Tag Archives: prayer

The Lord’s Prayer: The Last Three Petitions

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Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Matthew 6:11-13

In previous blog posts I first wrote on the invocation, “Our Father.”  And then I wrote on the first three petitions, which have to do with God and His glory: with His character and holiness, with His kingdom, and with His will.

Now we come to the last three petitions that have to do with our needs and desires. Though this prayer outline is quite brief, it is all inclusive: the needs of the body, the soul, and the spirit are all included. Nothing is left out. The needs of the body are termed as “our daily bread.” The needs of the soul are termed as “forgiveness.” And the needs of our spirit are termed as our deliverance from evil.

Our daily bread

This request is for our material needs: everything that is necessary for our living. And notice that this is the first petition having to do with what we need, suggesting that God cares that we be healthy in our life.

And just because He knows all our needs even before we ask, doesn’t mean that we should not ask Him. We should ask Him every morning because He desires us to speak with Him every day. And He also wants us to realize our dependence on Him; that we cannot live for one day without Him.

Forgive us

In the first section, “And forgive us our debts,” we must recognize that “us” is in reference to anyone who is in the family of God; all others are excluded. So, this prayer is only for His children. Next, know that He will give us forgiveness immediately if we ask (look at 1 John 1:9).

In the next part, “as we forgive our debtors,” notice that it says “as” we forgive our debtors, not “because” we forgive them. Hence, our forgiveness is not based on our work of forgiving others. Rather, we should see it altogether. In the family of God, He gives us the desire and the strength to forgive others; and He also forgives us. It is in the new nature of believers to forgive as God forgives.

We could see it this way: the proof that we are forgiven of God is that we forgive others. And if we have not forgiven others than this is an indication that God has not forgiven us—that we are not His children.

Deliverance from evil

The first part, “And lead us not into temptation,” is asking God not to allow us into any situation where we are liable to be tempted by Satan or the flesh. It is the same as in 1 Corinthians 10:13, where we can ask God to give us a way of escape from temptation. The second part, “deliver us from evil,” is asking God to show us that way of escape and then give us the power to get out of there—or He may just remove the power of evil from us, just as He tamed the lion in front of Daniel (you know the story).

Now here are three reasons why we should pray this third petition:

1. So that our fellowship with him may not be broken.

2. So that we will have a right relationship with Him.

3. So that we can get to know Him.

Confidence in Prayer

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

The following article is an excerpt from Prayer A to Z.

When we think about confidence, even when we say the word “confidence,” it makes us feel good doesn’t it?  It gives us a lift, gives us energy, strength and courage.  And I suppose that is because the word is so much associated with positive energy.  And whether we believe it or not, that energy comes from God.  It is a special gift that He has given to all people—the energy, the drive to believe and have hope in themselves and in the gifts that they possess.  Yes, we are all created in His image; and since God Himself has self-confidence—believing and having hope in Himself—all people down deep within themselves have this same self-confidence too.  It is inherent in the way He has created us.

But listen to this: God gives a special confidence (a more powerful and more…

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Burden in Prayer

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

The following article is an excerpt from this book.

Prayer is all about carrying burdens, not only the burdens of people but the burdens of God.  He calls us to be burden bearers with Him for people, for the sake of His kingdom.

 THE BURDEN OF GOD

Throughout the Bible we see the great love and compassion of God toward all people.  Psalms 86:15 tells us, “He is full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.”

Jesus was and is full of compassion toward us too.  While He was on this earth He was always going about from city to city preaching and teaching God’s good news; and He was healing all who were sick and diseased.  And when He saw the multitudes He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:35-36).  And now…

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UNANSWERED Prayers

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

The following article is an excerpt from this book.

Here are three possible reasons why your prayers aren’t answered–from my e-book Prayer A to Z.

1.  You really aren’t abiding in Jesus and His Word as you think you are.  A good test of whether you are abiding or not is whether you bear fruit.  Jesus said, “He who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit (Jn. 15:5).  Fruit is that evidence that you are a Christian—a true Christian that abides in Christ and grows to be like Him.

Are you becoming like Christ?  Do you love others as He did?  Do you reach out to others and share the love of God with them?  Do you have the faith that Jesus had?  When you pray do you expect God to answer you?  If you can’t say yes to any of these questions I suggest that…

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How to Pray Using The Lord’s Prayer

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I have been reviewing the sermons of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. I am now covering his chapters on the Lord’s Prayer, from Matthew 6:9-13. So far, from my previous blog post, I wrote shortly on the first line, “Our Father in heaven.” That is the invocation, or we could say, that which takes us into prayer. Those words remind us that He is our Father and a mighty Father-God who is in heaven.

Now we come to the rest of the prayer, which is really an outline that Jesus has given us in order to pray better. And it consists of six petitions as follows:

1. Hallowed be Thy name.

2. Your kingdom come.

3. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

4. Give us this day our daily bread.

5. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

6. And do not lead us unto temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Notice that the first three petitions have regard to God and His glory, and the second three have reference to ourselves. And please take note of this order; for it is the way He wants us to pray. We must never start with ourselves; we must always begin first praying for God and His glory. In this blog, we will examine these first three petitions.

Hallowed be Thy name.

At first glance it doesn’t really appear to be a petition, or request, but more of a statement—that we are sort of willing His name to be hallowed, or holy. But it is definitely a petition, that His name would be hallowed on this earth.

Here are two other translations that may help:

“May your name be honored” (NLT).

“Reveal who you are” (the Message).

Hallowed means to sanctify, or to revere, or to make and keep holy. The petition is that God, in all that is true of Him, would be revered (God has many names, and it would be good to study those names).

Your kingdom come.

This petition is that His kingdom would come into every heart. Then it is also that His kingdom would come into the world and light up the world. His kingdom is His reign, His law, and His rule. This I think is a good missionary prayer. Every Christian should pray this prayer—that all would come to know Him and reign and rule in his or her life.

Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

This is the result of His kingdom coming, that His will would be done on earth just as it is in heaven.

Abiding in Christ: Eight Things a Christian Does to Keep Himself Abiding

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

The following article is an excerpt from this book.

The key to answered prayer is to abide in Christ and to let His words abide in us.  In John 15:7 it says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (NKJV).

Here are eight things an abiding Christian does to strengthen his faith in order to keep himself abiding in Christ—taken from my e-book Prayer A to Z. 

1. He makes it his habit to meditate on the Word every day.  This daily meditation time helps him to see things from God’s perspective, gives him a desire for God, and helps him to adjust his desires to God’s desires.

 2.  He obeys God and keeps himself busy with His work. The abiding believer knows that faith isn’t really faith without obedience and work. …

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Answers To Prayer: Three Reasons Why We Can Be Confident that Prayer Works

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In this new year, 2021, I will be reblogging from this prayer blog. Happy new year!

Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

The following article is an excerpt from this book.

Prayer was never meant to be an end in itself—not an exercise to glory in, to impress someone, or even merely for communion and enjoyment of God (though that is part of prayer).  Rather, the main purpose of prayer is to glorify God when we receive from Him the things we ask for (Jn. 14:13).  And that is what we should expect when we pray—that He will give us exactly what we ask for, nothing else, nothing different.  Here are three reasons why we can know that we can recieve answers to prayer—taken from my book Prayer A to Z.  

1.  In all of Jesus’ teachings on prayer He has emphasized strongly that we can receive answers.  In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus instructed His disciples on asking and receiving.  He told them that if…

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How to Begin Your Prayers

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Generally, before we (Christians) go to prayer, it is always good to realize what a privilege we have to be in God’s presence and to be able to talk with Him face to face and soul to soul. Prayer is truly a high activity of the soul—the highest activity of the soul.

When you begin to pray, don’t think that it is okay to just ramble on with your requests or to just say whatever is on you mind. We all tend to do that—me too. But there is a correct way to pray. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He gave them a skeleton prayer to follow (found in Matthew 6:9-13). We call it “The Lord’s Prayer.” We are not to just recite this prayer, as some do; but we are to use it as a guide, or as an outline. If we do that, we are well on our way to be able to pray correctly; for in this skeleton prayer contains every prayer principle.

Our Father

As you go to pray, the first thing you should do as you bow your head is to pause and remind yourself of what you are about to do and who you are about to speak to. Remind yourself that you are in the presence of holiness, and that He, your Father, is with you listening and attentive. You may want to have a copy of the Lord’s Prayer before you, and focus first on the first two words of the prayer: Our Father. Yes, He is your Father, and my Father. So, realize that all of us who are believers have the same Father and we are in a wonderful relationship with Him.

Our Father in heaven

At this point in your prayer, you can continue to ruminate on what it means to be in the family of God and to thank and praise Him for who He is and what He has done for you. And then, at some point you will want to move on to the next few words… “in heaven.” He is your and our Father in heaven. What does that mean? It refers to His greatness and that His presence is everywhere. He is almighty God in heaven. He is all knowing, present everywhere, and all powerful.

In your prayers you may at first just be thinking of Him and of your relationship with Him. But at some point, you will also want to start speaking to Him. Thank Him and praise Him for being your Father and for who He is. Praise and worship Him in the best way you know how.

Final comments. If you have been a Christian for a long time maybe what I am teaching here seems too mechanical, or too basic. Believe me, I understand. But especially for a new Christian, I think it is important to get on the right track. I hear too many Christians praying incorrectly. Some of them, all they do is list their needs as if they are talking to Santa Claus. That is so disrespectful. I think it is important to at first follow the outline of the Lord’s Prayer. And then after a while, as it is firm in your mind, your prayers will flow more easily and you, without even realizing it, will be praying correctly, as He taught us.

The next line in the Lord’s Prayer is “hallowed be Your name.” I will save that for the next blog.

The Sins We Commit in Prayer – Matthew 6:5-8

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In Matthew 6:1-4 Jesus taught us how not to practice our righteousness, mainly in terms of our giving to the poor. Then in verses 5-8, He tells us how not to practice our prayers. He said,

“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.  8 “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

From this passage we may identify two sins while going to prayer, or even in prayer. The first is that we may pray to be known and seen by others. We can call this sin…

1. Putting the Focus on Self When We Pray

So, first of all, when you hypocrites pray you are anxious to be known by others as being a great prayer warrior, or a holy man of prayer. Perhaps in your prayer group you get pleasure knowing that people think of you as a person of prayer. And so, thinking that they may regard you that way, you do everything possible to support their thoughts. Thus, you are quick to be the first to pray, and you will pray extra loud so that they can hear you.

But not only is the prayer-hypocrite anxious to be known by others as a person of prayer, he also wants to be seen as a man or woman of prayer. So, you may position yourself to be seen praying. Do you have a prayer room in your church? Do you enjoy having people see you go into the prayer room?

Prayer should not be that way. Prayer, Jesus said, is to God only. It is not for the eyes and ears of others. We should work on not being conscience of each other’s praying—that is, how they pray. Rather, when we pray, we should be carried on the wings of prayer so that we are always thinking on God.

The second sin we often commit in prayer is…

2. Thinking Too Much on The Form and Length of Time We Pray

We think that we will be heard for our beautiful words of prayer. You may think of this as “vain repetitions.” Perhaps you have heard of the terms “counting beads,” or “prayer wheels,” or “walking a labyrinth.” And many take great pride in repeating prayers over and over, thinking that this impresses God or others, or even yourself.

In all of what is said here, it is all the sin of self and pride—even in prayer. It is the sin of self-worship and self-adulation. When we try to worship God in our pride, we are actually worshipping self. Now we know that the best picture of man is to look at him on his knees waiting upon God. But even in that picture man sins if he thinks about himself as performing a holy act before God. Hence, sin is something that follows us into the presence of God.

So, when you pray try to shut out and forget yourself or what other are thinking about you.  Instead realize that you are in the presence of God and that He is listening to you and wants to meet your needs. Realize that He knows all your needs already and He desires to give you what you ask for.

A Travesty of Justice Is Before Us — Voter Fraud

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There is a travesty of justice in this country. The media, even Fox news, doesn’t seem to acknowledge it. The left has hijacked our elections, and our entire system of justice.

The problem is that many of our people have been blinded and deceived by the enemy—the devil. He has an agenda, which is to capture the American people, and the entire world; to put them under his spell, and then to destroy them—to destroy their mind and conscience so that they have no chance of receiving the truth and salvation.

The process of this evil, Satanic destruction is presently before us. The devil has so filled and empowered certain evil ones to mechanically and personally cheat on the voting process, thus to bring those in power who will deceive the people and to bring them under a cloud of deception and hypocrisy. Being under this cloud, they will be moved toward and into the burning furnaces to their horrible destruction. All the while the media—all the media—will lift up President Joseph Biden and the ever-smiling Kamala Harris and say, “All is well with the world.”

But if you don’t want this to happen, if you care about your own future, and if you want the lost to have a chance at salvation, please pray for all those in authority that they will act in wisdom and justice, particularly in the next  couple of weeks when evidence of fraud on the voting process is brought before the courts. Pray this before a holy and just God according to His will (from 1 Tim. 2:1-4).