Matthew 6:9 – HALLOWED BE THY NAME
Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
What is your prayer life like? Do you have a regular time of prayer like Daniel did? Even Daniel’s enemies understood that there were certain times of the day that Daniel set everything aside in order to talk with God. Daniel understood how important it was to have daily communication with God.
In this passage, Christ is teaching us the elements of prayer. Too many of us approach God as if HE were some sort of Santa Clause. We simply pray for those things that we can consume with our own lusts. Because we are constantly asking for things that are not in accordance with the will of God, our prayer life is not very effective and we quickly grow dissolution with God.
The first element of prayer that we should incorporate in our daily prayer is praise to God. Do you recognize God for who HE is. HE is the Great I Am; the Creator, the Judge, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, Mighty God, and the Prince of Peace. God is worthy of your praise, HE is Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Rohi, and El-Olam. We need to understand when we are sick, HE is the Great Physician, when we are lost, HE is our Shepherd, when we are alone, HE is our Comfort.
In the same way you cannot develop a good relationship with someone if one of you are always talking, so likewise we need to understand that prayer with God is a two way conversation; there are times when we need to be quiet and hear HIS still small voice. If our prayer life is nothing but asking God for what we want, we are never going to be ready to hear HIS still small voice. We first need to prepare our heart to hear from God and one way we do that is by starting off with a time of praise and thanking God for what HE is doing in our lives.
God made us in HIS own imagine. In the same way we love hearing others sing our praises, so God desires to hear you sing forth HIS praises that HE deserves. If you really understood all that God has done for you, it would not take you very long to start singing forth HIS praises. Unfortunately, we tend to be so self-centered that we fail to give God the glory that is due HIS name.
In order to become less self-centered, we need to follow the commands of Christ and when we pray, we need to make sure we set aside plenty of time to praise God for the things that HE has done. As we focus upon the good things God has done for us, we gain a new appreciation for God and our prayer life can quickly change.
Stop being so self-centered. Stop treating God as an afterthought. Stop spending your limited time in prayer as nothing more than a Christmas list. Instead, it is time that you learn how to start communicating with God. Rather than allowing your time of prayer to be so self-focused, start spending your time talking with God in a way that God desires of you.
If you are going to have an effective prayer life, then you need to learn how to start praising God for all the good things HE has done. Add temperance to your life so that you refrain from the things of this world. As you exercise self-control over the lusts of this world, God will be able to bless you in ways that you never imagined. As you say no to the things of this world and start saying yes to the things of God, you will find a new power in your prayers.