Teach Us To Pray #216

Matthew 6:9-10

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. (NAS)

Jesus disciples requested that He teach them to pray like John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray.  No doubt they had watched Jesus pray and had also observed the results. It is no wonder that they wanted that kind of power. Their thinking was very simple, “If we pray like He prays then the results will be the same.”

How would Jesus respond to such a request? Would He give them some magical formula, or possibly the way to become spiritual enough to have their prayers answered? No, instead He responded with a simple model prayer that we call the Lord's Prayer. It was a model prayer that gave us a pattern for our prayers. 

Our prayers are addressed to God who is called Our Father. His address is heaven and His character is Holy. His purpose for us is to do his will on earth as it is in heaven. So our prayers are directed to Our Father, the Holy One, to answer our prayers with our desire to for His will to be done. We cannot improve on a prayer that desires the will of Our Heavenly Father to be done in our lives.  

As you yield your life to Christ more and more, and allow the Holy Spirit to be in control of your life, you will find His will is done through you. You are finding answers to your prayers.

Why not ask your Father in heaven to allow His will to be accomplished in your life. You may be afraid, lacking faith, not sure of the future, questioning God Himself as the source of your life, or maybe just not desirous of God’s will. The disciples learned about prayer not by saying what we call, “The Lord’s Prayer” but by learning that prayer is about a Holy God, called Our Father, with the desire that His will be done in your life.

Jesus knew that if the disciples wanted to learn to pray they would need to begin with the basics of who is God and is it their desire that His will be done in their lives.

It is the same with you. Are you eager for the will of God, your Heavenly Father, to be accomplished in your life?  

________________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ

Praise the Lord. Last week at this time I was awaiting a procedure to remove a tube from my liver. That procedure went well. The following days were filled with pain and fever and infection, but the end product is good. As of today (THURSDAY 20th) I am free of fever. I am still on the antibiotics to continue to 

fight the cholangitus. The two procedures to put in the tube and to remove it all in a two week period took a toll on my body. I am still fatigued and have no appetite.

Please pray for both energy and appetite to return. The oncologist has told me I cannot have any treatment for the cancer itself. Basically I am trusting day by day for God's will to be done and that He will allow me to live every minute for His glory. 

I am more and more convinced of God's goodness to all of us. Instead of looking to the circumstances we are in need is to look to God who loves and cares for our every need. He is an amazing God with an amazing grace. 

The teacher of our Sunday School class will be absent on September 30th-October 7th & 14th. He has asked that I teach for him. I look forward to the opportunity to again share God's word. I will be preaching the evening service at First Baptist Church of Tempe on October 28th. SEE: God is good!!

My wonderful wife of 46 years takes such good care of me. I love her dearly. We were at the grocery store standing in line as the groceries were being scanned. I was teasing her about who was paying, how hard I worked to buy her food, etc. The check out lady looked at us and asked, "How long have you two been married." We together answered, "forty-six years." She replied, "It shows." I am not sure if that was good or bad. We just had a good laugh. 

We have three musical concerts this week. Bennett had a choir concert and a band concert. Burke has a band concert scheduled on Friday night. The only thing I dislike about the concerts is related to all school activities. "WHY DO THE CHAIRS HAVE TO BE SO UNCOMFORTABLE?"

Sandy and I had our picture taken for the church directory. Of course everything is digital and you saw the picture immediately and had the opportunity to decide how much money you could afford to spend on your favorite photo. I took a look at my picture and was taken aback. I LOOK OLD!! Sandy graciously said it was because of the weight loss. She has such a great way of being diplomatic. 

We have been residents of beautiful Tempe, AZ since 1988, over 24 years. It is the longest time we have either lived in one place in our lives. (see pic) We love Tempe, the people, the weather and the atmosphere. We tolerate the heat in the summer in order to enjoy the most wonderful winters on the planet. Come see us sometime. I'll buy you a cup of coffee at my favorite Starbucks. 

Thank you for your prayers and your emails, cards and love expressed to me and Sandy these past few weeks. You are the REAL ENCOURAGERS!!

May God bless you this week with kindness coming your way. I love you all.  ~ DGW