This Week In Recovery Lesson
The Lord’s Prayer for Life
Please begin this week’s lesson by reading Matthew chapter 6.
There are definitely times when I find it difficult to pray. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed I cannot talk about it; I am without adequate words. There are times when I hurt too much in my heart to pray. There are times when I am very angry and will not pray. There are times when I don’t feel bad about my sin and feel too unworthy to pray. There are time when I am riddled with shame and in my worthlessness can’t pray. There are times when I am paralyzed by fear and don’t have the words to pray. There are times when I am in way too good of a mood to settle down in prayer. But if I am honest, as busy as I may be at times, I am really never too busy to pray; I simply choose not to. It is in the midst of my pride and my insecurities that I am most thankful that Jesus gave the following words of inspiration for powerful effective prayer.
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13
- Why would you say that Jesus gave us these words to pray?
- In considering the context of the entirety Matthew Chapter 6, who was Jesus talking to, and what would you say was the tenor of His narrative?
- According to this context, what would you say is the purpose of this, The Lord’s Prayer?
- “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:5-8) What would you say that was trying to communicate here about the kind of effective prayer that Father God listens and responds to?
- Jesus transitions in Matthew 6 from the context of giving to the needy, to praying for the needy, to our obsessions with our own needs and how we worry about what we need. What would you say He is intending to communicate with us?
- What ground is The Lord’s Prayer covering? List what you can identify are the elements and issues targeted by it?
- What would you say is the relevance of The Lord’s Prayer today?
- Please click on TWRAC 029 for this week’s application challenge.
Print PDF Here