One night I cried out to the Lord in prayer: How many times do I have to pray for the same thing over and over again until I see change? And the voice in my mind immediately said: Rejoice in the Lord always; pray continuously for this is the Lord’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:1)
God’s response to me was right up there with Jesus’ response to Peter about forgiveness. Peter asked Jesus: “how many times do I have to forgive my brother? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him: I do not tell you seven times but seventy times seven.” Jesus was not giving an exact amount but rather a symbolic statement referring to perfection or completion. In other words: as many times as it takes.
Sometimes we don’t like the answer we get. Sometimes we get tired of praying for the same thing or even tired of forgiving the same sin over and over. But God alone is Sovereign! He alone knows what it takes and what He is trying to work out in each person in the process. The virtues of the Holy Spirit or “the fruit of the Spirit” are achieved in us little by little. It’s a process and it takes time, for some, a lifetime.
Patience or long suffering is one of those virtues. It certainly is not my best virtue, in fact, quite the contrary. I was once told not to pray for patience because God will always give you something to be patient about. So, I stopped praying for patience, yet that had no bearing on the fact that the Sovereign Lord was going to work patience out in me whether I liked it or not. Now, as a more mature Christian, I recognize that and have decided to accept that it is God’s will that will be done, not my will.
In case you’re wondering how I knew that the scripture that came to mind was God’s response to me and not merely my own recollection of memorized scripture, let me reassure you that God always speaks to us through His Word. If you think you have heard something from God that does not line up with, or is contrary to, scripture, it is not from God. He speaks to us through His word in different ways. It could come to you in your thoughts, or by reading it in the Bible, or even as counsel from a friend. Sometimes the Lord even drives the point home by confirming it through another source.
For example, the night the Lord brought this particular scripture to my mind, I huffed and puffed in disappointment as I went about my day. I stopped thinking about my problem because I didn’t like the answer. Frankly, I was tired of praying continuously, so instead of focusing on prayer with a joyful attitude, I bought myself some flowers and preoccupied myself with the arrangement. It was spectacular, but it didn’t match the colors on the beautiful, colorful scripture refrigerator magnet that is right next to my floral display. I can be ridiculously anal with color coordination in my decorating style. So, I replaced it with another one from my seasonal collection of scripture refrigerator magnets that my husband designed for me. Although it wasn’t autumn yet, I decided to put that one up because the colors matched the flowers. I sighed in relief at the beauty of the total look. When I paused to read the scripture I had just put up, it was the same one the Lord had placed in my mind the night before.
When God drives a point home, it’s best not to ignore it. In fact, usually when you receive confirmation like that, it leaves you with a sense of the miraculous and you begin to praise Him in spite of your problems. I have a friend who sees little miracles from God everywhere! It is so inspiring to see her overcome the heartache and disappointment of her difficulties in the middle of her long suffering. It’s a virtue of the Holy Spirit she brightly displays for all to see.
The Lord’s Prayer
We don’t have to get frustrated by the thought of praying continuously. You may even wonder if you should pray a specific way in order to get results. Jesus’ disciples asked how they ought to pray and He gave them the Lord’s Prayer. Many of you are familiar with it and some refer to it as “The Our Father”. (Matthew 6: 9-13; Luke 11: 2-4) In some religious denominations, they have traditions where it is recited word for word, over and over again with other recorded prayers. But, the Lord cautions us not to get too wordy or repetitive with our prayers. (Matthew 6:7) Therefore, I will break down this prayer so you can get a better understanding of it and meditate on that, rather than just recite it.
Hallowed be Your name
The Lord’s prayer starts out with the words “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name”. Hallowed means holy. We are to address the Lord in awe of His holiness. Not only does this show proper reverence for God as Sovereign in your life, but it reinforces who He is to you and what He is able to do. It builds your faith! In my last blog, I wrote about praising God more than asking for specifics. This prayer gets to the heart of that.
My dear friend Debbie, who sees miracles in the middle of everything, always starts her prayers with these words: “Father in the name of Jesus, God we thank you, we thank you for your power and your presence. You hold the planets in place. You breathed and a hundred billion stars came into being….” It’s an awe-inspiring thought! In fact those words were the inspiration for the cover photo of this blog. (check out my friend Debbie’s latest book, titled, Miracles in the Middle at gracelovewell.org.)
When thinking about God’s holiness, I like to think about His character and His many names. He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Provides; He is Jehovah Raphe, the Lord Heals; He is El Roi, The Lord Sees; He is El Shaddai, Almighty God, nothing is impossible for Him…. You can see where I am going with this. The more you read God’s Word, the more you learn about who He is and what He is able to do, the greater your faith becomes, and the easier it is to have confidence in Him and His promises. Our Father in heaven is Holy and there is none like Him!
Your Kingdom come
Can you imagine what the Kingdom of God looks like? In the book of Revelations, it tells us that there will be no more tears and no more sickness. So, when we pray “Your kingdom come” we are asking God to manifest His kingdom here on earth. But, there’s more to it than that. Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world, a light shining in the darkness. If God’s kingdom were to exist here on earth, evil would not exist. We are instructed to be the goodness that the world needs, so that people can see Jesus in us and what his kingdom will look like. Therefore, when we pray “Your kingdom come”, we should be asking God how we can be more of the light in the world. Then, follow through with whatever comes to mind, provided it lines up with His word.
Your will be done
We must remember God’s will is always better than ours, He has our best interests at heart and knows how to give us our best life ever. James 4:2 says: “You don’t have because you don’t ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” God does not answer selfish prayers. And sometimes we might be praying for a specific thing that is not God’s will, because it may ultimately cause us more harm than good. Therefore, I usually try to line up my prayers with scripture, so that I know I am praying God’s will. That’s another good reason to read the Bible.
King David was known as a man after God’s own heart. In spite of his flaws, many of the psalms that David wrote are magnificent prayers that can be prayed by inserting your or a loved ones name in it. This is not only the case with just the psalms, but much of scripture itself. When you come across it and feel a connection to it, write it out. That feeling is from God. When you pray like this you can be confident that you are praying God’s will. We pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We know that since heaven is perfection, we are therefore asking to achieve that same perfection here on earth. We can express our desire to have no more tears, pain or suffering as it is in heaven. Knowing God is a God who heals, we can be confident of His ability to answer that prayer. But, His time and His ways are not our ways; we learn patience in the process.
Give us this day our daily bread
Our daily bread is a reference for all that we need. When we acknowledge that everything we have comes from God, then we realize that He already has been providing for us. When we call on him by His name Jehovah Jireh, The Lord Our Provider, we are believing in faith for him to continue to provide for all of our needs. Any financial issues, health issues, shelter or food He is able to provide and will continue to do so. We must also remember that we are supposed to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world. As such, we should be mindful to ask how we can provide for those less fortunate than us and then be obedient in doing so. In my last blog, I shared a scripture about generous giving and how you will be blessed in return. Give to others and God will give back to you more than what you can ask or imagine, providing it is not selfishly motivated.
Forgive us our trespasses
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Messiah, your trespasses or sins are forgiven. Just a reminder: sin is missing the mark of God’s perfection. We are all sinners and fall short of God’s glory or perfection. We need forgiveness in order to draw near to Him. It is written in His word that if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that he rose from the dead, your sins will be forgiven and you shall be saved. (Romans 10:9) You are saved from eternal separation from God, which the Bible refers to as hell. You get to experience heaven and have no worries about being stuck in outer darkness or eternal flames forever. However, Jesus said: “if you don’t forgive others their sins, neither will your sins be forgiven.” You can read about what Jesus says about unforgiveness in the parable of the unforgiving servant. (Matthew 18: 21-35)
It is good to know we do not have to feel guilty once we have turned away from our sins (which is repentance) and received the free gift of salvation. But, what feels even better, is forgiving others. When you harbor unforgiveness, you risk creating certain health issues for yourself. The enemy of your soul loves unforgiveness because it destroys your faith. He is also the author of sickness and disease. We give that devil a foothold into our heart to have his way with his lies and deceptions when we do not forgive others. So it’s self explanatory: forgive others as you have been forgiven. You may even get healed of some health issues in the process.
Lead us not into temptation
Some people think God does not tempt us, so why do we have to pray for that? While it is true that God himself doesn’t put temptation before us, He does allow demons to do so. He does this in order to reveal to ourself what is in our heart. If you think you are without sin, wait until the next time you get tempted and end up doing something that you know missed the mark of God’s perfection. Just remember to turn away from it, and that you are forgiven, thanks to Jesus. God’s word tell us he will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear without him providing a way out. (1Corinthians 10:13) Oftentimes, the way out is resistance and prayer.
Deliver us from evil
“Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and He will flee from you.” (James 4:7) That’s the way out of temptation, by resisting evil. You have everything you need in Christ Jesus to resist temptation and overcome evil. It is God’s will for you to be far from evil. So, knowing that God answers all prayers asked in Jesus’ name that are in accord with His will, this is one prayer you can be confident he will answer. However, bear in mind that deliverance from something usually implies a fight of sorts. Remember we are not fighting against flesh and blood but rather the powers and principalities in this dark world. (Ephesians 6) But, Praise God, for giving us spiritual weapons to fight this battle; therefore, we shall be delivered from it. For the Kingdom, the power and the glory are God’s, forever and ever Amen.
It is God’s will for us to rejoice always in spite of our problems and pray continuously. The Holy Spirit gives us joy in the middle of the heartache. God’s word says of Jesus, “that for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross.” (Hebrews 12:2) You can have joy in the middle of your heartaches. You don’t have to stress out over the many things in your life and in the lives of others or about how to pray about it. Jesus gave us clear simple instruction. It’s not meant to be repetitive, but rather a guideline to what is most basic and important in life. When you meditate on that more often, you will be praying God’s will for your best life ever.
Create a prayer closet
Lastly, I just want to elaborate a little more on writing out and personalizing scripture. There was a great movie out a few years back called War Room. It was about a woman’s spiritual battle over her husband’s infidelity and how she dealt with it. In essence, it was based on Matthew 6:6 and how she created a prayer closet to fight against the enemy. I loved the little inner room she created for that specific purpose. I wanted to do it for myself but unfortunately I didn’t have a spare closet, mine is a shared closet. But where there is a will, there is a way! I used the wall that our robes are hooked on to post my specific scripture based prayers that I had written out and personalized. I also placed a chair in the closet (which unfortunately became a faux valet), never the less, I was all set for the times that the battle would rage. When the trying times emerged and all hell was breaking loose in my house, I would go into my closet, put that chair against the door, throw the robes on the floor, and sit down in front of those prayers and read them out loud. When I emerged, not only did I have the peace of Jesus that surpasses all understanding, but my home was once again a quiet and peaceful place.
If you find yourself in circumstances where you need to be more specific in your prayers, try that for yourself. Search the psalms and the scriptures for words that relate to your feelings. Write them out inserting your name or your loved ones name, and post it in your prayer closet. When the conflict comes, you will be prepared for the spiritual battle with your spiritual weapons.
Thank you for taking time to read my blog. I hope this explanation of the Lord’s Prayer encourages you and helps you build a strong and effective prayer life. May the Lord’s blessing and favor be upon you! I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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