Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Deuteronomy 7-9
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Luke 11:2-4
Jesus: Here’s how to pray:
Father in heaven, may Your name be revered.
May Your kingdom come.
May Your will be accomplished on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us the food we need for tomorrow,
And forgive us for our wrongs,
for we forgive those who wrong us.
And lead us away from temptation.
And save us from the evil one.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
How many times have you recited the Lord’s Prayer without really thinking about what you’re saying? If you’re honest, you’ll admit you’ve done it a lot if you’ve been to very many religious events. Somewhere along the way we decided to pray that prayer and let it become our prayer. But too often we just recite the words without thinking. We don’t let it be the pattern of our prayer, but instead just let it become the words we say without thinking about them.
If you’ll go back and examine the scriptures again, the disciples never asked Jesus to teach them what to pray, but how to pray. They never asked what words to say, but how to reach the Father and get the results Jesus seemed to get when He reached out to His Father. That’s what the disciples were searching for, a pattern for prayer that kept them close to the One who could make a difference in their lives.
So let’s look at the pattern and see what we can find. First, Jesus acknowledged who God is and His sovereignty as the One worthy to be revered. Then He shows His desire for servant-hood to the Creator relishing His will above our own. His plans and His direction. So the second thing Jesus says we should do is seek His direction for our life and ask for God’s help in using us to accomplish His purpose and plans through us.
Next, God knows we have needs and Jesus says to ask God to meet those needs. But He also shows us that abundance is not what we should seek, but enough for tomorrow. That’s all. We should do that for two reasons. Having enough for tomorrow means tomorrow we need to come back to God to ask again for provisions for the next day. We must depend on Him consistently for our needs. Second, have just enough but not too much keeps us from falling into the trap of the wealthy thinking we don’t need God because we have everything we need.
Fourth, we should ask God to search our hearts and see if there is anything that stands between us and our brothers so that we can forgive them, then search our hearts and see if there is anything between us and God. You might think I reversed those, but I really didn’t. God expects us to forgive those who wronged us first. Remember, He forgives us in the same way, in the same measure, to the same extent, we forgive others He says. So search your heart to find anyone you need to forgive then ask for God’s forgiveness. You’ll be surprised at how well that works.
Finally, ask God for His protection as you journey the path He lays out for you. Satan does not want us to follow God and will put every temptation in our path he can to keep us from following Him. But God can help us through those times of tempting if we let Him. He can give us the strength to withstand the things Satan puts in our path or better yet, give us an exit from the situation so we don’t even have to face the temptation in the first place. That’s the real secret to success, find the exit sign and leave!
So there we have it. A simple pattern to follow in prayer. Acknowledge who God is. Ask what He wants done. Ask for help with your concerns and needs. Ask for His forgiveness for any wrongs. Ask for protection. How much time do you spend in each of those five sections Jesus introduced? It’s up to you. Jesus gave His disciples a very short example and sometimes you may have only a few minutes to share with your Father in heaven. Sometimes you might have a lot to talk about in one or more sections. Sometimes you might even spend hours discussing with God who He is to you and why He matters so much in your life. Maybe He overwhelms you in that very first section of your prayer and you just spend your whole devotion time stuck there sometimes.
Maybe you find some problems overwhelming your life some days and those “give us what we need for tomorrow” words remind you God will help you through those troubles, but you need to spend some time there for His assurance and to help settle your mind in the middle of the crisis you’re facing.
Maybe you’re facing some terrible temptations that are bringing you to the verge of falling and you need His strength to help you find a way out. You need God to give you a flashing exit sign. You just can’t seem to see the doors quick enough and need something to help you find your way out. You need His protection and seek it with all your heart.
A simple but powerful pattern Jesus gave us. Now go out and use it to touch the throne room of heaven as you pray today.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.