“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’” Matthew 6:9-13.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
As we continue the teaching of Jesus in His great Sermon on the Mount we continue to look into these matters as seen by the heart, that is, in the Spirit, and not just in the flesh. For what you see in the flesh is limited by the boundaries of this world but what you see in this world is very confined compared to the realm of the spirit. If your hopes are pinned to the present world only, you are the most pitiable of all people, for this world, as you know it, will soon end and I will create new heavens and a new earth that are beyond the flesh but can only be entered by those whose spirits are filled with life, resurrection life that Jesus died to give you and to which you must be born again to receive. Flesh begets flesh, but Spirit begets spirit.
And prayer is the topic Jesus is addressing in the Sermon on the Mount for today’s Life Lesson and that is a matter of spirit, not flesh. You cannot see prayer or the One you are praying to with your physical eyes and touch with your physical hands. Thomas did not believe that I had raised Jesus from the dead without seeing Him with his physical eyes and feeling the evidence of the wounds with his hands, but My Son told him that this was not the blessed assurance of faith, which is a matter of the heart, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” John 20:29.
Seeing things with your physical eyes to believe requires no faith at all and it leaves you without hope in what looks like an impossible situation that shows no evidence of changing. The Red Sea looked impossible to cross, but actually I had made a path under the sea, fully prepared for all of the massive group of Israelites and their carts and animals to cross. I just had to pack the molecules of the sea from a liquid configuration to a congealed solid and the path was exposed, and then I had to blow the wind of the Spirit across it to dry it for crossing so they would not get stuck in the mud. I look ahead and provide but to authorize and obtain it requires prayer with faith.
In the prior Life Lesson we addressed the definition of prayer and from where it flows, but today we will consider the way, that is, the protocol or pattern of prayer, that Jesus gave to the disciples as an instruction to the elements, order, and priorities that should be the backbone of all your prayers, whether they are quick for urgent matters that require immediate action or more extended periods of time with Me. You can come with confidence to My throne to get grace right at the moment it is needed or for a more extended assignment or problem. I am there for you at all times, a very present help in time of trouble and always a source of healing, comfort and joy. I enjoy it when you come for fellowship and no particular need. I know what you need before you ask, so I will bring it up to get your authorization if you have not voiced it. Feel free to ask Me for good things, great things, for they are part of My plans for you.
Jesus had told you not to babble long repetitive prayers that mean nothing in your heart. Unbelievers do that because they do not know Me and think that a god is some kind of idol that requires strange chants, incantations, and self-infliction of pain to respond. Like the priests of Ba’al who jumped around and slashed themselves with swords to get their god’s attention. But at least they knew there was more than their eyes could see that was some superior power that they could call to. I have put eternity in every person’s heart. But they did not know My Name. And consequently they did not know Me or My ways, which are love and truth.
The devil, in false religions and idol worship, which is actually always demonic and is worship of the devil, will mimic things that are true, such as tongues, the sacrifice of animals under the Old Covenant as foreshadowing Jesus, and music. But the devil pulls it down to sexual immorality, human sacrifice of children, and other unclean rituals that defile those who do them and make them demonic in their actions as well. Never play with pagan religions, witchcraft, palm readers, psychic hotlines, astrology, and the like. You are playing with hell fire and you do not want that in your life or the lives of your children. Today’s culture is filled with it and with its symbols. Get them out of your home and off your children. Tattoos included.
Some people today when they pray or talk about god, they call it “higher power” or “force” or “the universe,” or “benefactor” or some other term like that saying that if I am God they are referring to Me, that I am the same whatever people call Me. Never do that. I have a Name which I gave to Moses and from that come all My magnificent Covenant Names which each contain a promise. Jesus also has a Name and it is the Name above all other names and the ONLY Name given among men by which you MUST be saved. All who call on the NAME of the Lord will be saved.
And that is the way Jesus starts the protocol for prayer: “Our Father who is in Heaven hallowed be YOUR NAME.” No uncertainty who you are praying to. I AM your Father and I AM in Heaven, which is My glorious Kingdom which it has pleased Me to give you, the disciples of My Son. And once you have confessed Jesus as Lord and believed in your heart I raised Him from the dead you have been born again from above, are a new creation in Christ, and are My child forever.
For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13.
Jesus gave you one Name for Me: “Father.” He never told you to call Me anything else. And He told you the Name in Hebrew: “Abba.” Papa, Daddy, a very close relationship. And when I raised Him from the dead, He told you, “I am going to My God and your God, My Father and your Father.” And He told you to address your prayers to Me. But no one comes to Me but through Him.
And that is why the prayer starts with “Our Father,” you are coming into My throne room with your great High Priest and brother, so that you too are part of the royal priesthood as His brethren, and you are praying with Him and in Him and through Him to Me. He fits My Divinity into your humanity and your humanity into My Divinity. He is God and Man in One seamless eternal life. And in Him, so are you. You are now partakers of My divine nature through magnificent promises that are “yes” to you in Jesus that are My Covenant Names. You can call upon every one of them.
And that is “hallowed be Your Name.” That is a recounting in your heart of My Covenant Names and in particular the one that contains the promise you need at the moment to address your need. Here you would set apart as holy My Name: The LORD my healer, the LORD who sees ahead and provides, the LORD my Shepherd, the LORD my peace, the LORD my righteousness, the LORD my helper, the LORD my fortress, the LORD my deliverer, the LORD my refuge, the LORD my redeemer, the LORD who sanctifies Me, and there are more. And you could also hold up the Name I gave you by which you are saved “JESUS” and all His Names, the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Resurrection and the Life, the Good Shepherd, the Vine, and the Door. These will lift you up to higher realms of the Spirit where all these promises are realized in your life by faith.
So your prayer begins with worship, fellowship, and relationship. And if you wanted to just remain there you can pick up the rest later in your day as you stay in the connection of unceasing prayer.
Next you go to the prayer of intercession and of authorization using your dominion authority on earth, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” You are authorizing and speaking My Kingdom rules, laws, and benefits, that is, My Will, to be established in the governments of the world. You are speaking My Word into the hearts of leaders of nations and sending forth My Word of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as your possession. Psalm 2:8; Revelation 2:26-27.
Intercessory prayer is powerful when done in the spirit of faith using My Word. It can move a nation and stop a dictator. It took down the Berlin Wall with no violence.
When you pray that My Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, you are praying for salvation, healing, provision, prosperity, joy, and peace to prevail upon the earth. There is no sickness, pain, crying, mourning, dying, stealing, cheating, violence, drug addiction, impurity, perversion, human trafficking, murder, deceit, storms, accidents, famine, evil, lack, abuse, oppression, depression, fear, anxiety, darkness, or death in Heaven. In other words, the works of the devil have never been permitted in My Kingdom. My Will as expressed in Jesus was to undo all the works of the devil upon the earth. 1 John 3:8.
I have put My Words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to plant Heaven, to establish the earth, and to say to Zion (the place of grace), “You are My people.” Isaiah 51:16. You plant the kingdom by using My Words in your mouth (two witnesses establish a fact) and as you do, My hand will perform your Words. I watch over My Word to perform it, even out of your mouth. Jeremiah 1:12.
Pray for presidents, kings, prime ministers, judges, and rulers of nations, cities, states, businesses, school educators and the like. All those who have authority over other lives. Pray they are born again and act under My Word.
I told Ezekiel to turn his attention to the nations and prophesy over them. I tell you to do the same. Let Me make you a prophet to the nations. It all starts in prayer. A heart for the nations can do much combined with My Words of power targeted in faith.
This is also where you would intercede and authorize My action in the lives of your family, friends, and others who have come to your attention. Cover them with the Blood of Jesus and speak Psalm 91 over them and your city and nation. Prophesy! Pray for signs, wonders, and miracles to follow My Word.
Pray for all peoples to be saved and come to know the truth. Pray for opportunities to share My Word with others and ask Me to open their hearts to what you will say. Ask Me for the right words.
There is much to be said about the prayer of intercession for in it you are exercising your royal priesthood with Jesus, who forever lives to make intercession for you. I have called you into partnership with My Son, 1 Corinthians 1:9, so be a fruitful partner and listen to Him to find out the areas for which to pray as He alerts you to the need of the moment.
The next protocol in the “Our Father,” is “Give us this day our daily bread.” This is seeking provision for yourself and others but also stewardship. This is when you learn from Me how to profit and the way you should go. This is where I give you the power to gain wealth for the confirmation of My Covenant and to fund great projects for the Kingdom on earth. This is where I teach you how to plant and harvest the hundredfold.
Next comes, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” This is huge for experiencing the manifestation of answered prayer. In fact, the next lines in the Sermon on the Mount that complete this teaching on prayer tell you of the biggest hindrance to having your prayer requests manifest. “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matthew 6:14-15. And My Son taught this again to His disciples later in another context about prayer, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.” Mark 11:25-26.
Unforgiveness and anger towards others, no matter how justified you think you are in having it, block you receiving the blessings and answers I send to you as you pray. How is that? They completely shut the door to your heart. It becomes solid bronze barred by iron bars. No matter how much I knock or call to you to open to receive, you cannot hear Me and you cannot get the prison door you have locked yourself in open. And I cannot forgive you either of your sins that hinder the transport pathway of miracles, the Highway of Holiness, because I must judge you by the same standard you use on others. I forgive you and all people by the Blood of Christ. The same is true to satisfy you for wrongs done against you. And if the Blood is not enough for you to forgive others, I am bound by your standard back to you, which tells Me that the Blood is not enough for your sins to be forgiven either, although it is in truth more than enough. But I will have to apply the standard you apply.
Be sure to weed the garden of your soul and pull out all bitter roots as quickly as you can. You can or I would not tell you to do so. It is in your own best interest to do so. I will help you if you are willing to let Me remove it with you.
The next line is “And do not let us enter into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” This is the prayer Jesus taught you in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41. This is a very important prayer and you should pray it every day of your life on earth. Satan is watching to snare you, to trap you at a time you are not aware. He uses various tactics so do not get caught. It is better not to even enter the temptation then you do not even have to fight it or consider it. And let Me warn you ahead of time, like I let Elisha know the battle plans of the enemy so that the king of Israel never got caught off guard. That is true deliverance from the enemy, to know ahead of his traps and bypass every one of them.
And the pray ends as it began, in worship. “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Yes, Mine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever but I have been pleased to share them all with you as well. You are with Me always and everything I have in yours. And you find it all in Jesus.
I love you. Pray without ceasing. I love to talk with you and show you great things. Come to My throne and spend time there with Me.