In the Bible there are numerous examples of prayer from ordinary people like me you, however, is Jesus explains how we should correctly pray by teaching the prayer example, known as "Our Father". It is with this prayer that we can learn how to pray correctly.
One day Jesus was praying and at the end one of the disciples who were with him asked, "Lord, teach us to pray(...)." This episode is written here in the account of the gospel that Luke wrote in chapter 11 verse1
Then Jesus answered:
"You pray this way: "Our Father who is in heaven! Sanctified be your name. Let your kingdom come; let your will be done, both on earth and in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. He forgives our debts, just as we forgive our debtors. Don't let us fall into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for yours is the kingdom, and power, and glory forever and ever. Amen." - Matthew 6:9-13, NVI.
If we accompany the disciples and Jesus himself in their prayers we will see that they did not simply repeat the model prayer, it indicates to us that the "Our Father" serves to demonstrate principles that our prayer should follow. Jesus had already explained, "And when praying, do not use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they presume that they will be heard because of their much speech.
The Lord’s prayer is like a scheme of topics to present our basic needs and ask for God’s intervention. By the way, the word prayer in the original has the idea of supplication, so let's look at the topics one by one.
1) Needs Truth
The first thing to pay attention to is that our prayer should not be done just by words repeated mechanically, far from that, it needs to be intentional, aware of what we are pronouncing with our lips.
2) Having God as Father
"Our Father"- You don't call anyone father, the word father in the original carries the meaning of someone more experienced, superior, predecessor. Calling someone a father also presupposes an intimacy, which means that he is not placed far away, but there are requirements for it.
Similarly, it is not anyone who allows himself to be called a Father, you need to be accepted And how to be acceptable to God? He needs to enter through the door, Jesus is the gate, his sacrifice has taken away our hanging before God, and through faith and trust in the Son of God and his sacrifice opens again access to God.
If you have accepted Jesus as the Savior and Lord of your life, believed that He is the Son of God and died on the cross for you, then you can approach God as a son.
3) Recognize God’s position
"To be in heaven" - Recognizing God's position is necessary. God is in heaven above, well above us. It is precisely by being higher, in the sense of power, capacity, wisdom, that God can intervene in our need.
4) Have Reverence
"Holy be your name"- Whether God is God needs to be revered, God is holy regardless of whether you consider it or not. To treat God with reverence is to treat as holy, to separate as the most precious and pure in your heart, remembering that the name concerns the person of God.
5) Recognize authority
"Come your kingdom"- God rules, is sovereign king, acknowledge his authority to reign.
6) To desire the will of God
"May your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven" God governs, is sovereign but delegated decision, free choice to man, free will, you need to desire, choose the will of God instead of yours, You need to decide to let him rule your life.
7) Call for your need
"Our daily bread, give us today" Presents his need to God, see that earlier Jesus teaches us to submit to God's will, but when it comes to the basic needs of life he says: "please", which makes us understand that it is always the will of God to provide us with the basic requirements of life, and that we must call for divine intervention.
8) Plant to harvest
"And forgive us our debts, just as we have forgiven our debtors;" God demands that we treat our neighbor as we want them to treat us. If we are forgiven, we must also forgive. Moreover, Jesus then teaches on another occasion that the lack of forgiveness is an impediment for God to answer us.
9)Be careful
"And don't let us fall into temptation; but deliver us from evil" We are subject to error and trials, and often because of our own choice, it is a good idea to ask God to guide us and help us out of the direction of evil, and the bad consequences.
In the text of Matthew "finish with, for yours is the kingdom the power forever amen"- that an expression of praise.
One last observation, when we say "our daily bread gives us today" indicates that we should pray every day!
Conclusion
So when you pray with your words let flow from your heart, approach God as a child, with reverence and respect, recognizing your holiness and that He is above you, recognize by words your authority, ask your will and your government in your life, be clear about your needs, forgive your neighbor and ask forgiveness from God, ask for deliverance and protection.
Finish praising and exalting the power of God. This helps us to fix the correct image of who God is in our heart.
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