PRAYER

Prayer seems to be part of all religions throughout the world.  Prayer is people everywhere pleading to someone they can not see; does not talk back to them, yet people still believe that whoever it is, that their prayers are heard.

If we look at The Lord's Prayer, most people understand this is not what our Lord prayed, but He taught His disciples to use these thoughts when they prayed.  Almost every Christian service includes the reciting of this prayer.

Here are some basic ideas that He taught us to pray, when we pray.  "Our Father..."  Here Jesus is teaching us that we pray in company with others.  Jesus was the only One who used "My Father" 

The most important idea here is that He taught us to address God as a father.  In the Old Testament God was usually seen as an angry God who quickly passed judgment of anyone who disobeyed His Law.  Yet, in the Old Testament we read that God was merciful and forgiving to those who turned back to Him.

Our Father deserves to be revered as The One who is in the heavens.  The One who continues to reign in heaven and desires to reign here on the Earth. 

When we continue, "Let your kingdom come to Earth, in the same way it has always been in the heavens".  This means that Our Father, even though He could force His will upon us, will only do as our free wills decide to do here on Earth.  It's as though, Our Father has entrusted us with His creation that He will continue to let us make those decisions, regardless of the outcomes.  Sure, He has the power to step in any time He choses to, and perhaps He will when He wants to step in and take control. Forgiveness is the next topic that is in this prayer.  It means that if we want God to forgive our sins, we must also forgive the sins of others.  Our relationship with God is very much affected by our relationship with one another.  How can I say that I love God, who I have never seen, and not love my other people around me, which I can see?  His love is big enough to forgive me sin and the sins of the whole world, then, if I allow His love to forgive me my sins, I them have that powerful love (agape) of God in which I have the strength to forgive anyone else.

We should realize that God needs to hear our prayers as much as we need to go to God with our prayers.  That is the way God loves us; He needs us to turn to Him, because He is our Father, and, as a Father, He just can't stop loving us.

A long time ago, my daughter said to me, "Dad, whenever I hear a siren, I pray for whatever has happened".  That stuck in my mind, so now when I hear a siren I pray that God will be with those people, no matter what the problem has sent either the police, firemen, or ambulance to some problematic situation.

We don't need to be in church to pray; anytime, any place, and even without words, we can turn to the One who eternally loves all of us.  Amen