What if Jesus told you something twice, would you listen?

What if Jesus told you something twice, would you listen?

Two Times

In his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about prayer. It was his sermon, his agenda, his plan to teach the crowd about life in his Kingdom.

The disciples saw Jesus get up early to pray. They heard his prayers. They wanted to pray better. They wanted Jesus to teach them how to pray. They asked him in private. It was a lesson for them alone. Jesus’ answer was the same as in the sermon, only a few words were different.

Two totally different contexts but the same message each time.

Prayer is important to Jesus and his teaching should guide our prayers.

The first part of the Lord’s Prayer

Jesus’ model, the Lord’s Prayer is recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.

The first part of the prayer after the salutation of “our father” is “may your name be holy” or “may you be holy.” God is holy so this not that he may become holy but that he may be treated as holy. He is treated as holy when he is obeyed and when is praised for who he is and what he has done.

What is praising God?

In the past I attended a church where one of seminary professors was an elder. Often, is his presence someone would say, “Praise the Lord!” He would respond, “Please, go ahead.”

The person would look confused. If the time was right, he would teach them that praising God was something you did, not talked about. You should tell those with you about some aspect of his greatness.

Two types of praise

In the Psalms there are two examples of praising God. There are descriptive psalms of praise which praise God for who he is.  Examples of there would be Psalms 36, 113, 117, 135, 136, and 146.

God is praised for his love, faithfulness, righteousness, and justice (Psalm 36:5-6), and glory. (Psalm 113:1)

There are also declarative psalms of praise that praise God for what he has done. These may be psalms of praise by an individual like Psalms 18, 30, and 40 or psalms of praise for the nation like 105, 124 and 129. These psalms praise God for the many things he has done for his people. He saved them from slavery and delivered them from many trials and persecutions.

A prayer notebook

I keep a Prayer Notebook. It is now in an outline program on my computer. I used to be a paper notebook.

I have different headings for various subjects. The section on the Lord’s Prayer has a part where I collect things I should praise God for.

As I read through the Bible or reflect on my life I list reminders, so I can praise God for himself or his actions in my life each day

May I suggest a Prayer Notebook for you if you do not have one or a section in your notebook for God’s praise.

Prayer is important to Jesus and his teaching should guide our prayers.

Questions for consideration:

Will you start a prayer notebook next year

Will you look for descriptions of God as you read through the Bible this year?

Will you look for God’s actions in the Bible and in your life this year?