Morning Moments

The Disciple's Prayer

Knowing how to pray effectively (Jas 5:16) is the desire of every true believer in Christ. Understanding that the best of human intentions, and our most profitable prospects are rejected by God is essential to learning how to pray. God does not follow what man has initiated, rather man must follow what God has initiated.

Man's most precious commodity is time, and if we are to learn to pray, we must take the time necessary. That is why when we study the lives of real prayer warriors, we discover that they all have one thing in common - they sacrificed other things to pray. We often see Jesus plagued by the crowds, working the work of Him who sent Him while it was day, but at night, when every man went to his own house, Jesus went to the mountain to pray (Jn 7:53).

We find Jesus spending whole nights in prayer. He spent 40 days and nights praying in the wilderness, yet what we know as "The Lord's Prayer," contains only 66 words in the King James Version. It can be repeated in less than 1 minute, but it has enormous benefit to believers. This was Jesus' response to those disciples who ask Him to teach them to pray. He is not giving a little formula to be quoted, rather He is giving us insight into the kind of praying that makes heaven move.

W. Phillip Keller says, "the profound, eternal concepts compressed into its few, concise phrases shine with enduring brillance. These truths radiated from the very heart of our Lord as He moved among men. They embrace the deepest secrets of God, quietly stated in human language of disarming simplicity."

When we discover the true power of prevailing prayer, we will let go of anything and anybody that would prevent us from praying.
Prayer bannishes the littleness of man with the greatness of God. Big man, small god.

Let us petition Him now as the disciples petitioned Him then with, "Lord, teach us to pray..." Lk 11:1. As we do, He guides us into the very throne room of the Father, as we see -

God's Paternity - "Our Father"

Throughout the OT the name for God (YHWH) was unspoken for fear of Offense. This relationship is one of truth and trust. Though we may not all be able to experience it in our home life, we certainly can in our spiritual life. Our Father has presented us with the Truth in His Word and we can Trust Him because of it. It gives us the truth about God and the truth about man, and the truth about man is that God made man to be the truth about God. That is the Truth, and we can trust it.

Rarely do human fathers understand their role in shaping the character of their children from infancy. The love and laughter, the tenderness and tears, the songs and the sighs all make their mark on us. It is father who is to teach us and train us, nudge us and nurture us into the adults we ultimately become. What our earthly fathers do faultily, our heavenly Father does so well.

God's Preeminence - "in heaven"

It is Not Just a Place - Heaven is a place! It is the operations center of all of creation's activity. It is the place where history is written in the future, where the future is settled in the past. It is the place of the throne of God and the threats of Satan. It is the place where time and eternity meet and where the Sovereignty and Supremacy of God are settled and are never suspect. Heaven is a place, but - Not Just a Place!

It is Also a Palace - It is in this palace that the King lives. King Jesus! He has been exalted as the Son begotten of the Father. It is here that we discover the beauty of holiness, where the cherubim before the throne cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy." It is here where instruction is given for the sun to shine, the rain to fall. It is here from the King's Chamber that the birds get their song, and the flower gets its beauty. It is from the throne that the moon and the stars receive reflective power. It is from here - heaven that all things created are thus sustained.

God's Priority - "hallowed...thy name"

The Revelation of His Name - This is not a mere casual reference to the honor of His name. It isn't some name or title attached to His deity, so that we might simply have a point of reference. It rather communicated His Character, His Person, His Power and Authority. It conveys all that He is innately or inherently.

If we see the word "Stradivarius" on a violin we certainly would not refer to it as a fiddle. We would not be careless but careful with it. Whether or not we knew music, or could play the violin, we would understand what great caution and respect should be shown for the work of art.

If that should be our attitude toward a creation of man, how much more reverence should we show toward the Creator of man.

PRAYER: Father, please take our prayers and make us pray-ers.