Eugene Peterson states, “Prayer accomplishes within us, within our spirits, deep within our souls, what is later lived out in the circumstances and conditions of our obedience. If we are addicted to ‘results’ we will quickly lose interest in prayer. When we pray, we willingly participate in what God is doing, without knowing precisely what God is doing, how God is doing it, or when we will know what is going on, if ever. We ask for what we need to do in order to be participants in the hallowing of God’s name, the coming of God’s kingdom, and the doing of God’s will.”
In navigating and exploring the Gospel narratives, we find that there are certain occasions that prompt Jesus to pray. But in discovery of these sacred moments (our last post), we also start to unpack what Jesus tells us about praying. Here’s the skeleton. In your study you can put flesh on the bones as you trust the Spirit to add the breath life.
- Jesus told us to pray the prayer that He prayed in Matthew 6:1-13. When we are at a loss as to how to engage in our relationship with God, this prayer gives us perspective and orients us to the kingdom.
- He told us to pray in faith, without wavering or doubting.
- We are to make prayer a priority in our local assemblies.
- We are to ask for wisdom in “binding and loosing.” This activity is vital in interpreting Scripture. We will return to this in a future posting.
- We should pray for partners in kingdom work, otherwise known as praying for “laborers for the harvest.”
- Jesus told us to pray to that we will stay alert and stand firm and be prepared for deception and temptation. We are to be actively and aggressively involved in diminishing and dispelling the forces of darkness.
- He told us to pray for clarity in obedience and purity in worship.
- We are to “pray for our lives.” It is vital for survival in our world and for our relationship with our God.
Next time we will begin to look at the actual prayers that Jesus prayed.