This, Then, Is How You Should Pray... Matthew 6 Blog
Had a great read in Matthew 6 during my Time Alone With God. Several different sections of scripture stood out to me, such as, the sections on prayer, forgiveness, storing up treasures in Heaven, and not worrying. The ones I’ll focus on for this blog, however, are prayer AND storing up our treasures in Heaven.
The main scripture that stood out to me in today’s reading was the Lord’s Prayer where Jesus said, “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Matthew 6:9-13 NIV). I am sure many of us have seen the Lord’s Prayer and perhaps have said it many times. I have said it as well, and it’s great, but it can also feel very ritualistic and lack passion as I’m saying something that I’ve simply memorized. So, I like to break down its sections and focus on personalizing each section.
When it’s broken down, it can look a lot like the ACTS Prayer model, which is Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, & Supplication. So, I start my prayers by ADORING and praising the Lord for who He is (similar to the “hallowed be your name”). Second, I CONFESS (and ask for forgiveness) any sin that I may have committed and as God to reveal to me if I have sinned against someone else and perhaps owe them an apology (similar to “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”). Next, I THANK God for all He has done in my life and show my gratitude toward Him. Finally, SUPPLICATION, I pray out others prayer requests, and finally pray out my personal prayer requests (the Bible tells us, “Ask and you shall receive”).
I wasn’t planning to focus on the forgiveness section, but the Spirit has just made this heavy on my heart. “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
(Matthew 6:14-15 NIV). Perhaps you are having a hard time forgiving someone and you just can’t seem to bring yourself to forgive. If “you don’t forgive others... your heavenly father will not forgive you”. Let that be your motivation and driving force to forgive others as quickly as possible.
The final section of scripture I want to focus on is, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20 NIV). A couple things come to mind with this scripture. First is, don’t get so wrapped up in the money and materialistic things here on Earth. While having nice things is nice and is okay, we can’t take them to Heaven with us. The main focus should be on blessing others in need and “taking care of widows and orphans” as the Word says.
A final question to ponder... What treasures can be stored up in Heaven? I’m guessing that you are thinking of a few different things? The main thing that comes to mind for me is that souls that we lead to Christ are stored up in Heaven. One main thing that we can do here on Earth that we will not be able to do after we have gone to Heaven, is lead souls to Christ. That being said, take advantage of your time here on Earth and share Jesus with EVERYONE in hopes that they will come to know Him as their Savior and Lord. After all, we are called to be a part of “The Great Commission” and to be “Fishers of Men”, so let’s ask the Lord to use us in those type of divine appointments each and every day.
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