Prayer 11 - For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever - Amen

 

A series of meditations on prayer

Hier reeks oordenkings is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar

The 1st Medetation Prayer 01 - Why should a believer pray?

The Previous Medetation: Prayer 10 - And do not bring us into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one

The last Meditation in this series: Prayer 12 - Our Father

Prayer 11

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever - Amen.

Jer. v 8 & 9 HCSB

I will purify them from all the wrongs they have committed against Me, and I will forgive all the wrongs they have committed against Me, rebelling against Me. This city will bear on My behalf a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I will do for them. They will tremble with awe because of all the good and all the peace I will bring about for them.

 We conclude our prayer with: "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever - Amen" because our Heavenly Father is so powerful. With that we pay homage to the greatness of his power.

 Furthermore, we also acknowledge that we pray everything from our Father because He as King has power over everything and that He wants and can give us all good things from His rich abundance.

 By praising the greatness of our Father, not we, but his holy name are praised forever.

 When I say ‘Amen’ then I acknowledge that it is much more certain and true that my Father hears my prayer than I feel in my heart that I desire it from Him.

 Draw near to your Heavenly Father in prayer with the certain knowledge that He will and wants to listen to you based on the redemption in Jesus Christ.

Amen

Prayer 10 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

A series of meditations on prayer

Hier reeks oordenkings is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar

The 1st Medetation Prayer 01 - Why should a believer pray?

The Previous Medetation: Prayer 09: And forgive us our debts, as we alsohave forgiven our debtors

The next Meditation: Prayer 10: And do not bring us into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one

Prayer 10

And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

1 Pet. 5 v 8

Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

 With our prayer, we prayed to our Heavenly Father in our inner room. We have come to lay our life's need and guilt of sin before his feet, but now we must continue on the dangerous path of life and for that we also pray.

 We pray this prayer because we are so weak. The danger of temptation awaits us like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour and in ourselves we are so weak that we cannot remain unconquered for one moment.

 That is why we pray to our Father that He will guide us in His wise disposition and strengthen us through the Holy Spirit so that we can miss sin, because we trust in everything in His protection and guidance.

 We pray this prayer because our enemies are so dangerous and strong. They are in fact mortal enemies, namely the devil, the world and our own sinful nature.

 The devil is a liar and murderer. The Bible describes him in Revelation. 12 v 3 and 20 v 2 as a cunning ancient serpent of seduction and a fiery dragon of destruction.

 The world outside denies that God exists and that includes all the sinful practices that are in rebellion against God's authority.

 Our own sinful nature is our own enmity against God that stems from the devastating rebellion against God by our first ancestors, Adam and Eve. The characteristics of it that we also find in our own lives are immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, hatred, jealousy, anger, quarrels, division, division, envy, drunkenness, extravagance and all such things.

 These mortal enemies team up to work our doom and they do not stop attacking us.

 Therefore, pray in faith for the guidance and protection of our Heavenly Father to strengthen you in this battle (since we ourselves are so weak and our enemies so strong) until we finally achieve victory.

Amen

Prayer 09 - And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

 

A series of meditations on prayer

Hier reeks oordenkings is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar

The 1st Medetation Prayer 01 - Why should a believer pray?

The Previous Medetation: Prayer 08: Give us each day our daily bread

The next Meditation: Prayer 10 And do not bring usinto temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Prayer 09

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Luke 15 v 17 & 18 HCSB

When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.

 In the previous prayers we prayed for our physical need and now we pray for our spiritual need. The prodigal son comes home in this prayer to seek forgiveness from his Father.

 Here we beg that God will not impute to us our crimes and evil that we are still clinging to. We pray here for the inherited guilt that we still cling to as well as our own guilt that we discover under the proclamation of the Word and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. This is an ongoing process, because out of our own, we only make our debt bigger every day.

We beg here that God not impute our crimes and evil for the sake of the blood of Christ. This is an honest confession where we do not deny our sin and guilt. The only reason we can make this plea is the blood of Jesus Christ.

 Forgiveness is a gift of grace. The forgiving attitude in my own heart is the proof of God's grace in my life. Although we receive it out of grace without any merit on our part, it also places a responsibility on us to use and apply what we receive from God. Therefore, we must also have a serious intention to forgive our neighbor.

  In this prayer I come with a sense of guilt and confession to the throne of grace of God and I find forgiveness and forgiveness.

  Keep praying this prayer until we meet before the throne of grace at the Second Coming, perfect and without sin.

Amen

Prayer 07 - Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

 

A series of meditations on prayer

Hier reeks oordenkings is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar

The 1st Medetation Prayer 01 - Why should a believer pray?

The Previous Medetation: Prayer 06 -Your kingdom come

The next Meditation: Prayer 08 - Give us each day our daily bread

Prayer 07

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Micah 6 v 8 HCSB

Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Rom. 8 v 28 HCSB

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

 

The will of God. It has been a stumbling block from the beginning against which mankind has rebelled. Putting God's will above your own sinful will is humanly impossible. This can only happen when we are saved by our faith in the gospel and God leads us to it through His Spirit. That is what we are praying for in this prayer.

 

The prayer to obey God's will involves asking God to lead us through His Spirit to give up our own sinful will, for our own will is the cause of all our misery. Giving up our own will is therefore a matter of repentance, because although we ask God to lead us to it through His Spirit, you are not passive in giving up your own will.

 

In giving up my own will, I must surrender myself to God's will. This means that I must accept that God's will is good and just, because only our Good Father's will is good and holy.

 

Even though we may not always understand God's will, we must accept both his revealed will (as embodied in his Word) as well as his hidden will, which is expressed in his providence, as perfect and good so that we can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from His love; for all creatures are so completely in His hand that without His will they cannot so much as move.

 

Furthermore, it means that I accept and do not find fault with God's will or try to know better than God. It also means that I must not try to pervert God's will to suit my own will.

 

In this we also pray that God will guide us through His Spirit to obediently accept the position in which He places us within His church (office of believer, deacon, elder or teacher) and that we will perform the duties associated with it so that it will extend to his glory and the expansion of his Kingdom.

 

This obedience also involves that I will see my daily task in whatever form as the place in which God has placed me and that I will carry it out as if it were for the Lord.

 

The conclusion ‘as in heaven’ is that we, like the heavenly beings before his throne, will fulfill God's will with joy and that we will also pray for the return of Jesus Christ at the consummation when we as new people will no longer know of a conflict with God's will.

 

In this third prayer we therefore pray that God will guide us through his Spirit and give us the ability to be obedient so that we will give up our own will and carry out his will as it happens in heaven.

 

Amen

Prayer 08 - Give us each day our daily bread

 

A series of meditations on prayer

Hier reeks oordenkings is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar

The 1st Medetation Prayer 01 - Why should a believer pray?

The Previous Medetation: Prayer 07 -Our Father in heaven

The next Meditation: (will be published soon)

Prayer 08

Give us each day our daily bread.

Phil. 4 v 6 HCSB

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

 

While we are still living on earth, we need our daily bread, that is, our livelihood. Therefore, the Lord teaches us to come to Him in prayer with our daily needs and pray for them. Anyone who believes in the salvation of Jesus Christ can come to our Father with confidence in his daily needs.

 

When we pray for our daily bread, it is a request that includes much more than just bread. We hereby pray for everything we need for our daily subsistence such as health, clothing, food, work, compensation for our labor and the proceeds thereof.

 

This prayer does not mean that we should just sit back and wait for our daily bread to appear miraculously. No, we are asking for the possibility of providing for our livelihood through our work, because even that is only grace.

 

With this we acknowledge, our deep dependence on our Father's care because He is the only Source of all that is good and that His gifts without His blessing will benefit us nothing.

 

Furthermore, we also confess our childlike trust in the care of our Father and that we thereby deprive our trust of all creatures and place it on Him alone.

 

In this prayer we also ask that the Lord will give us what we need without being consumed by worries or greed for more than we need. But with this prayer we also reach in expectation beyond the bread need of the time to the abundance of eternity.

 

Pray and work for your daily bread, while silently expecting everything from your Father in faith, until He will make everything new on the new earth where there will be no more hunger or worry.

Amen

 

 

Prayer 06 - Your kingdom come

A series of meditations on prayer

Hier reeks oordenkings is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar

The 1st Medetation Prayer 01 - Why should a believer pray?

The Previous Medetation: Prayer 05 -Our Father in heaven

The next Meditation: Prayer 07 -  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Prayer 06

Your kingdom come.

Mark 1 v 14 & 15 HCSB

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!”

 The kingdom of God is a subject on which many books have been written. John Bright says the following about it: "For the concept of the Kingdom of God involves, in a real sense, the total message of the Bible."

 The kingdom of God refers to God's rule over all creation and mankind and it proclaims God's grace and the good news of his salvation in Jesus Christ from the rule of sin in people's lives.

 In this prayer we ask four things:

1. Submission of ourselves to God's rule

The coming of the Kingdom begins with ourselves and therefore we must pray that God will rule us in such a way through His Word and Spirit that we will submit to Him more and more.

2. Preservation and building up of Jesus' bridal church

Remember, every believer is one of the living building blocks of Jesus' church. In this prayer, therefore, there is also a sigh, namely: preserve Your church against its enemies (that is, our own sinful nature, the world and the attacks of satan) and let it grow through the proclamation of the gospel.

3. Casting down all enemy forces

With this prayer we therefore also specifically ask that God will destroy the works of the devil (that is, the great adversary of God who fights against Him and His Church with deceit and lies) as well as every power that rises up against God.

Furthermore, it also asks that God destroy all malicious plans against His holy Word, for example, its rejection and falsification.

4. The dawn of the state of perfection

It is also our sigh and longing for the perfect state of glory at the consummation.

 With this prayer we pray that our Father will subject us and also all the evil forces to his rule and that he will bring the state of perfection over the church and universe.

 Amen

 The following video explains this in a practical way, where Wayne Cordeiro explains why he would rather pray that the church that is free from persecution should become like the church in China than that he would pray that the church in China should be 'free' like other churches that are not persecuted.

Prayer 04 - Our Father in heaven

A series of meditations on prayer

Hier reeks oordenkings is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar

The 1st Medetation: Prayer 01 - Why should a believer pray?

The previuos Medetation: Prayer 03 - What should the contents be of a sincere prayer?

The next Medetation: Prayer 05 - Your name be honored as holy

Joh. 1 v 12

Maar aan almal wat Hom aangeneem het, dié wat in Hom glo, het Hy die reg gegee om kinders van God te word.

 

Waarom het Jesus ons beveel om God as ‘ons Vader in die hemel’ aan te spreek, wanneer ons bid?

 

Sodat ons heel aan die begin van ons gebed ons kinderlike vertroue en respek ten opsigte van God sal bevestig. Dit is die vertroue dat net soos wat 'n vader vir sy kind sorg, ons vertrou dat God as ons Vader in Christus alles sal voorsien wat ons in die lewe nodig het.

 

Daarmee nader jy in eenvoud en nederigheid tot God, want jy het nie nodig om God te probeer imponeer wanneer jy bid nie.

(Mat. 6 v 5 & 6)

“Verder, as julle bid, moet julle nie soos die skynheiliges wees nie. Hulle hou daarvan om in die sinagoges en op die straathoeke te staan en bid sodat die mense hulle kan sien. Dit verseker Ek julle: Hulle het hulle beloning klaar weg.

 

Nee, as jy bid, gaan na jou kamer toe, maak die deur toe en bid tot jou Vader wat jy nie kan sien nie. Jou Vader wat sien wat verborge is, sal jou beloon.”

 

Wanneer jy in gebed tot God nader praat jy gewoonweg met Hom net soos wat 'n kind met sy vader praat sonder om disrespekvol te wees. Deur die Gees wat ons ontvang het, roep ons in kinderlike vertroue: “Abba, Vader!” (Rom. 8 v 15; Gal. 4 v 6 & 7)

En om ons, wat aan die wet onderworpe was, los te koop sodat ons as kinders van God aangeneem kon word. En omdat ons sy kinders is, het God die Gees van sy Seun in ons harte gestuur, en in ons roep Hy uit: “Abba!” Dit beteken: Vader! Jy is dus nie meer ’n slaaf nie; jy is nou ’n kind van God. En omdat jy sy kind is, het God jou ook sy erfgenaam gemaak.

 

Wanneer jy God as jou Vader aanspreek dan bevestig jy daarmee die grond van jou kinderlike vertroue, naamlik dat God deur Christus ons Vader geword het en dat Hy veel minder dit wat ons in geloof bid, sal weier as wat ons aardse vaders ons aardse dinge sal ontsê.

 

Deur God as jou Vader in die hemel aan te spreek bevestig jy dat jy nie aards van Hom dink nie en dat jy nie sondige menslike kwaliteite aan Hom toedig nie. Hiermee bevestig jy ook dat jy nederig bely dat jy van jouself en die wêreld as bron van hulp afsien en dat jy jou vertroue op God alleen stel.

 

Bid tot God as “jou Vader wat in die hemel is” en begin daarmee jou gesprek met God in nederige ootmoed en vertroue in jou almagtige en ewige Vader.

 

Amen

Prayer - 03 What should the contents be of a sincere prayer?

 

A series of meditations on prayer

Hier reeks oordenkings is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar

The 1st Meditation: Prayer 01 - Why should a believer pray?

The previuos Medetation: Prayer 02 - What are the requirements of a sincere prayer?

The next meditation: Prayer 04 - Our Father in heaven

Mat. 6 v 9 – 13 HCSB

“Therefore, you should pray like this:

Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

 

Jesus gave us the model prayer so that we can learn from it how to pray. From this example prayer our Lord teaches that there are three issues we need to consider regarding the content of our prayers.

 

1. The huge scope of the content:

In this prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray for all our spiritual and physical needs.

 

2. There is a specific order:

The Name of the Lord, His kingdom and the good will of the Father comes first. Only then does the plea around our daily needs, the forgiveness of sins, and the preservation of our lives follow. Then the prayer concludes with worship of, and the expression of trust in Him to Whom the power and glory belong.

 

3. This prayer is a clear example:

Jesus gave us this prayer as an example so that we can learn what to focus on in our prayers.

 

However, this does not mean that we should only pray the words as given to us here. However, the issues raised here are important.

 

With our next few daily devotions, we will focus in more detail on the content of this example prayer.

 

Amen

Prayer 02 - What are the requirements of a sincere prayer?

A series of meditations on prayer

Hier reeks oordenkings is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar

The 1st Medetation: Prayer 01 - Why should a believer pray?

The next meditation: Prayer - 03 What should the contents be of a sincere prayer?

Rev 19 v 9 & 10

Then he said to me, “Write: Those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb are fortunate!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.” Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow slave with you and your brothers who have the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

 

We must pray, but what are the requirements of a sincere prayer?

There are basically three requirements:

1. Sincerity:

You cannot just invoke any god in prayer. You must pray to the only true God as He revealed Himself in His Word in Christ and of whom the Holy Spirit testifies in the Word. Prayer is only valid if it is addressed to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

 

You must further pray in sincerity with an undivided heart to God and ask for everything He has commanded us in His Word to pray for. If your prayer is for selfish reasons, then you are praying wrong.

 

2. Humility:

This means that you must know your need and misery correctly and thoroughly so that you can humble yourself before His majesty. Humility means acknowledging that you are doomed before God because of your sin and that you are dependent on His grace alone.

 

3. Trust:

You must trust that God will answer your prayer because of the merits of the atonement of Christ as He promised us in His Word.

 

Pray sincerely to the only true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

Amen