How are you doing? How is your week going?
Have you prayed this week? What did your prayers look like? There are so many times when our anxieties, fears, needs, insecurities, and desires dominate our prayers. Essentially, our idols are behind all our needs and fears, and we just vomit them onto the Lord.
Does this mean we should not be honest in our prayers? Absolutely not. The Psalms teach us that we can be honest, open, and ugly before the Lord. He invites us to pray, and He meets us where we are at.
Tim Keller says that the Psalms teach us how to pray, and the Lord’s Prayer teaches us what to pray. We looked at the Lord’s Prayer this Sunday.
There is a reason why Jesus has us start with our transcendent God in heaven and immanent Father with us. God is glorious in His character and in His being. He is the Creator who is sustaining all things. He deserves all the glory, honor, and praise. This leads us to pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done, because He is King. He is God. He is Lord over all.
See, once we have God (who He is and what He has done) at the center of our lives, everything else falls into place. Our fears are calmed down, because we know the One who is sovereign. Our needs decrease, because we know that we have the God we need. Our insecurities melt away, because we know that we are deeply loved by and unshakably secure in the Almighty God.
We can have God as our foundation both in our lives and our prayers because of Christ. We can call God our Father, because Jesus was orphaned on the cross for us. We can pray for His Kingdom to come, because the Savior King has come in the flesh to redeem His people. We can pray for His will to be done, because it was done. It was finished on the cross as Jesus drank fully the bitter cup of God’s wrath so that we can drink freely from the cup of God’s love and glory.
When is the last time you prayed? Take a moment today and reflect on who your God is and what He has done for you. And then pray, starting with and centering on Him. Our Father desires and invites you to come.
This Friday Night Study will be the last one before we resume in February. Come out and study Romans with us. If not, see you all on the Lord’s Day for our Thanksgiving worship.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
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