Last Sunday in worship service, the prayer for the day asked that our “petitions may be pleasing” to God. Many of us say prayers often, but how much do we ask God to make us pray as we should?
The lessons for last Sunday were about Abraham interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18), being rooted and built up in Christ (Col 2), and Jesus teaching the apostles the Lord’s Prayer. What do these lessons teach us about prayers that please God?
First, prayers that please God are a product of God’s own Word and Spirit at work in us (rooted and built up). Second, prayers that please God are intercessory; they’re not about what we might want for ourselves, but what others need or need us to help them with. Consider how the Lord’s Prayer is intercessory. What happens when you think about each petition of the Lord’s Prayer with other people in mind? Notice how it begins with “OUR” Father, not “my” Father? As ambassadors for Christ and stewards of His kingdom, we want His name to be hallowed, His kingdom to come, and His will to be done—His good and gracious will. We ask for daily bread so that we remain rooted in His Word and Spirit and bear fruit, which includes asking for anything according to His Word (John 14—16). Notice how our being forgiven is tied to forgiving others. Last of all we ask God to deliver US from the evil one.
God bless you in His Word and grace, and now bless you mightily as your prayers orient more and more to the mind of Christ and being an extension of His love for others.