So I keep saying that I’m praying for you and I realize that we never talked about prayer. I thought now might be a good time to talk about how Jesus said to pray. Lets ‘unpack’ the Lords Prayer. Therefore our passage for the week is:
Matthew 6:9-13
9"This, then, is how you should pray:" 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Questions:
-Have you heard the Lord’s Prayer? What do you think of it?
-What are the smaller prayers do you see within this prayer?
-“Our father, in Heaven” might be hard for some people to pray. Why?
-Saying “Hallowed be your name” means asking that God’s name will be set apart in your life and in the lives of others. What does that look like in your life?
-Praying “Your kingdom come” means that you are asking Jesus to walk into your world and occupy every corner of your life. Why is this difficult to genuinely pray?
-Many people think that God does not care about our personal lives and requests. Yet the words “Give us this day our daily bread” appears in this prayer. Do you find it significant that this is part of the template for prayer we are given? Why or why not.
-“Give us this day our daily bread” is not prayed until half way through the prayer. Why do you think that is?
-Jesus tells us to ask for forgiveness for our own sins but also to pray to forgive those who have sinned against us. Why is this in our template for prayer?
-Jesus says we should ask God to “deliver us from the evil one.” Do you believe that there is and evil one and that he is capable of creating havoc in our world today?
-How has working through the Lord’s Prayer changed your perception of it?
I am praying for you all. And I hope to hear from you soon. :)
Check out this video too... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=301S7NgAkLs&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Flyons%2Ekayla%3Fref%3Dts&feature=player_embedded
I actually have heard this prayer, i learned it in my ccd classes when i was preparing for my "holy communion"
ReplyDelete6:10 "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"
-“Our father, in Heaven” might be hard for some people to pray. Why?
Giving thanks to God for even the little things in life??
-Praying “Your kingdom come” means that you are asking Jesus to walk into your world and occupy every corner of your life. Why is this difficult to genuinely pray?
For myself personally i was always confused because people make it seem like there is a specific way one is suppose pray. which made me a bit reluctant to do it because i was lazy. But through constant discussions i have learned that praying can be informal formal, whatever i want! Which makes it more easy for me to pray.
This line "give us our daily bread" for me shows that God does care about our individual needs, because he feeds everyone the "bread". the bread signifies for me the basic necessities in life. it also represents life, daily bread, being able to wake up every morning through the grace of God.
Praying for those who have sinned against is the most "Christ like" thing to do. Jesus did it for all the people who technically sinned against him so it is only right that we do it amongst each other in our day to day life.
I truly believe their is some type of evil that exist in the world today that is unfortunately overtaking the lives of many people around the world. I guess this would be the work of the "devil". Greed and envy are some of the evils that exists in our world today that is the root of all the sin that people partake in. becoming a believer in the Lord can help us walk away from the evils or at least become less involved with them.