Sunday Reflections--September 16

I was all set to type up my notes last night, but Miss G had a terribly difficult time settling down. Instead of sitting in front of the computer, I ended up rocking my baby girl to sleep--a change of plans I didn't necessarily mind.

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This week's sermon about prayer focused on what our prayer should look like. Pastor Jameson used the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as our template as we went through three questions about prayer.

1. Should we use patterns or be spontaneous? (v. 9) In the Lord's Prayer, we're given a pattern. The prayer begins with addressing God, then it's a request relating to God, followed by a request that's related to human needs. But before we think all we have to do is follow this exact formula, we need to know that this pattern is given to guide our praying. It's more of a launching point than a strict pattern to follow. The Lord's Prayer sets up the priorities of our praying. As we look at each line of the Lord's Prayer, we can allow it to inspire us about what to pray in those categories. I have heard of the ACTS pattern for praying, but Pastor Jameson mentioned the CHAT acronym yesterday:

Confess
Honor
Ask
Thank

2. Should we express intimacy or reverence? (v. 9) We can express both intimacy and reverence. "Our Father" begins the prayer on a note of intimacy, but we know that God should be given respect, too. In Him, we have both fatherly love and heavenly power.

3. Should we focus on big stuff or small stuff? (v. 9-13) In case you haven't caught on, the answer to all these questions is both. Pastor Jameson gave us some practical ways to pray following the format of the Lord's Prayer:

"Hallowed be your name." Pray that God would be honored by people around the world, whether those in public positions to give Him honor or those who are being persecuted for loving Him.

"Your kingdom come." Pray that Christians around the world would witness and spread the good news.

"Your will be done." Pray that our lives will conform to God's will as it is written in Scripture.

"Give us today our daily bread." Pray for our practical, earthly needs.

"Forgive us our debts." Pray to confess our sins.

"Lead us not into temptation." Pray that He will rescue us from the evil one.

This week, our challenge was to build on setting a time and place to pray by incorporating what we should be praying about. It was a good reminder of the basics of prayer.