In our College & Career Sunday school class this week, we started a series titled, "How to Pray." I plan to try to and share the lessons each week in case anyone wants to follow along with us here...or you can come join us Sunday mornings at Tabernacle at 10 AM in room 218.
Any good speaker, teacher, or presenter knows that the #1 rule of public speaking is to know your audience. You don't want to prepare a discussion about retirement for preschoolers and a presentation themed with Disney princesses most likely wouldn't spark the interest of a group of businessmen. In order for someone to prepare a dynamic and engaging presentation, they must know their audience, who they're preparing to talk to.
The same is true in our prayer life. The Point of this week's study is: "A right view of God fuels how we pray." The conversations we engage in with our friends about are often focused on topics that interest them: their favorite team, favorite celebrity, biggest crush, how hard that test was, or our latest achievement. So wouldn't it make sense that as we approach God in prayer, that we would want to engage with Him in conversation about His interests. Luckily for us, He calls us His children and we are one of His favorite topics.
Jesus gave us what has been referred to for ages as the Lord's Prayer. But as it turns out, no one in the Bible ever repeated this prayer, not even Jesus. So this prayer may be more accurately referred to as the Model Prayer.
Its teaching begins like this in Matthew 6:9, "Therefore, you should pray like this; Our Father in Heaven." As we begin to picture God as our Heavenly Father, this may be a difficult concept for some people to grasp, especially if they had a strained relationship with their earthly father. But even if your father wasn't a big part of your life (or was a negative part of your life), most of us understand what the role of a good father is. And thankfully, God is a perfect one!
So how do we approach our Heavenly Father in prayer?
1. Like any good father, God wants to hear from His children. He wants to know what's going on in your life, in your friend's lives, and He wants to talk about what He's got planned to for your life too.
2. "When people pray, we don't cower in fear from a distant, angry judge. Instead, we come to a good Father who has the wisdom to know what's best for us in every circumstance, and He has the power to get it done!"
3. "When we pray and walk with God daily, we should avoid two wrong extremes. One sees God as so strict in demands for holiness that it is almost impossible to relate to Him personally. The other extreme, as flawed as the first, views God's love as so indulgent that He ignores our sins. Balance is crucial as God is both holy and loving."
It's never easy to go to your parents (Moms are easier than Dads in my observation) and say, "I screwed up." But in God, we have a loving, compassionate, patient Father, who is always willing to listen, to hear, and to guide us. For a non-believer or a new believer this may seem crazy that the Creator of the universe is concerned about little ole me. But I urge you to not let his majesty and power intimidate you. He is sweet, loving, and caring and wants to have a one-on-one relationship with you!
So as you pray this week, try one of these tips to step up your prayer game:
1. Focus on the Father
2. Humble yourself
3. Pray together
Any good speaker, teacher, or presenter knows that the #1 rule of public speaking is to know your audience. You don't want to prepare a discussion about retirement for preschoolers and a presentation themed with Disney princesses most likely wouldn't spark the interest of a group of businessmen. In order for someone to prepare a dynamic and engaging presentation, they must know their audience, who they're preparing to talk to.
The same is true in our prayer life. The Point of this week's study is: "A right view of God fuels how we pray." The conversations we engage in with our friends about are often focused on topics that interest them: their favorite team, favorite celebrity, biggest crush, how hard that test was, or our latest achievement. So wouldn't it make sense that as we approach God in prayer, that we would want to engage with Him in conversation about His interests. Luckily for us, He calls us His children and we are one of His favorite topics.
Jesus gave us what has been referred to for ages as the Lord's Prayer. But as it turns out, no one in the Bible ever repeated this prayer, not even Jesus. So this prayer may be more accurately referred to as the Model Prayer.
Its teaching begins like this in Matthew 6:9, "Therefore, you should pray like this; Our Father in Heaven." As we begin to picture God as our Heavenly Father, this may be a difficult concept for some people to grasp, especially if they had a strained relationship with their earthly father. But even if your father wasn't a big part of your life (or was a negative part of your life), most of us understand what the role of a good father is. And thankfully, God is a perfect one!
So how do we approach our Heavenly Father in prayer?
1. Like any good father, God wants to hear from His children. He wants to know what's going on in your life, in your friend's lives, and He wants to talk about what He's got planned to for your life too.
2. "When people pray, we don't cower in fear from a distant, angry judge. Instead, we come to a good Father who has the wisdom to know what's best for us in every circumstance, and He has the power to get it done!"
3. "When we pray and walk with God daily, we should avoid two wrong extremes. One sees God as so strict in demands for holiness that it is almost impossible to relate to Him personally. The other extreme, as flawed as the first, views God's love as so indulgent that He ignores our sins. Balance is crucial as God is both holy and loving."
It's never easy to go to your parents (Moms are easier than Dads in my observation) and say, "I screwed up." But in God, we have a loving, compassionate, patient Father, who is always willing to listen, to hear, and to guide us. For a non-believer or a new believer this may seem crazy that the Creator of the universe is concerned about little ole me. But I urge you to not let his majesty and power intimidate you. He is sweet, loving, and caring and wants to have a one-on-one relationship with you!
So as you pray this week, try one of these tips to step up your prayer game:
1. Focus on the Father
2. Humble yourself
3. Pray together
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