The 40 Day Journey - Day 39 (How to Pray)

I am on staff at our church and one of the many things I love is the constant encouragement to pray. Our Pastor has led the way in living a life of prayer. With Easter weekend coming up we all were challenged to pray daily and specifically. Today is Good Friday and while my purpose in my hour each of these 40 days has been to hear God's voice, today I really wanted to spend this time praying.

I asked God how I should pray for our church services and the people that will be visiting as well as our church family. I had a busy day and it was a little difficult focusing as quickly as I would have liked. I was raised in a traditional church where we recited the Lord's Prayer often. I found myself reciting this...which I haven't done in years. It brought back fond memories.

After I finished saying it, I remembered hearing that the prayer I had just prayed wasn't actually the "Lord's" prayer, but the prayer for the disciples. The actual Lord's prayer for us is in John 17. I decided to use that as my prayer for this weekend. I really encourage you to read through it now. Some things of course quickly stood out (this is one way God speaks to us).

Verse 3 says, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

I stopped there and prayed that this verse would be true for every person attending our church this weekend. This is all that matters, not if they fit in, or if they give money, or if they ever come back again. What matters is that they may know the only true God and His son Jesus.

Verse 20 says, "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word."

Jesus Himself prayed for future generations, for us! He wasn't asking these things just for His current disciples, but for those that would believe through their testimony. And that is one way eternal life is revealed, through our testimonies through the generations. It is God who draws men to Himself, but He uses our words. I prayed we would be bold and would not shy away from speaking truth.

The last one verse 21, "that they may all be one; even as You Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."

I prayed that our oneness, our love for one another at our church would show the unity of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. The reason? That the ones visiting, that our community, that the world may believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

My hour quickly ended, but I was so grateful that God directed me to John 17, the Lord's prayer for us. The Lord's prayer for the church, The Lord's prayer for our community.

If you ever wonder how to pray, ask God and He will show you, and the best part? You can use His very own words to pray for others.

I couldn't help but notice, the very next scene. Judas' betrayal. Jesus knew what was about to happen. There are many things He could have done, many people that could have been healed, sermons that could have  been preached. But He chose to pray, for His followers and for us.  Life is messy, and difficult, and confusing. There will always be something on our to do list. Let us remember Christ's example and choose to spend time in prayer.

The first verse in John 17 said that Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You." May we lift our eyes to heaven and behold His glory. Then may we pray as Jesus prayed, love as Jesus loved, and live as Jesus lived.