Pray With Intention
“When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.” Matthew 6:7
Oftentimes, people think that praying with more elaborate words somehow makes their prayer more powerful. However, Jesus makes it very clear when He tells us how to pray that this is not true. Following this verse in Matthew 6, Jesus reminds us that God already knows what we need before we pray it.
There are many times that I pray with worry that I am praying away from God’s will for me. There are other times that I don’t even know what to pray for. He tells us through Paul in Romans 8:26, “We don't know what God wants us to pray for but the Holy Spirit prays for us.”
Not only do we now know that the Spirit prays for us but we are also told in Romans 8 that He prays in unison with God's will for us. How relieving! He truly is FOR us. Given that, how can we pray ourselves (in addition to the Spirit's prayer) when we don't know what to say? This is a great question because His disciples asked the same thing. Jesus told them this one simple prayer in response,
“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.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don't let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.”
This may sound slightly different than the translation you are used to hearing. I did that intentionally. Jesus very clearly tells us in our daily verse not to merely repeat words. When seeing prayers, phrases, sayings, etc, that you hear so often, they lose meaning to you. It's like they just go through one ear and out the other. You tend to repeat the words without even really knowing what you are saying.
Relearning The Lord's Prayer
Have you missed the intentionality in your prayer life with God by using lofty and recited words rather than intentional talks? Take this time to read over that prayer again and see the true and deep meaning behind it. Now, pray it with intention and purpose. Realize that He chose this prayer as the staple prayer because it misses nothing needed.
Now, notice that each line can be prayed about deeper and more specifically. God wants a personal and intimate relationship with you, especially through prayer. God wants intention. Try doing that, line by line.
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