The most effective calming force a human being can engage in; a gift from God.

–          To help us to connect to him.

–          A way of worshiping him.

–          A way of releasing our problems/burdens to Him.

Jesus did just that, when he prayed for himself and released his heartfelt situations to the Father.

And then he prayed for the believers; he knew there would be divisions among churches because of human imperfections and misunderstandings, which somehow saddened him.

So, he prayed for unity – meaning genuine believers are united in him.  It saddens him, when genuine Christians judge each other.  (I remember going to  church and a friend in Christ said to me, you’re not one of us, because you were not baptised by us.)  And I remember saying if Jesus was here, what would he say?  He is the tree and we are the branches, and he commands us to love each other.  He is the Bible, and so whoever reads the Holy Bible and puts it into practice is in Jesus.  And if any one wants to connect to God properly they have to pray through Jesus’ name.

And according to Jesus’ wisdom, our prayers have to be specific and reasonably short, (Mt. 6-14).  He advises us, that we should pray individually in a solitary quiet place; which is just you and God.  When you look into the Bible you can see how he used to retreat to the mountains to pray by himself.  He also encourages us to pray together.

The way he taught us how to pray, is the main way God wants us to pray to Him.  (The most important prayer, Matthew 6:9-13)  Every line is significant and straight to the point. The first line is acknowledging that God is our Father in heaven.  And that he should be honoured, and his name should be sanctified.

He mentions ‘your kingdom come’, which means God’s Kingdom should be in our hearts and in our lives. The Kingdom represents his words, plan and salvation, which in the end will be established.

He mentions ‘His will be done’, which means it is important to understand that God’s will is better than ours.  He decides what to do on earth as he did in heaven.  And we can’t even argue with Him. So, we have to accept God’s will in order to have  peace of mind.

Our daily bread,’ when you think about it, God provides most our needs and we don’t even need to ask him.  For example,  food is plenty all the time, and all we need to do is to get it.  In this case, I think Jesus means wisdom and Holy Spirit.  Jesus referred to himself as our daily bread, and he said, he is life. John 6:35.  We always have to pray for guidance and wisdom.  And also to pray for every situation that bothers our minds.  For each day comes with its own issues.

And then he says, forgive us our sins’.  This is easy to understand, because when we sin it is important to ask God forgiveness.  For this is a way of humbling ourselves when we acknowledge that we have sinned against God.  And then we have to remember, that to be forgiven, we also have to forgive. Matt. 6;14-15.   He also advises us, that if you’ve sinned against someone – go to them and apologise to create peace.  But his first message is, make every effort to avoid sinning.

And then he says, ‘let us not into temptations’…this is crucial, because it is not good to fall into temptation or Satan’s trap.  So, we should always pray to keep away from temptation grounds, but if we get tempted we should be adamant to say no, for this strengthens our faith.  A sin can weaken/destroy our faith if we fall into it, so it is better to keep away.  Temptations affect the heart and are brought about by Satan.  So when you face one…Pray! Jesus urged Peter to pray about the temptation.

And then he says, deliver us from evil’. This is crucial and critical, because it is not good to be in Satan’s trap. It is a state of destruction, for we want to be saved.  When you find your self in a trap… pray and get out!

According to Jesus we shouldn’t use many words because we end up repeating ourselves.  And he says, ‘God knows what you are thinking’.  And it seems like we shouldn’t keep on asking God for things, or we end up praying for things which He had already decided to give us, before we even opened our mouths.

Let me give you an example, non believers; they get almost everything they need.  And guess what, they don’t even pray.  As a scripture says, God makes the sun shine on everybody. John 5:43-45  He shows his kindness to everyone.

So the most important thing is to pray for our spiritual needs, as mentioned in the Lords prayer.  It is crucially  important to pray from the heart; to be humble and sincere. Think about every line from the Lord’s Prayer seriously with a heart of repentance.  And it is also important to make sure we thank him for every blessing, even when things are tough.

Jesus said, seek his kingdom first, and all these things will be added on to you. Matt. 6:33

Praying  in the morning  and at night  is crucial to get us energised spiritually.  Some Christians pray using a new tongue.  (Pentecostal churches use this a lot, I cor.13)  They feel, it also helps them in stress.  But my favourite Prayer is which Jesus emphasised on above.  I always look forward to it, knowing that it is our guidance.  And Every time I pray, it touches my heart deeply.