To read Part Three, click here.
I still marvel that, from America, I can instantly communicate with people in Australia via the Internet! How can this invisible Word Wide Web exist? How do graphics, words, documents fly through the air and land in my computer and yours? I don’t know! But ...
God has an even better system: Heartfelt prayer! Prayer gives us the instant, broadband, wireless hookup to our Father and all of heaven’s resources!
In this series of articles, we’ve been talking about spending time on our knees and knowing what to say when we pray? Jesus gave us the answer in the model prayer known as The Lord’s Prayer. Jesus said,
After this manner therefore pray ye:We’ve already looked at four Instant Messages we can send to God as outlined in this pattern for prayer. (Instant Message #1: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Take time on your knees to send a message of thanks, praise, worship and song to the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. #2: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Take time to seek God for His plans and purpose for our lives on planet earth! #3: "Give us this day our daily bread." We should ask God for our daily provisions. #4: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Enforce Satan’s defeat in our lives and exercise the authority Jesus gave us in His Name.)
Now, let’s look at how to spend time on our knees by sending God Instant Messages #5 and #6.
Instant Message #5: "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
In the technology world, "bandwidth" gives us a faster, larger capacity for enjoying all that the World Wide Web offers. That’s why "broad bandwidth" is so desirable.
Our "spiritual bandwidth" (the condition of our heart) determines the effectiveness of our prayer capacity as well. When our heart is clear—not riddled with guilt, condemnation or fear—we can get a clear signal from God. Static is gone! One major hindrance to "spiritual bandwidth" is holding debts against people. Bitterness, resentment, grudges, anger, and strife create static and causes our bandwidth to shrink!
Jesus told us how to fix this problem in prayer, "... forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." If we want God to forgive us, we must forgive others. It starts with us taking time in prayer to "release" anyone that has offended, hurt or mistreated us.
Have you ever done a heart inventory to see if you had any "issues" in your heart toward others? If the thought of a particular person causes you to convulse, you may have a forgiveness problem!
What do you do? This can be a complex subject, but here are a few basics. First, make a decision to follow the "anything/anyone" rule. That means you choose to forgive "anyone" of"anything." (Mark 11:25)
It’s our job to take the person(s) that have offended, hurt, abused or mistreated us to the Lord in prayer. We do this by faith; because at times our feelings would rather slap the offender! In prayer, we choose to forgive them; pray for them and release them from all debts.
One of the most effective ways to stay free is to pray for those that have done us wrong. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies. When we do this, we are forgiving our debtors; and then it’s easy to pray for God to forgive us. The word "forgive" tells us what to do—look for a way "for" "giving" to those that have hurt us. One of the best places to give to others is in prayer!
Instant Message #6: "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."
In this final segment of our prayer time, we end as we started, by giving God the praise and honor that He deserves. This is His kingdom; He’s the One with all power and He deserves all the glory and accolades. We are just happy to be invited to the party! He gets the honor; while we get the benefits of a most wonderful, personal relationship with Him!
I hope you’ll be encouraged to jumpstart your prayer life by using the Lord’s Prayer as a model for making the "instant message" connection to God!
For further study, I recommend my Bite-Sized Bible Study, "What To Say When You Pray." (Coming soon!)
Copyright © 2007 Beth Jones Ministries All rights reserved.
