“When we pray for ourselves, we call it supplication; when we pray for others, we call it intercession.” (Richard J. Foster, Prayer, HarperSan Francisco, 1992).
Thoughts and Encouragements: The need for daily, personal prayer reflects our understanding of the fact that we depend on God and His providence if we want to live a fulfilled and purposeful life. It is wrong to think that we will ever outgrow the need to pray for ourselves.
Jesus teaches: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8).
The Lord’s Prayer is a great model for personal prayer. It is the prayer that Jesus gave to us, His disciples, and it contains everything that personal prayer should include. Through this prayer, we have the opportunity to worship and exalt God. We acknowledge that God is our Father, but also that He is the Creator and Lord of the world, completely different from us, when we pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). In this way, we fully give Him the glory that belongs to Him.
We identify with God’s purposes for the world when we say: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
The part of the prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11) expresses our awareness of our dependence on God’s providence for each day. We acknowledge our imperfections, ask for forgiveness, and commit to forgiving others through the words: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13) is a sincere plea to God to help us in our spiritual struggles, as we recognize that, as fallen beings, we can hardly withstand the various challenges that the enemy brings into our lives.
Prayer:
Let us pray that our hearts will be ignited with fresh passion for God, that we will love Him not just with words but with our whole being.
Let us pray for spiritual vision to recognize His presence in daily life and to see others with compassion and love.
Let us pray for the courage to step out of our comfort zones, follow God’s voice, and trust Him even when we can’t see the whole path ahead.