Read: Matthew 6:5-15

There are many things for us to pray about these days.  Hopefully we are taking all of those matters to the Lord in prayer each and every day.  Praying can sometimes be a difficult experience for people.  They maybe don’t know how to pray or what to pray about specifically.  Or, in some cases maybe the words just don’t flow.  When we pray we do not need to come to Jesus with fancy words or well thought out phrases to impress.  In fact, Jesus wants us to come as we are and talk with him as we would talk with a good and trusted friend.

Some Christian traditions use prayers that are written out and repeated at times.  Other Christian traditions often pray in the Spirit or use a more spontaneous manner of praying.  Both kind of prayers can be good and helpful at different times.  I would encourage you to use both of these ways of praying to make them personal, meaningful, and helpful in your relationship with Christ.  Remember, seeking after Jesus and the ways of God should be our ultimate desire.

If you sometimes struggle with praying words on your own there is a helpful resource that can lead you through different prayers and scripture during your times of seeking the Lord.  The Anabaptist Prayer Book titled “Take Our Moments And Our Days” is available in our church library (two different volumes) or they also offer a free app for smartphones and tablets.  Just search the app store with that title and the app should come up to install.  This can help to get you started on making prayer an important and vital part of your daily walk with Jesus.

Make it personal: In the Matthew passage for this week (Matthew 6:5-15) Jesus gives us a specific prayer to pray.  It is often referred to as the Lord’s Prayer.  This is another good place to start.  We also need to pay attention in these verses to the manner in which we are to pray.

Have a blessed week, Glen Rhodes