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"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matt. 6:11). God is glorified when He meets your needs. In America, praying for our daily bread hardly seems necessary. Most people need to pray for self-control to avoid overeating! But Matthew 6:11 isn't talking about food only. It is a statement of dependency on God and an acknowledgment that He alone provides all of life's basic necessities. Sad to say, however, many people today have reduced prayer to a means of self-fulfillment. Recently a woman sent me a booklet and wrote, "I don't think you understand the true resource we have in...

"Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). Praying for God’s will to be done on earth is an aggressive prayer. Many people assume that somehow everything that happens is God's will. But that's not true. Lives destroyed by murderous aggressors and families broken by adultery aren't God's will. Children and adults ravaged by abuse or crippled by disease aren't God's will. He uses sin and illness to accomplish His own purposes (Rom. 8:28), but they aren't His desire. Eventually God will destroy all evil and fulfill His will perfectly (Rev. 20:10-14), but that hasn't...

"Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). Your prayers make a difference! Matthew 6:10 literally says, "Whatever you wish to have happen, let it happen immediately. As your will is done in heaven, so let it be done on earth." That's a prayer of active commitment to God's will. Many people don't pray like that because they don't understand God's character. They think their prayers don't matter and that God will impose His will on them no matter what they do. They tend to pray with passive resignation, indifference, or resentment. I remember praying...

"Thy kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10). The only acceptable response to Christ’s offer of the Kingdom is to receive it, value it, and pursue it! Many people who think they're kingdom citizens will someday be shocked to discover they aren't. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven." Some people think highly of the kingdom but never receive the King. They call Jesus "Lord" but don't do His will. Lip service won't do. You must receive the...

"Thy kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10). Conversion to Christ involves three elements: invitation, repentance, and commitment. Someday Christ will return to earth to reign in His kingdom. In the meantime He rules in the hearts of those who love Him. Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus gave us a mandate to evangelize the lost and teach them His Word (Matt. 28:19- 20). When we do, sinners are converted and transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13). That's how His kingdom grows. Conversion is a work of the Spirit in the heart of unbelievers. He uses...

"Thy kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10). Relinquish your will to Christ’s sovereign rule. Attempting to explain all that is involved in the phrase "Thy kingdom come" is like a child standing on a beach attempting to scoop the entire ocean into a little pail. Only in eternity will we grasp all that it encompasses, but the poem "His Coming to Glory" by the nineteenth-century hymnwriter Frances Havergal captures its essence: Oh the joy to see Thee reigning, Thee, my own beloved Lord! Every tongue Thy name confessing, Worship, honor, glory, blessing Brought to Thee with glad accord; Thee, my Master and...

"Thy kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10). When you pray, “Thy kingdom come,” you are praying for Christ to reign on earth as He already does in Heaven. When we hear the word kingdom we tend to think of medieval castles, kings, knights, and the like. But "kingdom" in Matthew 6:10 translates a Greek word that means "rule" or "reign." We could translate the phrase, "Thy reign come." That gives a clearer sense of what Christ meant. He prayed that God's rule would be as apparent on earth as it is in heaven. God's kingdom was the central issue in Christ's ministry....

"Hallowed be Thy name" (Matt. 6:9). Sound theology that results in holy living hallows God’s name. We have learned that hallowing God's name requires setting it apart from everything common, and giving Him first place in our lives. That starts with believing He exists. Hebrews 11:6 says, "He who comes to God must believe that He is." Beyond mere belief, you must also know the kind of God He is. Many people who claim to believe in God aren't hallowing His name because they have erroneous concepts of who He is. The Israelites thought they were worshiping the true God...

"Hallowed be Thy name" (Matt. 6:9). God is holy and deserves your highest respect and your humble obedience. To most people the word hallowed elicits thoughts of Halloween, ivy-covered walls, or starchy religious traditions. But those are all far from its biblical meaning. "Hallowed" in Matthew 6:9 translates a Greek word that means "holy." When Christ said, "Hallowed be Thy name," He was saying in effect, "May Your name be regarded as holy." When you hallow God's name, you set it apart from everything common and give Him the place He deserves in your life. Throughout Scripture, holiness is attributed...

"Hallowed be Thy name" (Matt. 6:9). Prayer should always exalt God. The Disciples' Prayer illustrates the priority that God should hold in our prayers. Jesus began by exalting the Father: "Hallowed be Thy name" (v. 9), then requested that the Father's kingdom come and His will be done (v. 10). He concluded with an anthem of praise: "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen" (v. 13). His prayer literally begins and ends with God. "Hallowed be Thy name" exalts the name of the Lord and sets a tone of worship and submission that is...

"Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9). With God as your Father, your life has eternal significance. Author H.G. Wells wrote of a man who had been overcome by the pressure and stress of modern life. His doctor told him that his only hope was to find fellowship with God. The man responded, "What? That—up there—having fellowship with me? I would as soon think of cooling my throat with the Milky Way or shaking hands with the stars." Poet Thomas Hardy said that prayer is useless because there's no one to pray to except "that dreaming, dark, dumb thing...

"Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9). Prayer begins with the recognition that God is your Father and has the resources to meet your needs. The term Father is one of the most commonly used terms in our prayers, and rightly so because that's how Jesus taught us to pray. But as common as that term is to us, it was very uncommon to the people of Christ's day. Then, most of the people who worshiped false gods thought of them as distant, capricious, and immoral beings that were to be feared. Even the Jewish people, who should have...

"Pray, then, in this way: '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 debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen'" (Matt. 6:9-15). Jesus gave six elements that constitute true prayer. Many people have memorized the Disciples' Prayer so they can recite it often, but as beautiful as...

"O Lord, in accordance with all Thy righteous acts, let now Thine anger and Thy wrath turn away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people have become a reproach to all those around us. So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Thy servant and to his supplications, and for Thy sake, O Lord, let Thy face shine on Thy desolate sanctuary. "O my God, incline Thine ear and hear! Open Thine eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by...

"Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments. . . . righteousness belongs to Thee. . . . To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness" (Dan. 9:4, 7, 9). God’s attributes authenticate your prayers. Prior to the Babylonian Captivity God had warned His people not to adopt the idolatrous ways of their captors. Their gods were idols that could neither hear nor deliver them from distress (Isa. 46:6-7). In marked contrast, our God loves us and delivers us from evil. When we confess...

"We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances. . . . We have not listened to Thy servants the prophets. . . . Open shame belongs to us, O Lord . . . because we have sinned against Thee. . . . Indeed all Israel has transgressed Thy law and turned aside, not obeying Thy voice. . . . Thy people have become a reproach to all those around us" (Dan. 9:5-16). Others should be the primary focus of your prayers. In verses 5-16 Daniel identifies with his people and intercedes...

"I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed" (Dan. 9:4). Confession brings forgiveness and guards God’s character. Confessing your sins means you agree with God that you have offended His holy character, are worthy of punishment, and in need of forgiveness. That's exactly what we see Daniel doing in verses 5-16. Verse 20 summarizes his prayer: "I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God." Unlike some who suffer God's chastening, Daniel didn't shift the blame for Israel's calamity. Instead he admitted that...

"I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed" (Dan. 9:4). God will not respond to self-righteous prayers. In Luke 18 Jesus told a parable to people who were trusting in their own self-righteousness. He said, "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' "But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance...

"I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes" (Dan. 9:3). The more you understand God’s holiness, the more you’ll recognize your own sinfulness. People view prayer differently. For some it is a last resort after all human options have been exhausted: "All I can do now is pray for you!" Others liken it to a spiritual spare tire—something used only in the event of an emergency. Many who should thrive on prayer have been lulled into complacency by an affluent and godless society. Daniel, however, saw prayer as...

"The word of the Lord [came] to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem" (Dan. 9:2). Effective prayer is always consistent with God’s will. It is characteristic of God's people to identify with God's purposes and conform their will to His. Learning to pray according to His will is a major step in that process because it drives you to the Word and demonstrates a humble, submissive heart. Jesus emphasized the priority of God's will when He said, "I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who...