journey onWord with us

You could probably recite this prayer from memory.  It may be a part of your worship service today.  Since childhood, we have called it The Lord’s Prayer; others describe it as The Disciples’ Prayer.  It is recited often in many different venues, but ask yourself … are the powerful truths within, sadly lost in a corporate recitation of the prayer?  Is there any thought actually given to the real meaning and power that this prayer contains?  Do we realize that these words are the guideline for our praise and adoration of our Lord, not to mention how to take our petitions to Him?

What do Abraham, Jacob, Hannah, Elijah and Jesus, all have in common?  Their prayers are documented in Scripture.  Jesus especially spent a great deal of time in prayer during His three years of earthly ministry.  He often rose very early in the morning and went again in the evening to pray, going to a secluded, quiet place in order to talk to his Father.  Jesus teaches and uses the specific words we are reading this week on two different occasions; first, in full form, as we are reading this week as a part of his “Sermon on the Mount” and second, in a bit shorter form, in Luke’s gospel in response to a direct request from the disciples, “Master, teach us to pray!”  I think it’s quite fair to say that special notice and deeper consideration is warranted when Jesus repeats himself.

As you looked at the words of Jesus reading schedule this week, I bet some of you wondered what in the world we were thinking … reading this same familiar passage every day this week?!  And that is the issue; these words can be too familiar, too mundane.  We forget, or maybe we never realized, that this passage must be studied, understood and applied! To underscore that (pun completely intended), we at Journey onWord wanted to offer a daily study prompt to help bring these words into laser focus and further encourage you to dive deep.  Our hope is that a new awareness of what these words truly mean in our daily lives will be revealed to us as we read this week … not to be overly dramatic, but almost creating a mini epiphany of sorts.

Prayer works

Prayer can make a difference

Prayer can be effective

The Lord’s Prayer can “teach US to pray”

When the disciples asked their question, Jesus answered, “Pray in this way.”  Think about that – Scripture does not tell us where to pray, what time to pray, what to wear to pray, or what specific words to recite … yet we can indeed learn how to “pray in this way” from these words of Jesus.

We challenge you to look with fresh eyes on these words that are so familiar.  Open your heart, open your thoughts and gaze beyond these words you can recite by heart.   Pray the Spirit works within you to restore or increase the power of prayer in your life.

From childhood we have recited it … It’s Time We Learned It!