Pray in an imprecatory fashion regarding those who do not repent. If we all would do this, it would be amazing how trifling our petty offenses with our brothers and sisters become! This involves grieving for them where they are caught in sin, or where their attitudes need to be changed. That God would enable them to live lives glorifying to God, the they would honestly examine their attitudes and actions, repenting when necessary and renewing the love and commitment to obedience. Pray in a similar fashion for the brothers and sisters in the flock, where I pastor. This continues related to cultural movements, local political leadership (school boards, township or county officials, etc.) world governments, business leaders, military leaders etc… This is followed by prayer for their nurture and growth in grace and courage to implement biblical principles into their governance. This will involve praying for God to bring them to repentance and faith, which means praying for God to bring people into their lives who will share the gospel. I pray for political leaders to glorify God and to act in a manner that is congruent with His world. There are innumerable places where men are in rebellion against the rule of God and are not glorifying Him.

Grieve over the state of our nation/culture.

Honestly evaluate my own attitudes, with the same results as #1 above. Given the complexity of our lives, I am sure you can see that this will undoubtedly involve more than one problem or situation! this will lead to prayer of confession, repentance, and requesting God to change me ad enable me to act according to His will. Praying that God would “enable me and others to glorify him”, leads me to: Usually I don’t get past the first petition! There are reasons for this! The LORD’s prayer is my “guide” or “help”. I take a daily 20-25 minute walk each morning. Q) What do we pray for in the first petition?Ī) In the first petition, we pray, That God would enable us and others to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known and that he would dispose all things to his own glory. What does it mean for God’s name to be “hallowed”? The Westminster shorter and longer catechisms help us to understand each of the petitions by scripturally expounding on each of the requests. This is followed by five topics or petitions: We might say these short verses give us Jesus’s guide to prayer. No, Jesus is answering a request for instruction, he is teaching the disciples “how” to pray. These verses are not a mantra to repeat or a formulaic address to God that we borrow so that we have the right words. Jesus gives His disciples a guide, we know it as “the LORD’s prayer”. One of the disciples (who had likely been observing Jesus in prayer) asks Jesus to teach them to pray. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.' 2 And he said to them, 'When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name. It is good know that the LORD Jesus has given us guidance! Luke records a time when Jesus had been praying… We struggle to be discipled to pray every day, much less “without ceasing”! We are unsure, not knowing if God is listening or if He will hear and answer. Talking to God…You would think it would be simple, right? Yet, we struggle. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies. It is natural for a child to ask his father for the things he needs. Prayer to God is like a child’s conversation with his father. Prayer is spiritual communication between man and God, a two-way relationship in which man should not only talk to God but also listen to Him. A solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship.

Guidance prayer