March 22, 2023

We’ve all been there - a difficult topic is being explained in class when the know-it-all chimes in. When the know-it-all chimes in, they don’t usually do so in order to help the rest of us plebeians understand the subject; they talk to impress us with their intellectual savvy. Not only have we all been there - most of us, men and women alike, have played the role of the know-it-all at least once in our lives. Ironically, it is usually anxiety, not arrogance, that motivates these situations. People who live to impress others often struggle with deep feelings of insignificance, and insecurity. Sadly, these insecurities and anxieties occasionally rear their heads in our prayer lives. Which is why Jesus taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6:5-14. 

  Because of what God did for us in sending his Son to live, die, and be raised on our behalf - we have been graciously brought near to the LORD and maker of heaven and earth. Not only are our prayers before God the Father, so is the intercession of the Son and Holy Spirit. Even while we pray according to our limited understanding, the Son and the Holy Spirit pray for us with perfect understanding! That said, why would we lower the privilege of prayer by turning it into a means of social performance? The truth is that we all do this from time to time - but the beauty of grace is the fact that the intercession we receive from the Son and the Holy Spirit persists even while we fail! We should, therefore, take the Lord’s prayer upon our lips with joy. God himself gave it for us as a means of granting us assurance as we approach him by grace through faith. 

For the remainder of this week, spend some time reading through the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, consider also what we have been confessing about it from the Westminster Shorter Catechism and use these things as a guide to shape your prayer life for our church family, and the needs of the region around us.

-Matt Allhands