I recently read an article where someone was charging people nearly $1500.00 to attend a seminar on how to learn to pray.
Let us look at Luke 11:1-13.
1. And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3. Give us day by day our daily bread.
4. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
5. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6. For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12. Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Notice the structure in this prayer. First Jesus gives commendation to God the Father, then, at that point, He makes His solicitations. Giving praise to God first places us in the right temperament to talk to Him concerning our desires. Time after time our prayers are more similar to that of a shopping list rather than a genuine discussion.
These verses center around three parts of petition. The substance (11:2-4), our diligence (11:5-10), and God's unwavering faithfulness (11:13).
God's providing is on a daily basis. We cannot store it up and afterward cut off correspondence with God, and we dare not be vain. In the event that we are running dangerously short on strength, we ought to ask ourselves, how long have we been away from the Source?
At the point when Jesus trained the disciples on how to pray, He made forgiveness the foundation of their relationship with God. God has pardoned our transgressions, and in turn, we should now forgive the people who might have violated us. To stay unforgiving shows that we have not perceived that we, when all is said and done, profoundly should be forgiven. We ought to get some time to consider any individuals who might have wronged us. Have we genuinely forgiven them? How might God manage us if He regards us as we treat others?
Steadiness in petitioning God beats our harshness, not God's. It accomplishes other things to change our hearts and minds than Him. It helps us comprehend and communicate the depth of our necessities. Consistency in praying to God assists us with perceiving God's work when we see it.
Great fathers, despite the fact that they commit errors, treat their youngsters well. How much better our heavenly Father treats His youngsters. The main gift He at any point gives us is the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), whom He vowed to provide for all believers after His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to heaven (John 15:26).
Freely we have received, freely we should give (Matthew 10:8). God did not spare His only Son, but He delivered Him up for all of us, how shall He not with Him also freely give to us (Romans 8:32)? We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit, which is of God, so that we might know the things that God has freely given to us (1 Corinthians 2:12). He is the Alpha and Omega, and He will freely give to anyone who are thirsty from the fountain of the water of life (Revelation 21:6).
We do not need to pay anyone to teach us how to pray, Christ has already taught us how to pray.
Now let us take a look at Matthew 6:5-15.
5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9. After this manner therefore pray ye: 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, for ever. Amen.
14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Certain individuals, particularly the religious leaders, wanted to be viewed as being “holy,” and public petitioning God was one method for standing out. Nonetheless, Jesus saw through their bombastic demonstrations and instructed that the embodiment of prayer is definitely not a public style yet a confidential correspondence with God. There is a spot for public petition, however, to pray just where others will see you means that your genuine focal point is not God.
Rehashing similar words repeatedly like a meditative chant is not a method for guaranteeing God will hear them. There is nothing wrong with going to God repeatedly with similar issues. Jesus empowers tireless persistent prayer. However, He censures the shallow redundancy of words that are not presented with an earnest heart. We can never pray excessively assuming that our requests are true and genuine.
This is many times called the Lord’s Prayer since Christ gave it to the disciples. It very well may be an example for our prayer time. We ought to give God praise, appeal to God for His work on the planet, petition God for our everyday necessities, and appeal to God for help in our day-to-day battles.
The words “Our Father which art in heaven” demonstrates that God is not just glorious and heavenly yet in addition loving and personal. The principal line of this prayer is an assertion of recognition and a guarantee to respect God's blessed name. We can respect God's name by being mindful so as to utilize it in a respectful manner. If we utilize God's name half-heartedly, it shows that we are not remembering the holiness of God.
The words “Thy kingdom come” is a reference to God's profound rule, not Israel's independence from Rome. God's Kingdom was reported in the Abraham covenant (Matthew 8:11, Luke 13:28), is in Christ's reign in the hearts of believers (Luke 17:21), and will be finished when all evil is obliterated, and God lays out the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1).
At the point when we pray “Thy will be done,” we are not surrendering to destiny however, we are praying that the perfect purpose of God will be achieved in this world as well as in the following.
At the point when we pray “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are recognizing that God is our Sustainer and Supplier. It is foolish to feel that we give our necessities to ourselves. We should trust God every day to give what He realizes we really need.
Jesus is not suggesting that God directs us into temptation. He is basically requesting liberation from Satan and his misleading’s. Every Christian will battle with temptation. There are times when it is so inconspicuous to the point that we do not understand what is befalling us. God has guaranteed that He will not permit us to be enticed past what we can endure (1 Corinthians 10:13). We ought to request that God assist us with perceiving temptation and to give us the strength to defeat it and follow God's direction.
Jesus gives a frightening admonition about forgiveness: on the off chance that we will not excuse others, God will likewise decline to excuse us. Why would that be? When we do not excuse other people’s wrongdoings, we are denying our shared view as heathens needing the forgiveness of God. God's absolution of transgression is not the immediate consequence of us forgiving others, however it depends on our acknowledging of what forgiveness implies (Ephesians 4:32). It is not difficult to ask God for absolution, however it is challenging to give it to other people. At whatever point we request that God pardon us for transgression, we ought to ask ourselves, “Have I excused those who have violated me?”
So, do we need to pay someone to teach us how to pray? No. We only need to follow what Christ has shown us in His Word. We may need to ask someone for help but there is no need to pay for something that Jesus freely taught us how to do.
