Insight into how to stay focused in Prayer.
Taught by Pastor Bagwell.
August 30, 2009.
Based on:
Luk 11:1-2 And it happened as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught His disciples. And He said to them, When you pray, say:
Mat 6:9 …Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Mat 6:10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread;
Mat 6:12 and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer is a roadmap on how to pray and not just a prayer to memorize and repeat in rot. Jesus taught us in topics (demarcations) of prayers.
Charismatic’s want to pray as the Spirit flows, which is good, but we also need a structured prayer so that we can be effective in prayer each and every time we pray. This will allow us to cover all the bases when we pray, not leaving out anything important.
This is how Jesus taught His disciples to pray, it should be good enough for us to follow as an example. Each demarcation is a sample of how to pray. Start, middle, conclusion.
1. …Our Father, who is in Heaven,
We need to re-establish the relational fact about us and God. He is more than just our God, He is our Father. I am His son. He is my Papa. Abba Father.
I am more than just a citizen of heaven, I am His son. Jesus called God his Father, so can I. We need to crawl up into His lap and draw near to Him. Insecurity flees when we do so, as I feel the security of His presence.
2. Hallowed be Your name.
Praise His name. Study the names of God. Praise and adore His name, who He is. Focus on His greatness. Magnify His name and lift up His name.
God inhabits our praise of His name. Faith has to inhabit my prayer time to make it effective. I can not come to prayer in fear. His inhabitation casts out that fear. He is a strong tower able to protect me.
God You are my Father. You inhabit me. Praise Your name. I love You. You are my shepherd. Jehovah Jireh my provider. You never leave me. My Lord.
Get my mind off my stuff and upon Him and who He is. He is so great that there is nothing that He can not supply to me.
3. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
I need to get to the place that I need to be at before I can be of any use in other people’s lives. This is the time where I pray for myself and then for others. The first person I need to deal with is me.
I declare peace, righteousness and joy. I declare God’s way of doing things and His will and purpose upon me and those I am interceding for.
We have to be on our toes going with forward motion towards our goal and as we attack enemy territory.
Rom 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit
Pray that God’s way of doing things will be manifest in my life. That God’s purpose will be poured out upon my life. God I ask that Your will be made real in my life. That upon my life You will pour out your Kingdom Come. Your nature, Your morals, Your wisdom.
I declare that His will shall come upon me.
Quit when I feel like quitting. When I have said it all. Then pray for Ana and the kids and grandchildren. Then others, the world, America, Israel.
Don’t pray for change in their lives to suite me but for God’s kingdom to come in their lives. Lift them up. Ask God to supply their needs, their health, and happiness. Talk about needs, heartaches, problems, and comfort.
Keep pressing in, interceding. Nothing but God’s will of Heaven.
Then pray for those God has called me to stand in the gap for. Warfare for them.
4. Give us this day our daily bread;
Acknowledge what my daily need is in dollars. Get an understanding what it actually takes in real dollars to survive, to run Vaya Ministries.
God I need $2,000 a week to sustain retirement with the ability to help others through Vaya Ministries.
Pray specifically for what I need on a daily basis. God said that he would provide all of my needs. Now is the time to ask Him for them. Release to me the daily bread that I need to survive as You see fit. Open doors for me Lord.
Natural Family Photography.
Ask God for direction, guidance, and wisdom to accomplish the things He has given me to do.
5. and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.
Pray for the forgiveness of all of my sins. This softens my heart towards those I need to forgive. All of my sins are laid at the cross. This is for me, my sins.
God forgive me for ….
Lord I have failed to …
Clean me, wash me. Create in me a new heart. Renew in me a right spirit.
Pray for the weak link in my spirit that I battle each day. That one thing that could bring me down if left on it’s own. My Achilles heel. If I do not pray for this then I will be hindered in my walk with God.
Father in the name of Jesus I rebuke this … that hinders me in my walk with You. Lord I thank You that You have given me strength to resist … for 3 weeks, etc.
Then show mercy to those who have wronged me. Stop offenses on a day by day basis. Release others who have hurt me. Take my hands off their throat.
Deep hurts need daily dealing with. This is the time to release all hurts and wounds. Recently and in the distant past. God help me to release this person. Take the hatred out of me. Get over it.
I have been forgiven of a debt that I could never pay, so I forgive others of a much less debt. Lord bless this person. One day I will feel freedom. Sweep my house clean—daily.
6. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil.
Mar 14:38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. Truly the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
It is one thing to be tempted but another thing to enter into it. It is not wrong to be tempted – Satan is at this every day. It is sin to enter into the temptation and make it real.
Prayer is an act of discipline. Be prepared for the testing that will come. Daily address the issues that will come up. This preparation will make us victorious, able to resist the temptation. Whereby we gain the strength to withstand the trials.
Put on the whole armor of God. Eph 6:10-18 to withstand the evil day.
7. End with Praise. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.