(Mt 6:9) In this manner, therefore,
pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
(Mt 6:10) Your kingdom come. Your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven.
With the first three petitions (Holy be
Your name, Your kingdom come, and Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven) Jesus is instructing us to put God’s interests over our own. We see
this pattern in the Old Testament in Exodus 20 where the first four
commandments of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) relate to God and the
remaining six relate to man. John the Baptist declared that the Messiah must
increase in importance, and he must decrease in importance (Jn 3:30).
In the Sermon on the Mount, we are told
to seek the kingdom of God first and the things related to man follow (Mt
6:33). Jesus taught us that all of the Law and the Prophets depend on two
commandments, the first is to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and
all our mind; the second command is to love our neighbor as yourself. Love for
God takes priority over man (Mt 22:36-40).
Paul said in Col 1:18 that in all things Christ may have the preeminence (or first place in our lives). If we are risen with Christ, we are to seek those things which are above … not on the things of the earth (Col 3:1-2). Paul instructs us that whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). So it is with prayer; God is to be first and foremost; our prayers are to bring glory to Him.
This is
why most of our prayers bounce off the ceiling; God’s glory is not in view. All
of this suggests an active relationship (our Father); people who know God as “Father” by regeneration (born again) who are placing kingdom
interests over their own as a way of life and praying accordingly.
In addition to this, the absence of any
personal pronouns in this pattern of prayer (Mt 6:9-13) precludes all
selfishness in our prayers (for example, “name it and claim it”). The missing
first person singular pronouns (I and me) in this model prayer do not
mean you can’t pray for something personal pertaining to self as long as our
prayers place His honor and glory over our own desires a – “nevertheless, Your
will be done” attitude. God knows our hearts. Reverse psychology just doesn't work on
an all-knowing God!
All answered prayers impact the body of Christ in ways that only God knows for
all believers are part of the body of Christ and that which affects a member
influences the body. Our prayers usually focus on us rather than any consideration given to how our prayer impacts the body of Christ.
Often we have not because we ask not, or we ask with the wrong motive. Maybe we
need to reevaluate our relationship with God and our priorities in life in getting
beyond the ceiling? <><
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