prayer on your behalf.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit help! I still find praying to be so difficult! Thank You for praying for me as I learn to pray with Jesus. Your coaching is priceless to me. I am incredibly glad that I have You as a Coach and Jesus as my Brother. Thanks for all that You do in drawing me closer to our Father. It is thrilling to know You Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What a joy to be part of Your inner circle!
Day Twenty-eight: Presence
“You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” ~Psalm 16:11
How do you know when you are in God’s Presence? Joy. Spending time with God will show on your face. Just ask Moses: “he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.” (Exodus 34:29) Every time Moses hung out with God, his face glowed.
Joy is the fruit of spending time with God. This is really important when it comes to prayer. How often has prayer felt like a drudgery? Prayer is a spiritual discipline, but it shouldn’t feel like punishment. It’s meant to be a conversation with friends. Prayer might take work, but it is a work of love.
This is why the first stage of prayer is “Presence”. Before you pray a word, sit quietly and imagine Heaven’s living room. Can you picture God, the Father and God, the Son laughing and talking and hanging out together? Set the focus of your heart onto how good God is. Think about how inviting and warm their company is. Try not to begin praying until you can sense that you are in the company of God.
A great place to start is by reflecting on the gift of Jesus. You have access to God because of Jesus’ sacrifice. In the Old Testament, people were not even allowed to look at God’s holy things. (Numbers 4:20) Now, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, you can walk right into the Presence of God. You can thank Jesus for all that He did to make God accessible to you. This is a terrific place to begin when praying!
Prayer:
Thank You Jesus for paying the price of my sins. You died to give me life. Your work is why I am able to even talk to God. I am God’s child because You forgave my sins and made me right with God. Thank You so much! I cannot come talk to God on my own, but with You I can freely enter in. It is such a privilege to call You “Brother”!
Day Twenty-Nine: Presence, Really?
“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” ~John 14:20
During the last month, you may have wondered if any of this was legit. The concept of you joining with Jesus in prayer and talking to Father God like it’s a three-way conversation may seem strange. Perhaps you have questioned if this was even biblical. Please read the words of Jesus printed above.
Do the “math” in Jesus’ statement: Jesus is in the Father, you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. So, where does that place you in relation to the Father? We often get so wrapped up over the concept of the Trinity, that we lose the beauty of the image. At its core, it’s about perfectly intimate friendship.
We think of Trinity as three individuals who function as one, but that invariably leads you to three gods, which is fundamentally not true. God is One and there is only One God. Thinking of Trinity as three individuals stems from our own sinful, independent streak. Rather, think of Trinity as perfect friendship. God is complete and in Jesus, you get to be part of Him.
Jesus also said, “If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him and we will come and make our home with him.” (John 14:23) Notice the plural pronouns, “we” and “our”. Notice that Jesus is speaking for Himself and His Father. It’s a mystery, granted, but what’s marvelous is that you get to be part of it. Jesus and His Father seek to make a home with you.
When you enter into prayer, you are engaging in a conversation with the Trinity. Before you utter a word in prayer, reflect on the awesome opportunity that is yours to be part of the best family ever. Then, allow this to influence the way that you pray.
Prayer:
Father, I confess that it still feels odd for me to talk with You and Jesus. I have always seen prayer in religious terms and it left me cold. But now, me hanging out with You? Wow! This is all so new and incredible. Thank You for the privilege of being Yours.
Day Thirty: Presence, the sequel
“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…” ~Revelation 1:10
Sentenced to die by the Roman government for his faith, the Apostle John was left alone on the Isle of Patmos. When he says that he was “in the Spirit” it means he was praying in the Spirit.
John could have been bitter from his experience. He did not deserve to be treated as he was. Hated for the One that he loved, John found himself in this rotten place. Society dumped him, but Jesus delighted in him. The exile became a sanctuary. He used his time to pray!
Praying in the Spirit is something that anyone can do. It is a gift. The Apostle Paul speaks of it this way:
“For if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.” ~I Corinthians 14:14-15
Sometimes we think too much when we pray. We fret over what to say and how to say it. Instead of resting in God’s Presence, our thoughts race over the next item on our prayer list. Praying in the Spirit is a way to get over worrying about words. When you pray, practice rest. Instead of saying anything, try to imagine God’s throne room. You are sitting in one chair, the Father is in another and Jesus is in the other. Play a worship song on your phone or iPod. Don’t think about what to say, just follow the words of the music, agreeing with them as they play. Don’t talk to God until you feel the peace of His presence.
The point is that prayer is less about getting the words right and is more about enjoying God’s Presence. (Even if you’re on the Isle of Patmos!)
Prayer:
Father, I really want to know You the way that Jesus does. Holy Spirit, You are my prayer partner. Please teach me how to pray in You. Please teach me how to pray like You! Today before I say anything else, I will wait and focus my heart on You.
Day Thirty-One: Presence, the prequel
“In the beginning God…” ~Genesis 1:1
Before there ever was anything, there was God. As ancient as the Universe is, God is even older. Right now, He is just as present in your future as He was in your past.
The Psalmist tried to think about this and it blew his mind: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your Presence? If I go up to the heavens You are there. If I make my bed in the depths, You are there…” (Psalm 139:7-10)
God’s Presence is not something you have to muster up. It’s not like you have to convince Him to visit you. You already dwell in His Presence. His Presence is like the air. You’re always in the air, but you do not always think about it. Have you ever stopped and thought about the air that you breathe? Perhaps on a cold morning, you inhale the brisk air. Or perhaps you’ve stood in the sunshine and breathed in the warm air. Have you ever tried to fill your lungs with as much air as you could until it felt like your chest would pop?
By thinking about the air, you become aware of the air. You can become aware of God’s Presence in much the same way. Remember, you live in the world that HE created. Every tree, every cloud, every blade of grass has His signature upon it. You practically drown in God’s handiwork every single day!
The patriarch, Jacob had an interesting experience. He dreamt that he saw a stairway extending from earth to Heaven. In Genesis 28:16 we are told, “When Jacob awoke from his sleep he thought, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it.’” In John 1:10 we’re told, “Though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.”
The point is this: you can be right next to Jesus and miss Him. Part of the very purpose of prayer is to train your senses to recognize God’s Presence.
Prayer:
Father, I wonder how often I miss You because I am not looking? Jesus and I come to You asking to make us more aware of Your Presence this day. Jesus only does what He sees You doing, Dad. That’s how I want to be too. Even though I have much to do today, I want to share it all with You Father. I do not want to waste a second alone!
Day Thirty-Two: Praise
At that time, Jesus full of joy through the Holy Spirit said, “I praise You Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure.” ~Luke 10:21
Do you know who is really good at praising God? Jesus! When you praise Father God, you are actually joining with Jesus in declaring that praise. He absolutely loves to praise His Father. In fact, as He was nearing the time of His crucifixion, Jesus openly praised God, “Father, glorify Your name!” (John 12:28)
The word “glorify” literally means, “to make glorious”. Jesus was asking for His Father to be made glorious! To be glorious means, “to be exalted, lifted high”. So, Jesus was about to die and the only thing on His mind was for His Father to be exalted and lifted high. Think about how selfless that was.
You are never more Christ-like than when you are praising God. The greatest way to be like Jesus is to seek the ultimate glory of the Father in all things. In fact, one of the biggest reasons why Jesus came was to show us how to properly relate to the Father. He is the perfect Son and He shows us how to be good sons and daughters.
After establishing an awareness of God’s Presence, you can begin to offer praise. When you offer praise, Jesus gladly joins you. Can you hear it?
You say, “God, You are awesome!” Jesus says, “That’s right! You sure are!” You say, “Father God, You are amazing!” Jesus echoes, “Amazing!”
This continues as you give God glory with your words. Jesus loves praising Father too! He delights in joining you as you give praise to Father.
Prayer:
Father God, Jesus and I declare that You are greater than the mountains, deeper than the oceans, higher than the sky. You are holy. You are worthy. You are glorious and splendid. All You are is good, all You do is good, all You think is good and all You say is good. You are without equal and I am amazed by You!
Day Thirty-Three: Praise more
“Worship God!” ~Revelation 22:9
John was witness to some pretty cool sights. He caught a look at Heaven in a way that no one else ever has. What is more, he lived to tell about it! His response to the splendor that he witnessed was to bow down and worship the angel who served as his tour guide. Very quickly, the angel put a stop to John’s reverence. “Don’t do it!” he said. “Worship God!”
Worship is a natural response when we get into the presence of greatness. The human heart is created to burst with wonder. It is why a magnificent work of art catches our eye. It is why a majestic view steals our breath. It is why we go hush when something important happens. We are wired to worship.
This is a wonderful thing. It is also a wretched thing. It is wonderful when our worship reaches its highest potential as we direct it towards God. It is wretched when we settle cheap and give our worship away to something less than God. Why is it so bad to worship something less than God?
Psalm 115:8 “Those who make them (idols) will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” Settling for less in worship is bad because we become like what we worship!
You will never be God, but you can become like Him. Do you want to realize your full potential as one who bears God’s image? Worship God and God alone. Worship is more than singing songs. It is the direction of your life. I Corinthians 10:31 says that “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Every legitimate action can become an act of worship. (Think about this tonight when you eat your hamburger.)
Prayer:
Jesus, You glorify Father in everything. If I hang out with You today, we can glorify Father in everything together. Please forgive me for worshipping lesser things. I confess that my eyes easily get sidetracked by earth’s fancy trinkets. Not today! Today I give my life and my every breath to worship You God!
Day Thirty-Four: Praise all day
“Seven times a day I praise You for Your righteous laws!” ~Psalm 119:164
Real life. It’s where you live. It’s also where God lives. God does not do ivory towers well. He much prefers being with you in the hustle of life than tucked away behind stained glass.
We need to lose our notion that “worship” is for “church”. Worship is a 24/7 focus of your life. The Psalmist set aside at least seven times each day for the worship of God. However, his experience of God was much different than yours. The Psalmist was not a temple of the Holy Spirit, as you are. (I Corinthians 6:19) He had to walk to a physical temple building in order to properly worship God. You have the luxury of carrying God’s Presence everywhere you go.
People tend to fall into two extremes when it comes to their prayer life. Some take the “I talk to God all day” approach, but they never stop to actually pray. As a result, their prayer life is undisciplined and shallow. Others take the “I get down on my knees, set the timer and pray for 30 minutes a day” approach, but they forget that prayer is a conversation.
This author suggests that both approaches are needed in your life. You need to practice the discipline of an actual “prayer time”. You also need to develop a constant communication with God throughout the day. These two activities support each other. Your prayer time is enhanced by ongoing communication. And, your ongoing communication is enhanced by a disciplined prayer time. The goal of this prayer journal has been to help you develop a meaningful prayer time each day.
The follower of Jesus lives in a God-sized world. This means that even the smallest details of your day are touched by God. Today, give praise to God for the seeming insignificant things that happened yesterday. Do you remember getting a close parking spot? Thank God for it. How about that line being short in the grocery store? Give God praise for it. Do not overlook the smallest detail.
Prayer:
Father, You have numbered the hairs on my head, so You must care about the details in my life. Thank You for each instance where You provided and intervened. Thank You for protecting me from harm that I never even saw. You are constantly good.
Day Thirty-Five: Petition
“You may ask for anything in My name, and I will do it.” ~John 14:14
This statement, made by Jesus, has caused many to stumble. We read it as a blank check. It’s like we have stumbled upon the magic genie who promised to grant us three wishes. To understand it better, we need to establish a few basic truths:
Truth #1: Jesus is no genie.
Truth #2: The first thing God wants with you is a close relationship.
Truth #3: Father God loves giving good gifts to His children.
Truth #4: “In My name” implies an intimate relationship.
Remember that Jesus invites us to pray along with Him. He is already talking to Father and you enter their conversation. So your prayer is not in a vacuum. It’s not dumping requests at God’s feet before you dash off to your day.
This is why “Presence” is the first stage of prayer. It would be rude to barge into Heaven’s living room and interrupt Father and Son’s conversation with your list of needs. Instead, you enter Heaven’s living room and sit quietly listening in on their talk. In this way, you can enter into their conversation, which is what Jesus means when He says to pray “in His name”. You come into agreement with Jesus and the things about which He is talking with Father.
If you listen carefully, you will discover that many of the things on Jesus’ heart are also on yours. You can pray with confidence when your will lines up with His.
Prayer:
Jesus, what is on Your mind today as we talk to Father together? Because, that’s what I want to talk about too!
Day Thirty-Six: Ask God
“You do not have because you do not ask God.” ~James 4:2
It seems simple enough. Ask God.
Jesus encouraged us with these words: “When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:7-8)
Yesterday’s reading may have left you with the feeling that you shouldn’t ask. Please allow today’s reading to provide the truthful balance. In your relationship with God, He is the Father and you are the child. Have you ever known a child to carefully think through their requests and mete out their words with caution? No way!
It actually honors God when you ask without reservation. Your request does not need to be properly vetted and well timed. Sometimes the best prayers are the ones that get blurted out, unfiltered. Perhaps the simple reason for why you’re lacking in an area is that you have not asked God?
God is the only Being who is self-sustaining. He has need of nothing or anyone. He is complete and self-contained. You however, need food, water, clothing, love, friendship, acceptance, etc. etc. God designed it this way. If you didn’t need anything, you would be God. Because you are not God, because you are a creature, you have need. While it may be humbling to admit your need, God is more than ready to hear you out and provide for you. He knows what you need before you even ask Him.
Prayer:
I need You, yes I need You. Every hour I need You. Oh God, You are Life. If You were to withdraw from me for even a second, I would shrivel up and die. I humble myself before You today. As I bring my needs to You it is comforting to know that You are already aware of them. You are answering my prayer before I even ask it! Thank You!
Day Thirty-Seven: Ask like Jesus
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” ~John 14:27
Jesus gives to you in an altogether different way than anyone else does. The best that the world can do is give you some thing. It can come wrapped or unwrapped, but it is still a thing. Even with non-things, like love, it is still often expressed in physical terms.
Jesus gives in a different way. Romans 5:5 says that “God has poured out His love into our hearts…” Like a liquid, He pours His love into us. He is able to implant His peace into your soul. He can infuse the depths of your being with rest and joy. He satisfies you from the inside out. It’s internal, where moth and rust cannot destroy it and thieves cannot steal it.
To ask like Jesus means we can pray from this position of internal peace. Consider how Jesus prays. Can you imagine Him whining before Father? Or, questioning why something turned out badly? Jesus doesn’t pray because He is lacking. He knows that the Lord is His Shepherd and He shall not want. His prayer is always for Father’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Regardless of the situation, Jesus always asks that it would be in line with Father’s will and that Father’s Kingdom would be expanded as a result.
Confident rest is the best position from which to petition God about anything. Let’s do what Hebrews 4:11 says and “make every effort to enter that rest”. Cast your cares upon God in order to obtain the peace of God. Then, you can begin to partner with Jesus’ desire for Father’s Kingdom to reign over your areas of concern.
What would your family life be like if you asked like Jesus? What would your work world look like if you asked like Jesus?
Prayer:
Good Father, You are my Shepherd just like You are Jesus’ Shepherd. I shall not want. You’ve got this. Your Kingdom is the best thing that could ever hit my world. I want Your Kingdom to come and rule over the things that concern me today. You are good, so Your Kingdom is also good. May You reign supreme in my life!
Day Thirty-eight: Armor All
“He will not let your foot slip, He who watches over you will not slumber;” ~Psalm 121:3
Jesus taught us to ask our Father to “deliver us from the evil one.” Our daily conversation with Father has this natural flow to it: We begin by enjoying His Presence, which leads us to praise. Then, it is natural to bring our petitions before Him and ask for His perfect will to be done. Lastly, before we leave the closet of prayer to engage the world, we need Father’s protection.
God has promised to watch over us. He is a shield around us. (Psalm 3:3) The enemy might roar like a lion, but remember, our Jesus is THE Lion! We have nothing to fear, but this doesn’t mean we blindly go into battle unprepared. Jesus taught us to seek our Father’s protection.
We often think of protection in physical terms. While we prefer to not get hit by a bus, it is the spiritual realm that poses the greater threat of harm. The devil fights for your soul every single day. In prayer, you can shut the gates of your heart and close them off from your enemy’s onslaught…
…In thought: What percentage of your thoughts each day are negative? You actually have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:16) So, negative thoughts don’t come from you, they come from the devil. You need to shut them down.
…In attitude: Sometimes our attitude is sour because we are tired or stressed. But how much of that fatigue is brought on by our own choosing? Philippians 2:5, says that the attitude of Jesus is to think of others before Himself. When your focus is on benefiting others, it elevates your attitude.
…In word: Our words often set the tone for our day. If you use your words to build others up, you simply cannot go wrong. (Ephesians 4:29)
As you pray give your thoughts, attitudes and words to God and ask the Holy Spirit to control them. This is a great place to start in armoring up for the day ahead!
Prayer:
Father, help! The battle we fight is mostly between our ears and in our hearts. I submit my thoughts, attitudes and words to You today and I want to please You in all of them.
Day Thirty-Nine: For Later
“Record my lament, list my tears on Your scroll, are they not in Your record?” ~Psalm 56:8
As we come to the end of our 40-day prayer journey, let’s talk about a common struggle that many people have with prayer: When it goes unanswered. Sometimes it feels like God is unresponsive to our requests, and this can hurt us deeply.
The Psalmist imagined that God saved up his tears. In the New Living Translation of the Bible, it says that God saves our tears in a bottle. Our grief is as sacred to God as our joy. Your Father loves you so much that He remembers every tear you have shed. You are that priceless to Him. If God saves our tears, is it possible that God also saves good things for us in Heaven? Perhaps a prayer that seems to be unanswered is really just a prayer that God is saving for later? After all, here on earth we walk by faith, not by sight. (II Corinthians 5:7) This side of Heaven is the faith side. Once we get to Heaven, faith will be unnecessary. We walk by faith here, but we walk by sight there.
If you are God’s child, rest assured that you have won His heart. And if you have won His heart, you most certainly have won His ear. It is no small thing to have an audience with the Lord of all, and you get to call Him “Dad”! He has heard you and as a Good Father, He loves to give good gifts to His kids. He also knows the value of delayed gratification. Some gifts are just better when we wait for them.
Is it possible that what you perceive to be an unanswered prayer is really your Father saying, “Let’s save that one for later!” He speaks these words with a twinkle in His eye, knowing that when you do receive the answer, you will be utterly thrilled!
Prayer:
Faith is often difficult for me Father. I want to believe that You have heard my prayer, but without the physical results in front of me, I doubt. Thank You for all the times that You have quickly given answers to my prayer. Those are wonderful! But also, thank You for making me wait on many of my prayers. If you made this beautiful earth in 7 short days, I can only imagine what You’re doing as You make me wait!
Day Forty: Getting Started
“Lord, teach us to pray…” ~Luke 11:1
“Getting Started” is a funny way to end a book. Yet the beginning is exactly where we are. It will take the rest of eternity to go deeper in our communication with God. The good news is that you have the rest of eternity to do it! Communication is a skill that one cannot master, but the constant pursuit of doing better is what actually strengthens the bonds of the relationship.
Jesus loves His Father more than anyone else. His communication with Father was so magnetic that those who witnessed it wanted to learn it. Can you imagine what it must have been like to hear Jesus pray? If you ache to know Father in the way that Jesus does, you are on your way to praying like Jesus prayed.
Your desire for more of God is the greatest compliment you could give to God. It means that your experience thus far has proven to be good and you want more. God is infinite, so no matter what you have received from Him, you have only just begun. This is the nature of infinity. You never reach a measurable “half-way” point. God is infinitely wonderful which means you will always feel like you just got started. God is so big that He has to stoop to see the stars! Naturally, your experience of Him will always leave you wanting more.
So where do you go next? Keep going. Start this journal over again if it helps. Or find another booklet to guide you. Hopefully you have experienced some new things in your relationship with God and this has whetted your appetite for more.
In Deuteronomy 3:24, Moses said, "Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand….” With all that Moses witnessed, he wanted more. Let’s join Moses in asking God for more. We have only just begun!
Prayer:
Father, my experience of You is limited. Yet You are so good, how could I not want more!? Help me to know You as Jesus knows You. Teach me how to talk with You like Jesus talks with You. This is just the beginning of a long and wonderful friendship!
Epilogue. Enjoying Jesus is what it’s all about
Heaven is not where you’re going, Jesus is. He is the treasure of the ages. He is the pearl of greatest price. If Jesus were in a trailer park, that would be Heaven. Enjoying Jesus is the end game, the goal. This prayer journey has been an attempt to help us to taste the presence of Jesus when we pray. Jesus taught us to pray, not so that we can be good at prayer, but so that we can enjoy Him. It is possible to learn the mechanics of prayer and miss God in the process.
Have you ever met someone who seemed to really pray? I have a friend who pastors a church in California. This brother is from India. When Pastor Rajan prays it feels like Heaven opens up and we enter into a different realm. Praying with him makes me want to pray more.
One of the keys to learning about prayer is to get around people who know how to pray. Ask God to give you such opportunities. It is humbling, but it also inspiring and life-changing.
Of course, there is no better pray-er than Jesus. This is why we have attempted to learn from Him through this journey. The beauty of learning how to pray with Jesus is being with Jesus. (So even if we are not good at prayer, we still get Jesus!) There is no greater thing than knowing Jesus and being known by Jesus.
And so, as we close this final page, let us pray together…
Jesus, You are the best Big Brother I could ever ask for. Thank You for opening the way for me to know our Father too. I want to know Him like You do. I want to talk with Him like You do. I want to learn how to hang out with Him all day, every day. There is nothing in this world that compares with knowing You. If it wasn’t written in Your Word, I wouldn’t believe it, but God, You call me up to sit with You in Heavenly realms. Awesome! So here I come Dad! I’m entering Heaven’s Living Room where You are and right up to You with all of my stuff. I love You Dad! You’re incredible.
New River community church
newriverchurch.org
314 Woodbridge Street Manchester, CT 06042
860.648.2970