After hearing the Holy Spirit say that I should do His will and not my own I began meditating on the Lord’s prayer. I realize I had prayed wrong for most of my life.
I have prayed mostly about me, me, me, me and then my children, then me, me, me and maybe a friend of mine, then my children, then me, me, and me again. Sometimes I prayed for my parents or persecuted Christians overseas but the large part of my prayer life was a whirlwind with me as the epicenter.
It is a wonder that I have such a tender and intimate relationship with God considering how selfish my prayers have been. I felt led to dissect the Lord’s prayer into sections so that I could learn how to pray the way that Jesus taught.
The first line of the Lord’s prayer is, “Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.”
When we say our Father we must keep in mind that He seeks to be the Father of all lost souls. We may do well to keep in mind those who have harmed or sought to deceive us when we form our prayers to Him, realizing that is is those whom He is yearning to draw into the fold.
The salutation of “Father” includes so many wonderful attributes. Among these is love, forgiveness, discipline, protection and provision. He seeks our compassion more than our sacrifice. He wants to be loved like you would love a wonderful Father.
“He is in heaven.” Well, of course He is in heaven but acknowledging this enfolds so many aspects which we may not be aware of. Acknowledging that He is in heaven is in effect saying that He knows all of eternity and from His viewpoint He can see which path would be wisest for us to choose. He not only knows everything but is entirely without sin. He is righteous and holy, omnipresent and powerful.
“Hallowed be thy name.” This is a way to give glory to God. Hallowed is the same word which is interspersed with sanctification in other parts of the Bible. Sanctification means to be free from sin. God is Holy and without sin and in saying this we acknowledge Him as our righteous judge.
Amazing, there is not one word which refers to me in the first part of the Lord’s prayer. lol No wonder some of mine have not been answered like I would like them to be answered.
