“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1
At this moment, Jesus taught his disciples to pray by praying a model prayer. That prayer has been referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer” and is commonly recited among Christians worldwide.
During this prayer, Jesus models a progression of perspectives that could and should change the way we pray!
During the first blog in this series, I shared how Jesus invites us to focus on Him as we begin to pray. What a powerful invitation! We can choose to look into the heart of the one that can change everything and talk to Him as a friend!
In the very next statement, Jesus says, “Your kingdom come (your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven).” (see Luke 11:2 and Matthew 6:10)
The second perspective Jesus directs us to in prayer is a broader perspective.
This broader perspective is not self-centered. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to act like the world revolves around ourselves? When we act this way, we make EVERYTHING about us, get offended easily, use people, manipulate relationships, and sabotage our lives.
This perspective is not self-serving. Do you find that in yourself you often want things to go well for YOU? In this way, we think: If it’s not good for me, then it can’t be good. This keeps us from embracing the gifts God gives us in difficult moments, from journeying through brokenness to find His beauty.
This perspective is not self-focused. Isn’t that how we often think of the world? Through a lens that sees ourselves and our interests first. If we allow ourselves to view the world this way, we’ll spend much of our lives only focused on ourselves and that kind of life is futile and empty.
Jesus invites us to shift into a perspective that sees the interests of God first, to value the movement of hope and restoration that is spreading around the world through the Gospel of Jesus more than our own lives.
That perspective changes everything.
* * * * *
What needs to change for you to be more concerned about what God is doing rather than what you want?