March 12 – Devoted to Prayer

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Romans 12:10-13 

Paul was teaching the Roman Christians about how they should live their lives—which included being devoted to prayer. These attributes are much like those of Jesus. Jesus in addition to praying the Shema daily likely was raised hearing and continued to follow the Jewish prayer ritual of the Amidah, which is prayed three times a day. It is nineteen prayers made up of three sections: blessings, petitions, and thanksgiving. See more about the Amidah at http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/ When you look at the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13, King James Version, below) you can see that Jesus may have used some of the basic thoughts from the Amidah to teach His disciples to pray. 

Blessing—…Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (vv. 9-10)

 

Petitions— Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (vv. 11-13) 

Thanksgiving—For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen (v.13) 

One of my favorite memories of my sister was singing “The Lord’s Prayer” together with her a cappella. She sang the alto part—harmonizing so beautifully. Being devoted to prayer may include singing our prayers. This is one that definitely touches hearts as it is sung. 

Training Tip – Did your children memorize the Lord’s Prayer yet? Now is the time to start…or continue. Make it fun for them. Do a chant that they can repeat after you…and then after each other. This will make it more of a game and if they are not reading yet then you don’t have to worry about having to teach them to read before they can memorize. Work on the passage, one verse at a time, each day adding a new verse. If you hadn’t memorized it yourself, by the end of the week, you’ll know it, too! 

Lord Jesus, thank you for teaching Your disciples the Lord’s Prayer. Help us to teach it to those around us…children, grandchildren and those you bring us into contact with…that they would come to know and love You and our Heavenly Father more deeply.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

© 2013 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.