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This devotional on prayer accompanies Eastbrook Church’s 30 Days of Prayer in June 2018.
“Give us today our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11) The first three petitions of the Lord’s prayer orient us with God at the center in prayer. With the next three petitions, however, the pronouns switch from ‘You’ and ‘Your’ to ‘us’ and ‘our.’ This switch reminds us that prayer is not only about God in heaven …
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“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10) Following the first petition that God’s name be hallowed and the second that God’s kingdom would come, the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer asks that God’s will would be done upon the earth. This summarizes the first half …
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“Your kingdom come…” (Matthew 6:10) The second petition of the Lord’s Prayer focuses on God’s kingdom coming upon earth. A kingdom is the sphere of authority and rule of a king, and so, the kingdom of God is the domain of God’s rule and reign. Throughout the Old Testament, God is referred to as the …
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“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6) In contrast to the hypocrite of Matthew 6:5, who loves to have their prayers seen and heard in public places, Jesus tells …
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“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans” (Matthew 6:7) Just as the point of prayer is not to impress others, so, too, the point of prayer is not to simply get God to do what we want. As Jesus continues to teach on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, …
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Matthew Erickson 