Sunday, March 1

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PRAYER 101

I know very few Christian men and women who have not said, "I would really like to know how to pray...I'd like to have a disciplined, powerful prayer life." Most of us suspect that we don't pray as we could or should...but we don't quite know what to do about it. You see, prayer is both ordinary and mysterious. It is as ordinary as picking up a telephone and as terrifying and mysterious as discovering that God Himself is on the other end of the call!

Jesus' disciples knew He was a man of prayer. And they understood somehow that His prayer life was sustaining and life-giving to Him. They knew He derived power from His time alone with the Father, and that it was a priority in His life. So they asked for a lesson in prayer. And Jesus gave them a model to remember and practice.

I believe the six basic ingredients in the Lord's Prayer give us the secret of real communication with God. To help us remember them, I've used an acrostic: C-H-R-I-S-T. "C" is for concentrate. We are to focus on God as "our Father," and think about His character, His nature, His attributes. "H" is for hallowed. His name is hallowed, or holy, and we are to hold it above every other name. "R" is for rule. God is the ruler of everything that is, and everything that is to come. "I" stands for "I need." We are to tell God our needs, since He is our provider. "S" is for sin. As I forgive sin against me by others, God forgives my sin. "T" is for temptation. I am to ask God to keep me from temptation, and to not let me get trapped in situations I'll be unable to handle. That's the outline. This is not a rote, mechanical prayer, but a form, a model, for personal, heart-felt communion with God.

Memory Verse

Luke 11:1
Lord, teach us to pray...

Read Through The Bible

Deuteronomy 27; Matthew 22-25