I’ve just passed a milestone!
It’s been five years since I reluctantly began the practice of praying the Lord’s Prayer deeply and daily. I began in obedience to a clear word from the Lord near the end of January 2016, and since then, have been astonished by how this prayer has revolutionized my prayer life in ways I could have only have dreamt. I feared that it would get stale, it most certainly hasn’t.
So here on this anniversary, I wanted to encourage you to also make the Lord’s Prayer central in your prayer life. Not just the “on earth as it is in heaven” part, but the whole prayer.
Here are a few reasons why I feel it’s especially important right now:
WE HAVE BECOME DANGEROUSLY INDEPENDENT
Isa 53:6 -“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned —every one— to his own way. “
Jud 21:25 -“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Independence in our culture is honoured, it’s seen as a strength. In the kingdom of God, it’s not— sometimes we forget that.
These passages from Judges and Isaiah describe all of us to some extent. We struggle to submit our lives to the Lordship of Christ — to make him our King— we want to be the final arbitrator of what is good and what brings life to us personally. We’ve been discipled by our culture to think this way and to fear surrender or submission to God. We fear a loss of autonomy and personal freedom.
However, charting our own course, discipling ourselves, (being our own king), is not being a follower of Jesus. Many of us have been taught that our prayer lives are absolutely personal, an intimate place between us and Jesus, as place where we decide what works for us, how we best connect with God. A place where individualism reigns. We’ve rejected any outside direction or shaping of how we pray because we trust (rightly or wrongly) we are following the Spirit. However, what we forget is that it’s the Holy Spirit who was resting on Christ as he spoke these words of instruction (the Lord’s Prayer) and the Holy Spirit who sealed them in the disciple’s memory, to be recorded in the canon of scripture and passed on eternally to the Church. This instruction of how to pray is the mind of the Spirit.
In this time of unprecedented upheaval, where we are all disoriented to some degree, it is very unwise to exclusively trust in our inclinations or feelings. They may be absolutely in step with the leading of the Spirit— but more likely they are also being influenced by the chaos of this season. Being directed only by how we “feel led” is like flying a plane in the midst of a wild storm, yet not consulting the instruments on the dash which were designed for just these eventualities. There are moments where we can barely see out the windshield because of the rain and fog, the wind is buffeting us to the point that it’s hard to know if we’re even right side up!
WE NEED SOME GUIDANCE
In this time, when prayer is so important but needs some steadying guidance, a dependence on the instrument panel— the guidance of our King, who gave us the Lord’s Prayer— makes perfect sense. It’s what the first disciples did. They gathered around Jesus as he prayed to his Father, listening and being riveted by the experience. As he finished, they couldn’t help asking him if he would disciple them to pray like he does (Lu 11:1,2).
His response was immediate, their request was answered as he gave them the Lord’s Prayer. He didn’t say “start here, then figure it out on your own”, nor did he say, “here’s some helpful hints”, he said “pray this way…”
Initially, in the first days that the disciples prayed this prayer as they walked with Jesus, life was relatively calm, but the calm wouldn’t last. He was betrayed and crucified and their lives were thrust into confusion and turmoil. A storm was upon them but they kept praying the prayer he gave them. He had formed it with perfectly succinct phrases, a glimpse into his heart and what would be needful for both their lives and the Church in every age, to thrive. Each petition is jam-packed with revelation and discipleship and as we pray them, just like the first disciples did, they keep us right side up, in a place of peace, and becoming more like him, even through the storm. This is indeed the prayer of all prayers, it is the pinnacle of the apostolic prayers.
WE NEED TO DEVELOP SOME NEW MUSCLES
Another reason I feel it’s especially important right now is that we need to develop a new group of spiritual muscles. Perhaps for where we’ve been, the petition of “your kingdom, come… on earth as it is in heaven” (funny how we tend to drop the “your will be done” part), but perhaps for where we’ve been, it’s been ok to zero in on this petition alone. That is no longer the case. For where we are going, we will need to develop some new prayer muscles and so ALSO lean into the last part of the prayer:
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those that sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
Mt 6:12,13
We need much deeper repentance. Not groveling, or living under shame, but a genuine exodus from the spirit of the world in all the ways it has saturated our thinking and values. Praying daily for forgiveness involves asking the Lord to search our hearts, to show us where we’ve unwittingly condoned and compromised with what God calls evil.
We need to walk daily in forgiveness of others. Christianity has been losing its favour for many generations, but that trend is rapidly accelerating and becoming much more vicious. We need to pray for those who persecute us, be they university professors, workmates, politicians, LGBTQ activists, or others. There are those now in our society who are on a mission to destroy the Church— how do we respond? The early Church prayed for, forgave, and blessed the man who zealously mobilized horrific persecution against them; and Saul became Paul! This is our hour to learn how to walk this way, but it will take some intention. We demonstrate that we are indeed children of our Heavenly Father when we join him in what he does so continually — he graciously, generously, forgives (Mt 5:44,45).
We need God to lead us. As I’ve said, we can’t fly in this season without being highly dependent on our instrument panel. This is a time to stay in humility and keep asking the Lord to direct our steps in his ways, without presuming that we’re spiritual enough to do that without him. The early Church all prayed the Lord’s prayer three times daily, a committed rhythm of prayer that models for us a beautiful dependence on the Lord. The fruit of this was evident as they saw the glorious expansion of the kingdom of God, despite harsh and continual opposition.
We need God’s deliverance. The final petition of the prayer, “deliver us from evil”, can be a prayer for deliverance from stubborn places of sin that we keep stumbling into, pride, lust, jealousy, selfishness, and others.
It can also be a prayer for deliverance from hardship, testing, and trial. Remember it’s a corporate prayer—it’s “we praying for us”, not “me praying for myself” so if this isn’t your situation, intercede for others who are suffering in this way.
And of course, this petition is a cry for deliverance from the work of the enemy, his attacks, his lies, his temptations, and his deception. We don’t save ourselves, neither can we deliver ourselves. Jesus does and if we ask he certainly will. If we pray this daily, we will find the protection and deliverance of God over our lives, our families, and our churches becomes tangible and robust.
Next week, those of you who are subscribers will enjoy another energetic interview with Sam McVay, as he shares with us how he’s building a House of Prayer based on the Lord’s Prayer in Wichita, Kansas. You’ll love his infectious passion for the prayer Jesus gave us!
IN THE SPIRIT OF CELEBRATION
After five great years of going deep into this prayer, I want to invite you to celebrate with me! I’m offering my book on the Lord’s Prayer at a 20% discount for anyone who is a subscriber to Come Aside until the end of February. Just use this link and the code FIVEYR to get your discount.
It’s called The Prayer of All Prayers, and will help you discover afresh the Lord’s Prayer as a place to daily encounter the Lord and walk in personal revival.
Why Not Subscribe!
If you haven’t yet subscribed, but are enjoying the free public posts that are a part of COME ASIDE, you might want to take the plunge, sign up and join us as we go deeper. You’ll get:
Full access to the ever-growing Resource Hub full of teaching, interviews, and prophetic discernment that will equip you to grow in prayer and prophecy hosted on the Substack site.
All new posts (typically 2-4/month) coming right to your inbox so you never miss anything.
An opportunity to join in the conversation.
What’s coming in February…
Among other things, we’ll begin a new course called Praying for God’s Glorious Church.
It’s designed for anyone who has found that as they pray for the Church their prayers have become stale and sunk into a bit of a rut, they’re finding it hard to feel inspired or exhilarated as they intercede. Maybe that’s something you can identify with.
It’s also designed for those who have been frustrated and disappointed with the Church to the point that they would say, “praying for the Church isn’t really my thing”. It’s my hope and prayer that the journey in this course will restore a vision of the beauty and glory of Christ’s Bride.
I think it’s going to be inspirational and lots of fun.
Wow, I am humbled and challenged. I was in a Zoom prayer last night with two key prayer leaders, and at the end of out time, found myself praying through the Lord's (the disciples) Prayer, unplanned, and led into the strategic and spiritual realms that this prayer addresses, with respect to the Canadian culture and government and church. I am committed to theological prayer and intercession that positions the holiness and rule and reign of God over all. Thanks Sara for your commitment to this prayer, daily . . . Quite a discipline!
I echo my brothers and sisters. Thank you. Your insight is a timely response to the cry of my heart.
I find myself taking captive thoughts of fear - thoughts that God won’t come through in a certain area of my life. Those demonic thoughts that say God isn’t who he has promised he is. And as I prayed ‘Lord, give us this day our daily bread’ I was moved by the Spirit to great emotion because to pray for ‘our’ daily bread is different than praying for ‘my’ daily bread. It refines my expectations for him meeting my needs and granting provision in an area to him granting to me in a way that edifies the body as a whole, not just me. It makes me think of Lazarus, that when Jesus heard he was sick he stayed longer where he was. Abs Lazarus died. But his “delay” (as we perceive it) was not neglect or indifference but his mind was set on the Father’s heart and will: that many more should believe. Jesus knew resurrection power breaks through the greatest of human limitations, namely, death, time and geography/space. Late is not late. Geography no longer limits us touching the risen Lord, and death becomes the gateway to true life.
So thank you, because this morning there was repentance that took
Place as I prayed From my daily bread to our daily bread. Lord what you are doing in me is inextricably connected to what you are doing in us. Would you meet me today Lord in a way that does not
Compromise the greater work you are doing in US.