“Pray then in this way: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:9-13
Have you ever meditated upon the Lord’s Prayer? Especially focusing on the order in which the prayer is said?
The whole focus of the beginning of this mighty prayer is God the Father. There is no doubt of the reason for this primary focus. God the Father should be and needs to be our primary focus in all times. At peace or in strife, when the sun shines or the lightning strikes – God must be our first focus and desire. Anything less puts our soul at great risk.
When my daughter was first sick, I prayed a lot. You know that if you’ve heard our story or read my book, “I Knew His Voice.” My prayer was the heartfelt, desperate prayer of a father in great need. But, my focus wasn’t on God’s glory, it was on my peace. Oh, I said it was to glorify God, even to God I said this. But, I was honestly more worried about my own selfish desires than what God was doing to bring His glory present to earth.
My prayer of the Our Father became twisted in my heart the more I felt God wasn’t listening. I prayed all the words but in my heart, I was praying, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven, give us this day….” It wasn’t about God’s Will being done, I wanted my will to be done. It wasn’t about hallowing God’s Name or His glory being shown, I was the Pharisee calling out my righteousness as reason for God to answer.
I could do this myself. I just needed God to be my instrument of power. I was in the worst place I’ve ever been in my life. So, God did what He needed to do. God humbled me greatly. He withdrew His presence from me. He stepped away and let me deal with the situation as my prayer was calling out. I had to learn the hard way the focus of this prayer. God withdrew from me to open my eyes to His reign in Heaven and on earth, His sovereign reign and Divine Will.
Read my book to find out the mountains God moved and the pieces He placed to open my eyes.
Now, with the realization of the first lines of the prayer Jesus taught us, I know and depend upon these words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” More than any need I have in life is my need to depend upon and trust in God’s sovereign reign and complete power.
Do you make God the Father the focus of your prayer and life? if not, ask yourself why and then read these words over and over until you see clearly what Jesus is teaching you. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…”