“Pray like this: Our Father in heaven may Your name be kept holy, may your kingdom come soon. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10
Some may ask, “Why on earth do we need to pray so much?” This is a loaded question for ones who have learned to love the place of prayer! First and foremost: Our Father has commanded it! In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used phrases like, “And when you pray” and “Pray like this.” This is not an “if” but a “when.”
We also find prayer weaving through the whole ministry of Jesus in the book of Luke. During Jesus’ baptism in chapter three, He prayed and heaven was opened. Again in chapter five, although frequently surrounded by crowds of needy people, we find Jesus withdrawing to lonely places to pray. Jesus, later, retreats to a mountainside spending the entire night praying to God, and we could go on. The prayer life of Jesus in the book of Luke is definitely worth studying. Jesus prayed in public, in private, on mountains, during the day, and at night. Intimate, daily conversation with His Father was like breathing to Jesus and essential for His public ministry. If that was Jesus, how much more you and I!
When we pray, we are partnering with God to bring heaven to earth. God desires dialogue. He could do it without us, but He wants to do it with us. Mike Bickle, founder of The International House of Prayer of Kansas City, explains our identity as a House of Prayer like this: “God speaks and it moves our hearts. Then, we speak it back to Him and it moves His heart. Then, He opens His hand and releases His resources into the earthly realm.” He goes on to say that the Lord is not looking for information. He’s looking for conversation.
Jesus, too, practiced this dialogue with His heavenly Father. John 12:49 says, “For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken... So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” While on the earth, Jesus did and said exactly what His Father wanted Him to do and say. We can do the same.
As sons and daughters, we are called to rule and reign and take dominion. God has made us a kingdom of priests. Therefore, our responsibility is to rule by prayer, just like Jesus did. I believe it was because of Jesus’ consistent prayer life, that John could end his book with the words, “Jesus did many other things as well, if every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” This leads me to end by asking, “Why on earth are we not praying more?”
“Our Father in heaven may Your name be kept holy, may your kingdom come soon. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10
-Becky Brummett