Matthew 6:8-10,  “Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.  

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.”

Jesus was teaching not only his disciples, but us how to pray and how to live.  

Our Father ~ no comparison to your earthly Father, whether your earthly father was great or terrible, God is beyond what we can fully fathom for a Dad!  He knows what you need.  Sometimes you need training on levels that aren’t comfortable and you don’t like it, but He knows it is for your good and it will prepare you for all He has created you to do.  Other times you may just need to be held ~ take the time to just sit in His presence and be wrapped in His peace so you can face another day, filled with who He says you are!  He wants you to walk in the confidence of the fact that you are His child if you have accepted Him as your Savior.  You are His precious child and creation!  He loves you beyond what you can understand.

Hallowed be your name ~ We are called to always remember that the God we serve is Holy and we are to reverence His name!  His name should never fall off our lips as a curse or flippant comment ~ we are to keep Him and His name Holy!  When we speak of Him our children and grandchildren should be able to see and hear our respect for Who He is!  The world cannot handle His holiness and that is why they want Him out of everything and that is all the more reason to want to fill your home with who He is so everyone who enters will know.

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven ~ Are you open to His will being done in your life they way it would be in heaven?  As I was thinking about that this morning the story of His first miracle at the wedding feast popped into my mind.  Mary, His mom, did not say, “Jesus, they need wine so I need you to take these jars and fill them with wine.”  NO, she said, “whatever He tells you to do, just do it!”  She didn’t lay out the plan, she knew He knew what was best and He would do it the way He should and she left it at that.  Are you willing to just say, “Please just do your will in this situation” when you just don’t have a clue what should be done?  Now, when you read the Psalms David laid out pretty clear plans for what he wanted God to do to His enemies.  So please understand I am not suggesting that you never pray specifically or that you never pour out your heart to God asking Him to vindicate you or rescue you or work something out in a particular way!  The Bible tells us that “you have not, because you don’t ask”, so ask away, but are you willing to leave the end results and decisions for how it is done to Him?  Go to Him as David did if that is where your heart is today or go to Him as Mary did and say, “I have no clue how this can be done so just do your thing please.”  Leave the results up to Him and trust that His will for that situation will be what you need and what is best.  When it comes to life, we are like children, we don’t always know what is best for us (neither does your government) but God sees the big picture and He knows what you need before you do and He knows what is best!  Trust Him today that if you will follow Him and allow Him to work out His will in your life just like He would do in Heaven that truly His best is yet to come!

Quote:  “Each of us will one day be judged by our standard of life, not by our standard of living; by our measure of giving, not by our measure of wealth; by our simple goodness, not by our seeming greatness.  ~ William Arthur Ward