The last few months we’ve been studying The Lord’s Prayer… & not for popularity’s sake, that’s for sure. Maybe because of its familiarity, many of us skim over this simple-yet-profound prayer. We think we “get” it already. Onto bigger, deeper spiritual things. 

That’s how I felt. When this passage was laid heavily on my heart to write about, I didn’t want to. I thought it was boring, cliché. But I’m so thankful I finally listened to that still, small voice encouraging me to write on this powerful prayer.

Lessons from Jesus’s Favorite Prayer

To recap — this foundational prayer is one Jesus encouraged us to pray when we’re anxious & needy. When we don’t know what to pray. When we think we know what to pray but aren’t seeing “results”.

Here are some things I learned from this prayer.

1. God is our Father & He WANTS our best. He didn’t leave us as orphans, so we shouldn’t live as if we have no one on our side to help us. God is good & He gives good gifts, even “perfect” ones!
2. We must reverence Him! The language of heaven is one of honor & respect. We shouldn’t expect His response without first giving Him homage as our Dad, as the King of the universe, as the Answerer of our prayers, & as the Meeter of our needs.
3. Always, always, always in prayer… seek HIS will, not our own!!! We wouldn’t want our will to be done here on earth. Only He has the bird’s-eye-view of our lives & our world, so every day, ask for His will to be done ON EARTH as it is in HEAVEN. He wants our world to reflect His dwelling place!
4. DAILY ask for Him to meet our needs. He won’t turn us away! If our kids ask for bread, will we give them stones? Neither will our Heavenly Father! Only good gifts flow from His abundant & generous hands.
5. We must forgive. It’s not easy, so if we’re struggling… ask for His help to let go. I do this on the reg, especially when the enemy wants to remind me of past offenses! 😀 Just tell him: No, that one’s already been dealt with, given to God, & released from my hands! I forgive them. ♥♥ Neil T. Anderson’s Steps to Freedom is the best & most concise resource I know of to work through past unforgiveness. Here is a little summary on it.
6. When we forgive, we can expect (& ask for) God’s grace. As we forgive others & give them grace, we will see His grace all around us.
7. Ask Him to remove overwhelming temptations from us! He wants us to live as overcomers and always provides a way to escape life’s temptations.
8. Pray Psalm 91 over yourself & your family! And remember, evil exists in our world as well as in human hearts. We must  be willing to surrender our broken areas & our flesh to Him, lest we become part of the problem. Then He can fill us with Himself.

What about you — did you learn anything from this series, or did you skim over it like a lot of readers? Haha. Thanks for your honesty!