Anyone who knows me is probably aware that I like machinery, and electronics in particular. When I was in junior high school I got interested in it, and started fooling around with radios. One of my friends gave me some microphones and speakers that I think one of his friends had stolen out of pay telephones, and I experimented with them in various ways. In college I took a course in radio/tv production. and I also became a photography nut. In seminary I again took a course in religious radio and tv, and right now I'm a computer nut.
Now, what do all these things have in common? They all involve various forms of communication. Before electricity and electronics., the only way to communicate was by direct sight or direct hearing. All sorts of systems were worked out, from the American Indian's smoke signals to African drums. Then came Samuel Morse and the telegraph, and after that Marconi and the wireless. From there it has been steady development, going to greater distance and reliability. In the 1930s television was developed, and the communication factor jumped with the addition of vision. Incidentally, the "videophones" that were predicted for so many years are finally becoming available, because with the aid of computers, they are now using light itself, instead of electricity, to carry information through cables over long distances. And now, of course, we're using the Internet in various ways.
As amazing as all of that is, there's been an even better system around for thousands of years, and that system is called prayer. It covers not just the distance around the world, or even from the earth to the moon, but from the finite to the infinite, from the temporal to the eternal, from the profane to the sacred. By it we can communicate anything at all with Almighty God, and he in turn can express anything he wants to.
However, if a jungle tribesman were to see a telephone for the first time, would he have any idea how to use it? If they saw
someone using it they might hold the handset up and make noises, but all they would hear would be the dial tone. If they got
brave and tried dialing something, they would have no idea what the numbers meant and so would not connect with anyone.
On top of that, since dialing makes the dial tone stop, they would probably think they had broken it and would be afraid of
being punished.
In the same way, most people have no idea how to use this wonderful system called prayer. We think we are sophisticated because we can handle the telephone system, but we need to take time to learn to use Prayer. Fortunately, we have an instruction manual. It's called the Bible. Jesus used prayer often and well, and when his disciples saw what it did for him, they wanted him to teach them, too. That's why we have this wonderfully simple set of instructions: This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need. Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One." [Matthew 6:9-13] Now, Jesus taught about prayer many times, saying such things as "When you pray, don't keep repeating a lot of words," and "Don't expect your prayers to get through to God if there's a wall between you and Your brother." However, this is where Jesus gives us the basic "dialing information" for prayer.
Our Father Jesus, as the Son of God, taught us the wonderful reality that God is our heavenly Father. I could talk for a long time about what it means for God to be our Father, but instead I'd like to point out one thing: he is OUR Father, and his response to my prayer or your prayer is going to be out of his love for ALL of us.
in heaven To make connection, you have to have the right number. It is also important to realize that when we pray, we are
tapping into the power of heaven itself. We aren't just asking someone next door to help us, we are making connection with
the source of all the power in the universe.
may your Kingdom come When Christ is King, then everything operates as it was designed to. However, praying like this also means we are placing ourselves under that Lordship, and that means absolute obedience.
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven Even Jesus prayed, "Not my will, but yours be done." There is a big element of trust here, trusting God to know what is BEST, not just for us individually but for the Kingdom of God. This doesn't mean we can't pray boldly or specifically. That's a trap that Satan often gets Christians in; their prayers become so general and so hesitant that they accomplish nothing at all. It does mean that we are to read the Bible and pray in harmony with it, allowing God to show us what his will is in specific areas so that we can pray boldly indeed.
Give us today the food we need It is NOT wrong to pray for personal needs. God loves to give us good things, but if we fail to ask for them, two things happen: often enough, he can't give them to us, and then if he does, we fail to recognize it as a direct gift from God, and so we fail to thank and praise him. God enjoys answering prayer, and that's one reason he wants us to pray.
Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us This is important enough that Jesus taught on it again and again. God has provided forgiveness for every sin we have ever committed, through the blood of Christ. However, if we fail to forgive what other people do to us, we block the flow of God's forgiveness to us. Other than lack of faith, this probably hinders more prayers than anything else.
Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One We have to remember that we are in a spiritual battle, and that it is only by the power of God that we stand.
This is the basis for prayer, whatever or whoever we are praying for. If we understand this, then we can indeed approach
God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.