Does it matter how you pray?

[sinning machine]

THE SO-CALLED "LORD’S PRAYER":​

Christendom refers to Matt. 6:9-13 as "The Lord’s Prayer", when in reality, Jesus never once actually prayed this prayer. It is merely an outline: notice the words "After this manner therefore pray ye…" It means "thus" we should pray—in this way, not to just repeat these few words of the outline.

"Our Father which art in [the] heaven, Hallowed by Thy Name..."
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This is personal and reverend. God is our Father: talk to Him as a Father, and give Him all your respect and honor.

"Thy kingdom come…"
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We want God’s kingdom to come INSIDE OF US before it comes to the world (Luke 17:21.) And we are to seek God’s Kingdom above all our other desires (Matt. 6:33). Next comes the statement by which all prayers must be framed:

"Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven…"
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Here we go again: Thy WILL BE done. There is never an exception to this rule. And notice furthermore, that God’s will is to be done on earth as it "IS done in heaven." Does anyone seriously believe that God’s will sometimes is not done in heaven? Then if His will is to be done in the same way "as" in heaven, on the earth also, how is it possible that maybe sometimes His will is NOT done in earth? Theologians and Christians try to tell me all day long that God’s will is not being done on earth. That God only has a "weak wish" that will never be accomplished when it comes to the really important things like being the "Saviour of all mankind" (I John 4:14 & I Tim. 2:4, and dozens more.)

"Give us this day our daily bread [‘give us our bread day by day…]"
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Certainly we have need of physical bread daily, but this is speaking of our spiritual bread as well (John 6:51).

"And forgive us our debts [sins] as we forgive our debtors…"
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We will be forgiven our sins ONLY if we forgive those who sin against us. We really need to give this some thought. We cannot bless God while cursing our enemy or our fellow man, and expect God to bless us (James 3:9).

"And lead us not into temptation…"
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Can this statement be true? Doesn’t the Scripture declare:

"…for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any man" (James 1:13)?
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So why should we pray that God will "lead us NOT into temptation?" Good question.
In addition, we have this apparent contradiction regarding our Lord;

"Then was Jesus led up of THE SPIRIT into the wilderness TO BE TEMPTED of the devil" (Matt. 4:1).
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Are not these Scriptures contradictory? I’ll admit it takes some careful consideration to untangle this apparent enigma. Here are the facts:
Temptation has always been associated with the work of Satan throughout the Bible. Beginning with mother Eve, then Jesus, Paul, James, Peter, and John, we have ample testimony concerning the beguiling deceitfulness of Satan.
While it is true that "…God cannot be tempted with evil, neither temps He any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed" (James 1:13-14), we must also consider that wherever temptation is, there also is Satan:

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise… And the woman said [to God] The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat" (Gen. 3:6 & 13).
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"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (II Cor. 11:3).
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"Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil… All these things will I [Satan] give you [Jesus], if you will fall down and worship me" (Matt. 4:1 & 9).
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"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts [desires, temptations] of your father ye will do…" (John 8:44).
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"Be sober; be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walks about, seeking whom he may devour [swallow down]" (I Pet. 5:8).
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"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world…" (Rev. 12:9).
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Satan, not God, is the great tempter, and he has temped and deceived the whole world. But here is where God does come in. After we are tempted of Satan, God is our Redeemer:

"And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing [correcting] those that oppose themselves; if God peradvanture will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves [‘…but deliver us from the wicked one’Matt. 6:13] out of the snare [Gk: ‘trap, temptation’] of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will" (II Tim. 2:24-26).
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"For THINE is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen"
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[Alive_Again]

The scripture is full of instruction in righteousness.

When I was born again, I was reading the Word in my bedroom. I did not formulate a prayer, yet God read my heart. He always sees what's in the heart.

The Bible says to come boldly to the throne of grace to find help in time of need. We come by the Blood of Jesus, in His name. We are told to ask the Father in Jesus' name for our requests.

The Word says to lift holy hands without wrath and without doubting.

In fact, there are many instructions in the Bible about prayer. I frequently cross the lines and address the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit all in the sentence. They know how to sort it out!

It is good to download some free Bible software. I use Bible Explorer. You can search for words like "pray" or "prayer" and it will turn up a list of them. You can read them and get an idea of what the instruction manual says about prayer.

I often copy and paste them into a word processor. I'll meditate on them and refer back to them as needed. It's an adventure and God will meet you there in your Bible study if you ask Him.

 

[whit87]

Just find what works best for you