After This Manner, PRAY YE

Usually, when we say we are praying, we say we are praying to God, and if Christians, we are praying to the one and only true God.

Jesus taught a prayer. It starts out like this.

Our Father which art in heaven 

If we are in Christ, the one and only true God is also our Father who is in heaven, that glorious, beautiful place we all want to go to when we die.  The more we know about our Father, the more intimately we can talk to Him. Here are just a few things we should know about our Father when we’re praying for ourselves and others.

Our Father is perfect. Matthew 5:45-48
Our Father knows what we have need of before we even ask Matthew 6:8
Our Father cares for the littlest of His creatures Matthew 6:26
Myriads of holy angels stand before our Father Matthew 18:10
Holy angels obey our Father Matthew 26:53
Our Father is merciful Luke 6:35-36
Our Father wants us to cry out to Him Galatians 4:6
Our Father is forgiving Luke 23:34
Our Father is waiting to receive us when we die Luke 23:46
Our Father can raise the dead and give them life John 5:21
Our Father is full of grace and truth John 1:14
Our Father desires sincere worship John 4:23
Our Father is good 5:17
Our Father draws us to love His Son, Jesus John 6:44, 8:42
Our Father has a big house, and in His house are many mansions and a place is being prepared for us there John 14:2
Our Father is the God of all comfort 2 Corinthians 1:3
Our Father is above all Ephesians 4
Our Father is a giver of good things James 1:17
Our Father sent Jesus to save us from our sins 1 John 4:14

Our Father is the only One that knows the very day and the very hour this earth we live on will come to an end Matthew 6:8, 24:36

When we call on God, we should know His Name or Names and we are to always, always respect His Name.“You are not to misuse the name of the Lord your God…Exodus 20:7 

The next line in the prayer;

Hallowed be thy name.

Christians pray in the Name of Jesus.

And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. John 14:13-14

Everything Jesus did, He did in His Father’s, our Father’s, Name.

Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. John 10:25

God has many more names than I am listing here, but I think the following list will give us good reason why we should set His Name apart and above any other name that ever was, is, or will ever be named, in this world and the world to come. Knowing His Name helps us know Him better and also give us a sense of worship and praise and wonder as we pray to Him.

His Name is Creator Genesis 1:1

His Name is Healer Exodus 15:26

His Name is Most High, possessor of heaven and earth Genesis 14:20
His Name is I AM Exodus 3:14
His Name is Jehovah (self-existent or eternal) Exodus 6:3
His Name is merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth Exodus 34:5-6
His Name is Jealous Exodus 34:14 (this one needs clarification, this is godly jealously, godly jealousy is very much different than worldly jealously. ‘For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.’ 2 Corinthians 11:2)
His Name is, God sees Genesis 16:13
His Name is excellent Psalm 8:1
His Name is trustworthy Psalm 9:10
His Name is Shepherd Ps 23
His Name is most high over all the earth Psalm 83:18 
His Name is holy Psalm 99:3
His Name is help Psalm 124:8
His Name is strong Proverbs 18:10 
His Name is Immanuel Isaiah 7:14 
His Name is Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace Isaiah 9:6
His Name is the Lord Isaiah 42:8 
His Name is everlasting Isaiah 63:16 
His Name is the Lord our Righteousness Jeremiah 23:6 
His Name is the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts Jeremiah 32:18 
His Name is Jesus Matthew 1:21 
His Name is life John 20:31 
His Name is salvation Acts 2:21 
His Name is worthy Philippians 2:9-10
His Name is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty Revelation 1:8
His Name is the KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS Revelation 19:16

Now, every King has a kingdom and God has a mighty, good kingdom and wants to share it with his children. In Christ, we are heirs of God's kingdom!

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Romans 8:17

Which brings us to the next line of the prayer.

Thy kingdom come

The following is just a glimpse into God’s good and mighty kingdom and why we want to pray that His kingdom to come.
 

God's kingdom is not of this world John 18:36

God’s kingdom rules over all Psalm 103:19 
God’s kingdom is everlasting Psalm 145:13
God’s kingdom brings forth what is good Matthew 13:23 
God’s kingdom is righteous in deliverance Matthew 16:19 
God’s kingdom is for the child-like Matthew 18:3 KJV
God’s kingdom is like a hidden treasure Matthew 13:44 KJV
God’s kingdom is like goodly pearls being sought Matthew 13:45 
God’s kingdom is righteous and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Romans 14:17 
God’s kingdom cannot be moved Hebrews 12:28 
God’s kingdom is like a marriage and a beautiful wedding Matthew 22:2
God’s kingdom is a sanctuary from the darkness Colossians 1:12-13 
Because we believe in Jesus, the kingdom of God is within us Luke 17:21

So, here is the next line,

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

We all believe heaven is a wonderful place. It is a wonderful place because it is not cursed like the earth is cursed.

Jesus taught that out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34) The Word of God reveals to us His will. So, the more we know God’s Word, we can pray God’s will. So, we need to read God’s Word! Here’s just a few examples of God’s will.

God’s wants what is good for us Luke 2:14 

God wants us to be born again from above John 1:12-13 
God wants us to see His Son, believe on Him, and have everlasting life John 6:39-40
God distributes spiritual gifts, administrations and operations as He wills, to build us up 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
God wants us to abstain from fornication 1 Thessalonians 4:3 
God wants us to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Timothy 2:4 
God wants to give His kingdom to His children Luke 12:32
God wants to deliver us from this present evil world Galatians 1:4 
God wants to show His heirs the immutability of His counsel Hebrews 6:17-20 
God wants to sanctify us Hebrews 10:9-10 
God wants us to ask Him what we should do James 4:14-15 
God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

God wants us to pray for the sick James 5:15

And we should pray daily, at least! The next line in the prayer shows us that!

Give us this day our daily bread.

We already know that God knows what we have need of before we even ask Him, but He still wants us to ask Him, daily. Bread is sustenance for life. Bread is what we need to survive, physically and spiritually. God fed His children bread from heaven in the wilderness. They called it manna, or ‘what is it’.

Jesus talked about that.

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst. John 6:32-35

Jesus taught that man should not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4

God wants us to know the true bread from heaven, Jesus Christ! We can pray Who Jesus was, who Jesus is and who Jesus will always be over ourselves and others.

Who is Jesus? Here are the I Am’s of Jesus from the book of John.

I am the bread of life 6:35

I am the light of the world 8:12

I am the door of the sheep 10:7

I am the good shepherd 10:11

I am the resurrection and the life 11:25

I am the way, the truth and the life 14:6

I am the true vine 15:1

We can pray for sustenance, light, entrance to heaven, goodness, life, direction and abiding for ourselves and others.

Then, there is the subject of forgiveness. This part of the prayer is the only part that has an, as we, in it.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

There are a few things we should know about true forgiveness. One of the biggest reasons to forgive is that God has forgiven us!

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Eph 4:32 

And how has God forgiven us? Completely!

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

Here a just a few more things we should know about true forgiveness.

The amount of love we show oftentimes reflects how much we’ve been forgiven Luke 7:47
We are to forgive as many times as it takes Luke 17:4 
We forgive because they know not what they do Luke 23:34 
We forgive because unforgiveness is a devise satan uses to gain an advantage over us 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 
We forgive for Christ’s sake Corinthians 2:10
We forgive to free others  2 Corinthians 2:7

The next line in the prayer is,

And lead us not into temptation, 

And this brings us all the way back to the beginning. We know that temptation has been an issue from the beginning. The very first humans were led into temptation when they were confronted by the serpent who asked them a question, a question that caused them to question their faith in God, which caused them to tempt God.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, has God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:1

So, what did God say?

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die. Genesis 2:16-17

We know Adam and Eve failed the testing of their faith. They did not believe what God said. We all know they ate of the forbidden fruit which caused a world of trouble! When should believe God’s Word. We should stand on God’s Word.

Jesus was also tempted by the devil, but He passed the testing of His faith in His Father’s Word by answering back, what is written! You can read the whole account in Matthew, chapter 4, but here are the 3 ‘it is writtens’ Jesus used. I believe we can use these in most areas of temptation. We can pray these over the people in our lives in regards to their faith.

It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Here are a few other things we should know about temptation.

Watch and pray, the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41

God will not allow us to be tempted above that we are able, but will with the temptation make a way to escape that we may be able to bear it.1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV

Hard hearts yield to temptation Hebrews 3:8-18

The next line in the prayer is,

but deliver us from evil

God, who is good, has an arch enemy that is evil. Evil wants to overcome good, but evil will never, ever be able to do that! Jesus Christ overcame the evil one, and in Him we have to! We must believe that! The Word of God says that!

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he (Jesus Christ) also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2:14-15

We are to overcome evil with good.

Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:19-21

Jesus taught that we should pray for those that despitefully use us and persecute us, because we serve a merciful God, who sends rain on the unjust as well as the just, so in other words, God is good to all, so we should be good to all, not only outwardly, but from our hearts.

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have your cloke also. And whosoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that ask of you, and from him that would borrow of you turn not away. You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:39-45 KJV

We can pray for ourselves and others that we are not led astray by love of money.

Jesus also taught that the love of money is the root of all evil, so we should beware of what we are focusing on in life. We are either focusing on God or money, and we can be sure the people we are praying for are as well.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:23-24

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:10

We can pray for ourselves and others when there are signs of rebellion to God's truth.

Rebellion is a sign of evil’s influence according to Proverbs 17:11

An evil man seeks only rebellion. . .

Pray for ourselves and others that our eyes are opened, that we turn from darkness to light, from the power of satan unto God, receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance of the faith, Acts 26:18

Pray that we all come to Jesus!

 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on me should not abide in darkness. John 12:46

And when we pray, let’s put on the armor of light against evil! Let us pray the Word of God!

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places . Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Ephesians 6:12-18

And finally, the grand finale of the prayer which really needs no further explanation!

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen Matthew 6:9-13