Lord, Teach Us To Pray: Part 2

Today we continue a series entitled Lord, Teach Us To Pray!  Do you ever cry out with that same desire as Jesus’ disciples did ––”Teach {me} to pray”?

Each Saturday over the next couple of months, we will intentionally pursue asking the Lord to do just that—teach us to pray.  I believe that, as we continue to look at learning how to pray through the Scriptures, we will develop into daughters who pray—who delight, yearn, love to pray to their Father.  This is my heart’s desire.

Jesus was asked this important question by His disciples. One of the places that it is recorded is in Luke 11, verse 1: “Then He was praying in a certain place; and when He stopped, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray….” They had observed Him going off to pray many times.  In the Gospels it is spoken of numerous times that He “arose early,” “went off to pray,” “withdrew…to pray.” Jesus PRAYED; He spoke with His Father. And His disciples wanted to be like Him!  When asked, Jesus very simply taught His disciples how to pray to God.

Listen to the words that He spoke to them when they asked:

Pray, therefore, like this:

Our Father

Who is in heaven,

hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts,

and have given up resentment against) our debtors.

And lead (bring) us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

Last week we focused on the very first and most important aspect of Jesus’ instruction—addressing God Almighty as: “Our Father….” We looked at verses from the Scriptures which taught us about the level of relationship that God (the Creator, the Almighty, El-Shaddai) wants to have with us.  We found that He wants to be our Father…our Abba Father!  We learned that ‘Abba!’ (today we would say ‘Daddy!’ or ‘Papa!’) is used when talking about “a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person.”

This week we are looking at the very next aspect of prayer that Jesus deemed of importance—“Who is in heaven.”  Jesus’ first attribute relating to God showed the depth of relationship we have with God.  This next attribute also pertains to relationship but tells of the utmost importance of Who God is.  He is in heaven.  To me this relates to His being The Creator…’heaven’ always has been.  It is where God IS, where He exists (though certainly without any limitations).

In Genesis chapter 1, we read “And God saw everything that He had made…” (v25).  Think for a moment…if God was observing what “He had made,” it couldn’t include where He was at.  So, where was that?  By exclusion, it must have been beyond everything that He had made.  God, His existence, is beyond time and space and any limitation within our scope.   After all, He is ELOHIM, The Creator.  Everything belongs to Him.

Deuteronomy 10:14

Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens

belong to the Lord your God,

the earth also, with all that is in it and on it.

Many times throughout the Scriptures, our Father is spoken of as “the Lord, the God of heaven”… “the God of heaven and earth” … “He Who sits in the heavens” … “Who speaks from heaven” … “Possessor of heaven and earth” and in similar other ways.  The heavens are His.

When Solomon finished building the Temple, in His prayer to Almighty God he voiced,

But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth?

Behold, the heavens and heaven of heavens

[in its most extended compass] cannot contain You;

how much less this house that I have built?

1 Kings 8:27

Solomon, the wisest man on the earth (by God’s blessing) knew that surely a building couldn’t contain the glory of the Lord…the Lord’s presence…if the ‘heaven of heavens’ was not able to!  He knew God was above all.

And that brings me to one of the most awesome promises contained in the Scriptures.  A promise from Almighty God, Elohim, our Father to you and to me:

 

Ephesians 2:4-8

But God, who is rich in mercy,

because of His great love that He had for us,

made us alive with the Messiah

even though we were dead in trespasses.

You are saved by grace!

Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up

and seated us in the heavens, so that

in the coming ages He might display

the immeasurable riches of His grace

through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For you are saved by grace through faith….

Sit there, please, for one minute and meditate on this promise: in the coming ages, you and I WILL be seated together with Jesus in the heavens.

In the coming ages, we WILL be seated together with Jesus in the heavens.

We will dwell for all eternity with Jesus and Almighty God “Who is in heaven.”  Oh. How. He. Loves. Us. So. <3

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This week in our blogs we have talked about recognizing our worth.  We have looked at it from various aspects: how we feel about ourselves; within our relationships—family, friends, boyfriends, school; our hopes, dreams, plans for the future.

I put before you this thought:

How much worth,  ______ (insert your name here), do I have if God Almighty has promised
that I will sit with Jesus in the heavens? <3

 

“Our Father, Who is in heaven…”

~Coleen

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***This is a special Saturday series for GCH:decaf.

For our Bible Study, A Daughter’s Worth, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. We will begin the devotional part of this study next week, so really, you have until THIS MONDAY to get your book! You can even order it right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.

If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email teens@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information.