Prayer and Providence – Lessons from “The Lord’s Prayer”

In Matthew 6, Jesus offers us some wonderful thoughts about the joy of our praying to God.

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: ’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’ For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

From this passage, think about the following.

1. Prayer is between you and God and not to be done for the praise of men.
2. God hears our prayer, even when we pray to Him in private.
3. We do not have to play empty and fruitless games for God to hear our prayers.
4. God cares for us and is aware of what we need.
5. God is both our personal Father and the all-powerful Creator who demands our honor and obedient respect.
6. God is in control and we must seek His will in everything.
7. God wants us to talk to Him about our needs even though He know what they are.
8. God is willing to forgive us of our sins but we must also be willing to forgive others.

Respectfully, God is not a genie ready to grant us our wishes if we just say the right things in the right ways. Nor is our relationship with him something we should brag about in order to be praised by men. Jesus shows God the Father cares about us, wants to have an intimate relationship with us and enjoys hearing from us when we pray.

He wants us to know Him as a Father who will give us what we need as we carry out His will in our lives. He is not a tyrannical dictator. He is a loving Father who wants what is best for His children.