Preparations (Proverbs 21:31)

We can make all the preparation that we want, but the outcome is always based upon what the Lord desires.

"The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance and victory are of the Lord." Proverbs 21:31, Amplified

All the preparation in the world will not win the battle if the Lord already favors your foe. this is why we must not only make preparation, but we must also supplicate and pray to the Lord for His deliverance.

Praying for a Wife (Proverbs 19:14)

There are many different things that one may inherit from his parents, however, a wife is not one of those things. She comes directly from the Lord.

"Houses and riches are the inheritance from fathers, but a wise, understanding and prudent wife is from the Lord." Proverbs 19:14, Amplified

There is not much to say about this verse because it is so self explanatory. Our parents may leave us with the wealth of this world or even a wealth of knowledge. But the Lord is the only one who can give us the wife of our desires. This can even be said of women and their husbands.

My mother prayed for my wife since I was in the fourth grade. At first I thought it kind of weird, but after thinking about it, I realize that she was praying for my wife long before I met her, long before she knew who I was. It is because of prayer that I met my wife. The Lord led me on a fantastic journey of meeting my wife. Every relationship failed because she was not the one for me. Relationships ended abruptly and I have no idea why. But if my mother had not prayed for Rhiannon, would I have ever met her? Who knows. But what I do know is this: my wife came from the Lord.

Prayer and Supplication (Proverbs 16:25)

There are many different paths for us to take in our lives. But what paths should we choose to take?

"There is a way that seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it are the ways of death." Proverbs 16:25, Amplified

On a daily basis, there are many different choices to make. In life, there are goals to meet. How are we to make these choices and meet these goals? Prayer and supplication. When a choice confronts us, all we can do is speculate as to the end of things. All I can do is vacillate between what may and may not happen. But there is another in my life who is omniscient. The Lord knows the end of all things just as He knows the beginning.

This reminds me of an old asian story I had heard. There was a young man who fell in love with the kings daughter. The princess loved this young man as well, but the father was against it. So he offered the young man a challenge. There were two doors. Behind one of the doors was a tiger and behind the other door were beautiful women. The challenge was set for the next day. That evening the father told the daughter what door lead to the tiger and what door led to the women. The daughter stole away that evening to meet her love and told him what door to pick. When the next day came the young man awoke with confidence. He made his way to the door and chose, walked through it and died from a tiger strike. Why would his love choose the tiger? She was afraid of losing him, she did not trust the lust in man with the beautiful women that were behind the second door. She had no faith or trust in him and she saw the finite ending of things.

The Lord sees all and knows all. When choices make their way to us, lay them before the Lord. We should never take the position of knowing what is best for us. Pray and supplicate. Jesus prayed three times in the Garden to allow for the cross to pass and to find another way. He was afraid. When the Father's position was clear to Him, He went to the cross knowing it was the Father's will. Pray and supplicate bothers and sisters.

Prayer II

This next portion of Scripture is often misnamed as "The Lord's Prayer". The fact of the matter is, this is not the Lord's prayer at all. The Lord prayed in the Garden at Gethsemane, this is the only prayer that we have on record (unless of course you include the words spoken from the cross), then there are a total of eight prayers recorded in the Bible. All these will be covered in later studies.

Back to the matter at hand. This portion of Scripture is not appropriately named. Jesus covered how not to pray in the beginning portion now He is showing His disciples how to pray. This is not meant to be a liturgical prayer, it is a model.

"In this manner, therefore, pray:" Matthew 6:9a, NKJV

Jesus stated "in this manner". When we teach our children how to do something, we give them an example to follow. The Lord is doing the same thing here: teaching.

"Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name."

Matthew 6:9b, NKJV

First of all, prayer begins with praise. We must acknowledge who we are speaking to as well as acknowledge His holiness. This is not the first time that we have seen this model used. Do you realize that Nehemiah prayed in the same fashion? In Nehemiah chapter 1, Nehemiah prays for his people. He began his prayer with praise. "I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe You commandments." (Nehemiah 1:5, NKJV)

"Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

One earth as it is in heaven."

Matthew 6:10, NKJV

Our prayer is to also have purpose. The purpose of prayer is to understand and know that the Lord's will us to be done in everything. The purpose of the prayer is to invite the Lord into our situation with the acknowledgment that His will is to be done. Again, Nehemiah had the same idea. "Please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before you now, day and night..." (Nehemiah 1:6a, NKJV) Nehemiah knows and understands that the Lord needs to be invited and it is within His control.

"Give us this day our daily bread."

Matthew 6:11, NKJV

Next is to ask for provision. This provision asked for can be for a multitude of things. This daily bread can also mean any type of food as well as anything on a spiritual plane. There is a popular series of books known as "Our Daily Bread" which is a collection of Scriptural devotions. Jesus even likened the Word of God to bread. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4, NKJV) The provision that Nehemiah acknowledges the need for forgiveness. "...[I pray] for the the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned." (Nehemiah 1:6b, NKJV)

"And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors."

Matthew 6:12, NKJV

Some translations use the word sin to replace debt. Metaphorically, debt can be used to describe sin. Either way we look at it, we are in debt. We are in debt to Satan as we continue to live a life of sin, or we can be in debt to God for the death of His Son. Daily we need to ask for His forgiveness because daily we fall short. "We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which you commanded You servant Moses." (Nehemiah 1:7, NKJV) Nehemiah first acknowledged the need for forgiveness, then he gets specific with the Lord. The Lord knows that we have sinned, but He wishes for us to confess to Him what we have done, to be accountable.

"And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from the evil one."

Matthew 6:13a, NKJV

Deliverance. We all need deliverance. Who better to ask for deliverance than the Lord Himself? "Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out tot he farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to a place I have chosen as a dwelling place for My name.'" (Nehemiah 1:8-9, NKJV) Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are His everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, 'Destroy!'" Deliverance only comes from the Lord.

"For Yours is the kingdom

And the power

And the glory

Forever. Amen."

Matthew 6:13b, NKJV

Lastly, we end with praise. We acknowledge, again, the power and glory that is the Lord's alone. What began in adoration also ends in adoration. "Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O lord, I pray, please let your ear be attentive tot he prayer of Your servant, and the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." (Nehemiah 1:10-11, NKJV) Notice how Nehemiah acknowledges the kingdom and power and glory of God. Jesus wasn't just throwing up a random model for the disciples to follow, He was giving them a method which was already in use. Nehemiah prayed the prayer long before Jesus ever taught it. Remember, however, that it is only a model not to be out into a repetitious liturgy.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matthew 6:14-15, NKJV

Jesus ends this portion with a spiritual truth. It is a truth of forgiveness. You must give in order to receive. "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy."

Prayer I

The next portion of Scripture is a little long, so I will separate it into two different sections. The first section will be similar to the former section of charitable deeds; a do and don't do list. The second section will be focused on what has been labeled as "The Lord's Prayer".

So the first section is like unto the first portion of chapter six. Jesus takes the idea of what spirituality was at that time and instructs the disciples in the correct form. Up until this time, all the people had to go on were the impossible examples of the spiritual leaders. The thing about Jesus is that He takes the impossible and makes it very possible for the "normal" man. Every spiritual leader began just where I did. Nothing in them makes them a better Christian than I. If they did it then so can I. Jesus makes it possible.

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward." Matthew 6:5, NKJV

Again, Jesus likens the spiritual leaders to a hypocrite. They want to be seen as spiritual. I cannot lie, I have been in this place before. I wanted to be the guy that everyone said, "Oh look at him." "Look how spiritual he is." But then I would have already reaped my reward. The reward here is the same as it is in the first part of chapter 6, a nice pat on the back from your fellow man.

"But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." Matthew 6:6, NKJV

We, as Christians, are instructed to go into a secluded place to pray. Think of it like this. when you are having an intimate conversation with someone, where are you located? Just say that it is your wife and you want to talk to her about problems in your marriage. Would you talk to her about it in the middle of the room or on a crowded street corner? Of course not. The same thing goes with our Lord. He desires us to have an intimate conversation with Him. The intimacy is cut down when we can be distracted. No one needs to know the intimate places of your heart except the Lord. The reward you receive for praying in private will be greater than just a simple pat on the back.

"And when you pray, do not use vain repetition as the heathen do. For they think they will be heard for their many words." Matthew 6:7, NKJV

This is the first time I will talk of any other religion other than my own belief system. The Catholics, I feel, practice prayer in this fashion. In the next part of this portion of Scripture, we will be covering the Lord's prayer. However, it is not the Lord prayer. He stated when you pray, pray like this. It was merely a model for us to go by which will be covered in the next installment of this blog. When one goes to confession in a Catholic church you are given "x" amount of "Hail Mary's" and an "x" amount of "Our Father's". Does this mean that all Catholics are heathens? No.

"Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." Matthew 6:8, NKJV

What the Lord is conveying here is a spiritual truth. There is no need for you to pray out in public loudly for all to hear you. There is also no need to use repetition when you pray. Prayer needs to be a nice conversation with you Father.

The Lord knows what we need even before we ask. So why even ask? What is the point of prayer if He already knows? Good question. The Lord wants us to ask because He wants us to acknowledge the fact that He knows. Later in chapter 7, the Lord will cover asking and seeking and knocking.

Prayer is our intimate time with the Lord. It is the time when we open our hearts to him and give Him all our cares and worries and desires and needs. If you spent the better part of your time with your best friend just being silent, where would the friendship go. It is all about communication.