Power of Prayer – Pinch of Positivity

Adoration

CJ Montgomery — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 07:00:13 +0000

Adoration

Key Verse: Matthew 6:9

As a Christian, prayer is crucial in our relationship with God. It is how we communicate with Him about all of our needs and thank Him for all He has done. When we look at the model prayer, which can also be found in Luke 11, God wants us to take note of what is happening. He recognizes that many of us are nervous that we will pray wrong or that others of us even compare our prayers to those around us. However, He wants us to be proud of the fact that we are praying to strengthen our relationship with Him and not for show. As you continue to grow in your prayer life, God wants you to take the first step of starting your prayers with adoration towards God.

At the opening of the Lord’s prayer, we recognize that Jesus says, “Our Father in heaven” (v. 9a). One of the first things we should do when we are praying is identify who we are praying to. It seems kind of evident, but the world has identified other gods and in our subconscious there may be many idols that have our attention. Therefore, it is important to vocalize who exactly you are praying to. For example, it may mean that you start your prayer by calling on the name of Jesus or by calling God by one of His other names that are listed all throughout the Bible: Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Alpha and Omega, Yahweh, Jehovah, etc. By doing this, there can be no confusion in your spirit. If you choose to call God Father, then you are recognizing your relationship with God and your inheritance that you are given because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

Another benefit to identifying who you are praying to is the fact that you are honoring God for just being who He is in your life. The second part of verse nine says, “hallowed be your name.” Hallowed means greatly revered and honored. We should be holding the name of God on a high pedestal. We must recognize that it is a name that should be treasured as holy. How do we treasure God’s name as holy? Well, it starts in the heart. When I think about all that God is and all that He has done for me and those around me, I get really excited. My heart cannot help but to rejoice. Other times, I can listen to gospel music and it will cause my heart to focus in on Him. What am I saying? You have to prepare your heart for prayer. You have to make sure that you are giving God the respect He is due, whether that includes a song or quoting scripture, before you can begin making your personal requests. It may not be an easy habit to break, but you must put the name of God first in your prayers.

God wants to hear from you. He wants to know that He is the one that you are calling on when you pray. God doesn’t need our attention, but He wants to have it. More importantly, He wants to have a reciprocal relationship with each of us, and that begins by us recognizing His almighty power when we pray.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, today we have come to say thank you because you are so awesome Lord. Thank you for being who you are at all times. Thank you for never giving up on us. Thank you for constantly trying to build a relationship with us. Thank you for being the Lord over my life. Lord please help me to honor you first when I pray. I want to treasure your name. It is in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Consecration

CJ Montgomery — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 07:00:45 +0000

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13

Key Verse: Matthew 6:10

When you are a small child it is typically easy to be dependent on adults. I mean they have to feed you, bathe you, and clothe you. God wants us to have that same dependence upon Him, and we can declare that dependence within our prayers. After you have began to acknowledge God for who He is, you have to surrender your life over to God. We must remember that, because God is our creator and Father, He deserves access to our mind, body, spirit, and day to day life. We must consecrate our total being for God’s use. Verse 10 gives us the words to say for this consecration to begin.

The first part of verse 10 says, “your kingdom come.” In heaven, there is praise and worship happening nonstop. It would be amazing to see the same thing happening on Earth. We must also acknowledge that God is present in His kingdom. So, if we invite His kingdom to come, we are inviting Him to come dwell among us on Earth. When God dwells among us there is a greater chance of souls being saved and lives being transformed. We know that heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. So, we want to join in that celebration by inviting God’s presence. We are also asking God’s kingdom to come in anticipation for His return. Even though this prayer was prayed by Jesus, He knew what His mission was on Earth. He knew that this first visit would be short to get His message across. So, He prayed in hopeful expectation for the final return. Lastly, when we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we are recognizing God’s authority as ruler over our lives. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, so His reign over us is above anything we could ever fathom.

The second part of verse 10 says, “your will be done.” It is important to put God’s agenda above the plans that we might make for our lives because He knows best. God’s will for our lives takes into consideration every obstacle and temptation that may appear, and we still come out with the victory. The great thing about God’s will is that, when you make peace with what He desires for your life, He can get the glory. Remember that even Satan needs permission to disrupt the plans of God. But, when we try to figure out life on our own, we do not know what is coming. So, we cannot always make the best choices. In praying for God’s will to be done, we acknowledge that He is perfect. There has never been a battle to big for God. Even when He gives us what feels like a choice, He knows what decision we will make. However, when we intentionally align ourselves with His will, the peace we feel is insurmountable.

Verse 10 concludes the petitions that acknowledge God and all that He is. The three soft commands of let your name be hallowed, let your kingdom come, and let your will be done are our requests to God that are not related to our earthly desires. After we have showered Him with adoration and consecrated our lives, we can then begin to ask for our needs to be met.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being perfect at all times. Thank you for sending your son to set me free from sin. Lord, I am grateful that you are ruler over my life. Please take complete control and let your will be done in my life and help me to be at peace with your will. I love and appreciate you so much, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Supplication

CJ Montgomery — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 07:00:55 +0000

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13

Key Verse: Matthew 6:11

Once we have acknowledged God for all that He is and has the power to do, we can then begin to pray for our own personal needs. It is important that we put God first before our own needs because then everything has the power to fall into place. Supplication is the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly. By asking for God’s will to be done in our lives, success is inevitable. This does not mean that you no longer have to express your needs and concerns because God wants to hear from you. However, it does mean that your needs are always a priority to God and your asking for them is vocalizing that you remember His promise to care for you.

Verse 11 says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It seems very short and sweet, but this verse is loaded with lessons for prayer. The first thing that it teaches us is to be direct about our needs. Jesus didn’t ramble in order to really only asking God to supply one need. He told God exactly what He wanted and then moved on in the prayer. We often spend a lot of time being vague and hinting at the problems in our lives instead of keeping it real with God and telling Him what we desire. If you are worried about your bills, then ask God to provide in that area. If you are worried about your health, then ask God for healing. If you are worried about your future, then ask God for direction. By keeping it to the point, you are showing that you trust God to make the best decision in that area of your life. If you have a list of concerns, then lay them at the feet of the Lord. Always just remember to be direct.

The next thing we can see in this verse is the word “our.” You should be praying for the success of those around you at all times. God cares about all of us, so we should model His example and care about others. Sometimes that can be as simple as lifting up the homeless in prayer and asking that God keeps them safe. It may mean praying for those who are undocumented and living in the United States and asking God to comfort their heart during this trying time. It may also mean praying for your family and friends who may be dealing with issues that you know nothing about at the moment. The word “our” also signals that God sends us all what is meant for us and not the blessings of someone else. By using “our,” we are showing our contentment with the blessings that God has in store for us and fighting off the spirit of envy that causes us to want what others have. Simply put, pray for others and respect what God has for you as an individual.

The last great takeaway from this verse is that Jesus asks for His “daily bread.” What does this mean? It means He is asking for only what is necessary for survival. He is not asking for tomorrow’s portion or feeling upset because He didn’t get everything He thought He deserved on the day before. His focus is the present. I think that we often get so wrapped up in planning for the future or feeling upset because something went wrong in the past that we neglect our present circumstances. While the future is important, we can’t get to the future without confronting and making good decisions in the present. God has the power to fill our present needs both physical and spiritual, hence the usage of bread.

As you can see verse 11 of the Lord’s prayer has many great takeaways for us despite being the shortest line of the prayer. God wants us to make our requests known to Him, which is why He shows us how. It might not be easy, but we can make this switch to being concise, including others, and praying for our present needs.

Prayer: Lord thank you for this day. Thank you for teaching me that it is ok to come to you with my concerns. Lord please help me in areas that I am weak. Cover those who are less fortunate and those around me who are dealing with situations I know nothing about. I thank you in advance. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Absolution

CJ Montgomery — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 07:00:02 +0000

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13

Key Verse: Matthew 6:12

After we have prayed for provision and laid all of our concerns at the feet of Christ we have to begin to pray for forgiveness. I realize that this isn’t always the easiest thing to do especially when things are going really well in our lives. But God wants you to acknowledge your imperfections, so that He can start a new work in you to move forward. These simple words can make a huge difference not only for you but for those around you as well.

In the first part of verse 12 Jesus asks for debts to be forgiven. At all times, we owe God our best. It is common for us to get wrapped up in our flesh and our own selfish desires, which causes us to sin. We must ask for God to forgive us and redirect our steps. Even when we think we have not sinned, we probably have. I once heard a pastor talk about sins of commission and sins of omission. Sins of commission are sins that we commit by doing something that we know we shouldn’t be doing. These sins to be easily recognizable like being drunk, committing adultery, or stealing. Sins of omission are sins we commit by not doing something we should be doing or not being aware that we have sinned. These sins tend to be easy to hide from the world and even easier to convince ourselves that we are still okay like not helping those in need or not maintaining a consistent relationship with God and other believers. Both types of sin are viewed as unacceptable in the eyes of God, so we all should always pray that He forgives us for our wrongdoing in these areas.

The next part of verse 12 reminds us that we should forgive others. God does not approve of us holding grudges against others. In Leviticus 19, He tells us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The same grace we want God to extend to us is the grace we must extend to others regardless of the offense. Life on earth is too short to walk around mad at someone for something they did to you in the past. We must allow people space to grow and change. By including this in the prayer, we are asking the Holy Spirit to help us begin this process of forgiving others. God recognizes that, because of our flesh, we often struggle with tasks like forgiveness, which is why He sent the Holy Spirit. Maybe you still aren’t convinced why you need to forgive that person who betrayed your trust. If you look ahead to verses 14 and 15 of this chapter, you will see that there are consequences for holding a grudge. We all want God to forgive us for the mistakes that we make on a daily basis, and in order to receive that forgiveness we must forgive those around us.

God wants us to love one another the same way He loves us. While it might not always be the easiest thing to do, praying about it is a great start. We must open up our hearts and minds to realize that the same way that we make mistakes, so do others. Yet, the blessing is that God wants to help us all. It is your turn. Maybe you need to ask God to help you forgive others the way He forgives you. He is waiting to hear from you today. Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for allowing me to see another day. I am grateful for all that you have done for me. Lord please help me to release these grudges that are hidden in the depths of my heart. I want to be more like you. Please forgive me for my sins. I want a fresh start. Lord you are so awesome, and I know that with you in control everything will be alright. I love you beyond words. It is Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Protection

CJ Montgomery — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 07:00:17 +0000

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13

Key Verse: Matthew 6:13

Sometimes it can feel like the world is throwing a lot of punches our way and that God is nowhere in sight. However, prayer allows us to communicate all of that to God. He is here for us and wants to see us succeed. For this reason and a plethora of others, Jesus closes out the prayer asking for protection. He recognizes that nothing is possible without God including His very survival on Earth. We must take note of this and pray that God protects us as well.

Verse 13 begins by Jesus asking not to be led into temptation. Jesus understands that the same God who allows us to be tested has the potential to save us from that test. It is important to note that He is not asking for our faith not to be tested. Jesus understands that it is these tests that allow us to strengthen our relationship with God. However, what He is asking and what we should be asking is that God doesn’t allow us to become wrapped up in the thing He just released us from. God still gives us the power to make our own choices, but this prayer asks that He order our steps to go where He wants us to go. We are asking that when we overcome a battle that we don’t revisit it. We must be open and prepared to be tested while resisting the temptation that can cause us to sin. It seems really complex, but by asking for help from the Lord we are guaranteed the victory.

The second part of verse 13 asks for deliverance from the evil one. I always find it so interesting that deliverance comes after we ask God not to lead us into temptation. In a way, it’s like we are telling God even if we mess us please come save us. There is so much beauty in that transparency because on the one hand, it means that we recognize that the devil can always find ways to turn our pleasure into pain. Yet, on the other hand, it means that we acknowledge the greatness of the God we serve. He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think. So, to Him, a prayer for deliverance is a small pebble in the pond full of blessings that He has waiting for us. Our ultimate purpose in praying is to honor God and all that He is. When we make our request for freedom known, it is already done. We must also remember that earlier in the prayer we asked for God’s will to be done. John 10:10 tells us that the devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy, while God comes to give life. If we combine the prayer with that verse, we will be reminded that it is not in God’s will for us to suffer. Thus, deliverance from evil is a nonnegotiable as long as we put our trust in God.

Prayer is an important part of our relationship with God. It is the way that we stay in communication with Him. We serve an all-knowing yet jealous God. We can’t afford to give more attention to things of this world than we do to Him. He is the only one who can help us stay away from temptation and deliver us from the hands of the devil. Talk to Him today. Tell Him what is on your mind, so that He can help you start the journey towards a new life.

Prayer: Lord thank you for being so merciful. I know that I do not deserve anything you have given me, but every day you continue to supply me with more. I am blessed to be loved by you. Please help me to stay away from temptation and deliver me from all of the devil’s schemes. I love you, Lord. I need you now more than ever. Cover me with your grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.