Study of Prayer ~ Introduction

"Our Father"

Prayer is our communication with God. But, I’d like to add a different kind of definition that explains it better. Prayer is our response to God both spoken and unspoken. I always thought it was me seeking Him out and it is to some degree, but it is really allowing the Holy Spirit leading us into conversation with the Almighty.

Think of it this way, Jesus taking us by the hand and leading us into God’s throne room. He says to you, “Our Father wants to talk with you.” This is what prayer is. When we accept His invitation to have a relationship with Him, He, through the power of the Holy Spirit, draws us to Him.

When we don’t pray, we are refusing His invitation into relationship with Him. We still have our eternal inheritance, but our relationship with Him gets no deeper. Our skills at communicating with Him are hampered. The more we pray, the more we get better at it.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray. Like many people, they really didn’t understand how. Jesus was such a patient teacher and gives us His Word to teach us. His Holy Spirit residing within us reveals the truth. This is what He taught:

Matthew 6:5-13 (NLT) “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

   “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."

We are all used to the King James Version:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

I want us to pray this at the beginning of every class. Each week I will bring a new aspect of this prayer, so we can learn the intricacies of it.

Today, let’s look at Our Father...

How does Jesus address God? This verse reads like this “Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”

He describes two aspects of God:

1. He’s in heaven.
2. He’s holy.

Heaven is inaccessible to people. We are bound to this earth. There is only one exception to this. We must give Jesus control over our hearts and minds. Our souls must accept what He did on the cross for us. Once we do this we can step our spiritual feet into heaven and His throne room now.

John 14:1-11 Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”

   “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

   Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

Jesus revealed an amazing thing here. He told them they had seen God already in Him. He claimed to be God. At the same time He told them He was the way to God. Jesus is our guide into heaven. He bridges the gap to God. We are allowed to enter into the most holy place where God dwells. This revelation would have amazed the disciples because they were Jewish and only the High Priest was allowed into the Holy of Holies.

Hebrews 9:24-26 (NLT) That first covenant between God and Israel had regulations for worship and a place of worship here on earth. There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out over the Ark’s cover, the place of atonement. But we cannot explain these things in detail now.

    When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room as they performed their religious duties. But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.

   This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.

The disciples were learning that they could communicate with God through Jesus. They probably didn’t understand it fully until Jesus rose from death and the Holy Spirit indwelled them. But when they did....oh man!! 

We too can enter into the Most Holy Place previously inaccessible to us through Jesus.

When we pray, we must approach God with the reverence that is due Him. He’s in heaven, the Most Holy Place, because He is holy and cannot be among unholiness. But, because of what Jesus did, Himself being God, we can through faith in

Him, come and talk with God. God Is approachable! He is only approachable through Jesus. So when we pray, let us approach Him with this type of reverence and respect. 

Luke 23:44-46 (NLT) It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Jesus made a way into the Most Holy Place when He died for our sins on the cross. Upon His death He ripped apart the curtain that barred man from God. He entered as the final true High Priest. No more blood sacrifices needed to be made. He made a way, the only way, were there was no way. 

Hebrews 6:18-20 (NLT) So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Since Jesus has made this way as our High Priest, let us enter into the Most Holy Place to speak with the Most High God. It is a place where only truth is spoken, hearts are filled, delight is experienced and true love is found. In this place we are wrapped in the light of God and His glory. Beside Him sits our King Jesus. He bids us to come and unite ourselves with Him. 

Prayer is so much more than we could ever imagine. Over the next few weeks we will learn the different aspects of communicating and responding to God. He is our Father, and we have access to His dwelling through our Lord Jesus.