The Lord's Prayer 1: Praise unto the Lord!

And He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done [held holy and revered] on earth as it is in heaven.

                                   - Luke 11:2 (Amplified Bible)

 'The Lord's Prayer'. It only takes a few moments to pray this but do you really know what you are praying? Have you paid attention? I am not blaming you, friend. Its something many Christians do - paying no attention to what they pray or utter when they pray. I was also like them. As a new

born Christian, I used to pray like this everyday. After 2 years, it struck me, 'Why am I doing this everyday? I am treating my prayer life like some scheduled anthem I sung every morning". Know about one of those radio-alarms that go off in the morning and you just bang it and don't pay any attention to what the broadcaster is saying? Prayer became somewhat as such - a morning wake-up call where I didn't mean a word I said. It took me 2 years to realize I had been praying religiously, not from the heart. Then God put a desire in my heart to yearn more.. more than religiousness, of course. He taught me to have an sincere relationship with Him. Not some fake "ho-ho-hallelujah" in the morning and every Sunday, but to have a deeper spiritual connection with Him. And believe me this, IT IS FULFILLING!

'Deep spiritual connection? How does that happen?' That's basically the question that one of the disciples asked Jesus when he said "teach us to pray.." (Luke 11: 1). And the Lord answered us by providing us a model prayer. 

Verse 2 says ' Our Father Who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name..". This is a verse of praise, by which we glorify His name. Glorifying God above all else is the beginning of the Lord's prayer. Before anything and everything, we praise God. Our hearts cheer for Him, in the knowing that He takes care of everything. Is it possible for a child to cheer for his dad if he cannot trust him to take care of him, or to give what he asks of his father? Our heavenly Father, Almighty God, is omnipotent. We are engraved on the palms of His hands (Isa 49:16). And He is true to His Word and takes care of us in all circumstances. Jesus thus pressed us on to trust, rely on and believe in the Lord. When you believe in Him to be all capable, and put complete trust in Him, your heart will rejoice in His name. Therefore, friend, trust in God and rejoice in Him.

We shall continue tomorrow with the same verse yet a different topic. 

                                                                                      God bless you.