Many people have told me that they cannot pray to God. They say that they don’t know what or how to pray. Even people that has been saved for many years have told me that they just don’t have words left anymore.
I don’t really understand why people struggle with this, since the Lord gave us a prayer to pray. We grow up being taught the Lord’s Prayer, may it be by our parents or in Sunday School, but then as we get older, we forget about it. We also start believing that we need to have our own prayer with beautiful words and longs sentences.
Maybe we think that by doing this, it will impress God, but the reality is, God is already impressed by us, if we serve Him. We do not need to pray big prayers to get His attention.
I am not saying that you cannot pray beautiful prayers, but the problem is that we sometimes lose the plot and the purpose of prayer. We need to keep our focus on what is important. Prayer is not difficult, nor is it complicated. We ourselves make it complicated.
Let’s Read Matt 6:5-8: And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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. And 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.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, praying long prayers will not change anything. Praying the most perfect words and sentences will not make things happen faster. By praying louder and louder will not change anything either, in fact, God is not deaf, He can hear you! You can even pray in dead silence and He can still hear you, because prayer is a spiritual act.
There is a good reason why Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer to pray, and one of it is the power that comes with it. Let me share a testimony with you about a lady and her teenage daughter in the US.
There was a huge tornado and the lady wanted to drive away, so she and her daughter got into the car, but as they left, the tornado picked up the car and took it high up into the air. The lady did not know what to do, but the Lord’s prayer, which she was taught at a young age, came to mind.
She started praying the Lord’s Prayer and in no time the daughter did the same. They closed their eyes and prayed continuously. When they stopped and opened their eyes, they realised that the car was back on the road with all four wheels on the ground. They themselves were also fine and had no injuries. Now tell me that the Lord’s prayer doesn’t have power!
Personally, I pray the Lord’s prayer daily, as I believe in its power. Even the disciples did this. After Jesus left this earth, the disciples prayed the Lord’s Prayer whenever they needed a breakthrough, guidance or protection. When Peter was in prison, he prayer the Lord prayer, not just daily, but right throughout the day.
My message today is not to say that you must stop praying your own prayers. My message is to say that the Lords prayer is a prayer Jesus gave us and we should not ignore it and the power that comes with it. We should pray this daily. When we pray the Lord’s prayer, do it with meaning, passion, and faith. Mean what you pray! Understand what you pray.
Matt 6:9-13:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
First, we give acknowledgement that our Lord is in Heaven, then we give praise to Him and His Kingdom. We then call on His Kingdom and His will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven, which means asking Him to let Heaven’s greatness, the glory, peace, power, safety and love rain down on earth.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
When we pray for our daily bread, we are not just praying for food, we are praying for God to provide in ALL our needs. Then we ask forgiveness for our sins, but take note that it says to forgive, as we forgive others! Read verse 14 and 15!
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.