Daily Focus
Let's Hallow His name by rehearsing Who He is:
(Jehovah Tsidkenu)
YAHWEH-TSIDKENU [yah-way-tzid-kay-noo]: "The Lord Our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 33:16) – As with YHWH-M'Kaddesh, it is God alone who provides righteousness (from the Hebrew word tsidkenu) to man, ultimately in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who became sin for us "that we might become the Righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The Bible says we are to enter into the presence of God with praise and thanksgiving. The Lord's Prayer starts with praise. "Hollowed be Thy name" means we come to God and honor Him, worship Him, and praise Him. Sometimes we rush through our grocery list without saying anything good about God. What motivates us? Our needs. But first God wants us to open the prayer gate with worship and praise. Use the names of God, the Psalms, anything that will help you praise. If we first do not see God high and lifted up in all His greatness and power, we won't have the confidence that He can answer our prayers. Make God big in your prayer before you do anything else. Praise Him first. AMEN. (Read this scripture Psalm 100:4)
Father, we enter Your gates with thanksgiving in our hearts, and with praise. Please allow us to enter Your court in Jesus' name. We lift up Your holy Name. Jesus, teach us to pray as God desire us to pray. Please bless our prayers not to be selfish, but giving You all the glory, all the praises, and all the honor, because we know all power is Yours and only Yours. Bless this study on prayer to enable us to pray more effectively as Prayer Warriors should. This we pray in Jesus' name. AMEN
Matthew 6:5-16
Beginning Prayer:
Father, we enter Your gates with thanksgiving in our hearts, and with praise. Please allow us to enter Your court in Jesus' name. We lift up Your holy Name. Jesus, teach us to pray as God desire us to pray. Please bless our prayers not to be selfish, but giving You all the glory, all the praises, and all the honor, because we know all power is Yours and only Yours. Bless this study on prayer to enable us to pray more effectively as Prayer Warriors should. This we pray in Jesus' name. AMEN
Subject: "The Lord's Prayer" (Introduction)
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:5-17
Anyone who speaks or writes on the Lord's Prayer has entered a field of controversy because of the two extreme interpretations of the Prayer—the ultra-liberal and the super-conservative. Any exposition on this prayer comes into the range of the heavy artillery of one or both of these groups. My purpose in examining it is not to enter the field of apologetics or logistics, but to strengthen the deep desire for reality in prayer in these days of superficiality. The only excuse for studying the Prayer is to lay upon the heart of God's people the urgency for knocking on His door, the necessity for asking, and the importunity for seeking. Nevertheless, in our zeal and enthusiasm we have stressed the importance of knocking at the right door, asking in the proper way, and seeking in the correct direction. This message is sent out with the prayer that it may stimulate God's people to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
There is always a question about prayer:
What is Prayer?
The most basic definition of prayer is "talking to God." Prayer is not meditation or passive reflection; it is direct address to God. It is the communication of the human soul with the Lord who created the soul. Prayer is the primary way for the believer in Jesus Christ to communicate his emotions and desires with God and to fellowship with God.
Prayer can be audible or silent, private or public, formal or informal. All prayer must be offered in faith (James 1:6), in the name of the Lord Jesus (John 16:23), and in the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26). As the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia puts it, "Christian prayer in its full New Testament meaning is prayer addressed to God as Father, in the name of Christ as Mediator, and through the enabling grace of the indwelling Spirit." The wicked have no desire to pray (Psalm 10:4), but the children of God have a natural desire to pray (Luke 11:1).
Prayer is described in the Bible as seeking God's favor (Exodus 32:11), pouring out one's soul to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:15), crying out to heaven (2 Chronicles 32:20), drawing near to God (Psalm 73:28, KJV), and kneeling before the Father (Ephesians 3:14).
Paul wrote, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6–7). Worry about nothing; pray about everything.
Everything? Yes, God wants us to talk with Him about everything. How often should we pray? The biblical answer is "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We should keep a running conversation going with God all day long. Some find the ACTS formula of prayer helpful, but there is really no special formula for how to pray in the Bible. We should just do it. We can pray under any and all circumstances. Prayer develops our relationship with God and demonstrates our trust and utter dependence upon Him.
Prayer is the Christian's way of communicating with God. We pray to praise God and thank Him and tell Him how much we love Him. We pray to enjoy His presence and tell Him what is going on in our lives. We pray to make requests and seek guidance and ask for wisdom. God loves this exchange with His children, just as we love the exchange we have with our children. Fellowship with God is the heart of prayer. Too often we lose sight of how simple prayer is really supposed to be.
When we make petitions to God, we let God know exactly where we stand and what we would like to see happen. In our prayers, we must admit that God is greater than we are and ultimately knows what is best in any given situation (Romans 11:33–36). God is good and asks us to trust Him. In prayer, we say, essentially, "Not my will, but your will be done." The key to answered prayer is praying according to the will of God and in accordance with His Word. Prayer is not seeking our own will but seeking to align ourselves with the will of God more fully (1 John 5:14–15; James 4:3).
The Bible contains many examples of prayer and plenty of exhortations to pray (see Luke 18:1; Romans 12:12; and Ephesians 6:18). God's house is to be a house of prayer (Mark 11:17), and God's people are to be people of prayer: "Dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love" (Jude 1:20–21).
Weekly Pattern: Praise
Prayers from the Bible: Moses
Questions:
1). How often do you pray?
2). How do you pray? (What is your outline?)
a. Does your sequence of prayer mirror the Lord's Prayer?
b. How is it different?
c. How can you change your prayer structure to be more like Christ's example for prayer?
3). How often do you pray the Lord's Prayer on your own (excluding during a worship service)?
4). Why do you think that many believers do not follow the Lord's Prayer in their personal devotions?
a. Why is prayer important?
b. What happens to us when we neglect to pray?
5). Read Matthew 6:7-8.
a. What are "vain repetitions"?
b. Do you ever find yourself repeating the same prayer over and over without any real meaning behind the words?
c. Why do the heathen repeat over and over?
d. Do your prayers ever compare to those of the heathen or the hypocrites?
6). Where do you pray most frequently?
a. How comfortable are you in leading public prayers in a group?
b. How comfortable are you in your private prayers, expressing your most personal needs to God?
c. Why is there pressure to sound "religious" when praying in public?
d. When praying in public, what is your focus if you are concerned about how you sound to others?
7). What is the most basic definition for prayer?
8). Explain how prayer can be presented to God.
9). To the best of your knowledge explain (Romans 8:26).
10). How often should we pray?
11). When we pray what should be our focus?
Week # 1
Weekly Song:
Weekly Praise:
Weekly Reading Assignment: (Acts 1-2)
Ending Prayer:
Bible Study…………………
Our reading assignment will be the book of Acts of the Apostle. Christians began to pray at this time. The book of Acts talks a lot about prayer. Enjoy your reading!
The Prayer Jesus Taught His Disciples
Matthew 6:5-16
Preliminary Introductions
Praise the Lord, we are about to take a journey into a study that will bless our prayer life, a study on prayer, the prayer Jesus taught His disciples. The Lord's Prayer is a great pattern for prayer, and it is the most famous prayer in the world. It should more accurately be called the Disciples' Prayer since the prayer asks for forgiveness of sins- and we know Christ never sinned. It is the Lord's Prayer because He taught it, not because He prayed it. Go into any church that uses this prayer in it services and you will find the entire congregation able to recite it from memory. I am a witness to that! Even many people who are not regular church attendees know this prayer. It has become part of the culture of countries like the United States that were founded with a Christian belief system. Pastors, parents, and teachers have taught it for generations. We often hear the Lord's Prayer recited at weddings, even more often at funerals, and frequently in hospitals. Some families recite it at mealtime and other at bedtime. There are just 66 words in this prayer, but it has become the basis of countless sermons, books, and even songs. Andrew Murray once said, "It is a form of prayer that becomes the model and the inspiration for all other prayer, and yet always draws us back to itself as the deepest utterance of our souls before God." The Lord's Prayer is perfectly balanced. It teaches us to look first to God, then to ourselves. It teaches us to forgive and receive forgiveness. And it teaches us to depend wholly upon God for everything: Amen.
In this bible study we will have prayers, questions, reading assignment, and we will discover many prayers from the Bible. Each week we will look at a pattern for prayer, which is Praise, Priorities, Provision, Personal Relationships, Protection, and Praise Again from the study of Dr. David Jeremiah.
Some material is from Dr. David Jeremiah's study book "Prayer the Great Adventure," and some from online bible studies I trust.
Let Us Pray: Table of Content:
Week 1-Introduction
Week 2-Our Father which art in heaven; hallowed be thy Name
Week 3-Our Father which art in heaven (Part 2)
Week 4-Hallowed be thy Name
Week 5- Hallowed be thy Name Part 2
Week 6-Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Week 7-Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven Part 2
Week 8-As it is in heaven (Part 3)
Week 9-Give us this day our daily bread
Week10-Give us this day our daily bread (Part 2)
Week 11-And forgive us our debts; as we forgive debtors
Week 12-And forgive us our debts; as we forgive debtors (Part 2)
Week 13-And lead us not into Temptation; But Deliver us from evil
Week 14-For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever.
Week 15- Forever and ever AMEN
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." (Matthew 6:9-13)
May the Lord Bless You,
This new study is on Prayer. Prayer is our communication with our Father in Heaven. Prayer is very important and a powerful tool for Christians. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, because they asked Him. This prayer was recorded and passed on to us. "The Lord's Prayer." My earthly daddy taught us to read this prayer when we were old enough to read before school time. I have been blessed with the knowledge of this prayer since I can remember to read. It was a blessing! There is so much to learn from this prayer. Jesus, teach us again, amen. See you in the next study!
