Becoming Like Jesus: PrayerSample

Our Father in Heaven

Today, we’re going to look at the very beginning of Jesus’s prayer as we learn the importance of prayers of adoration.

What is adoration? Adoration is a word that means deep love and respect. Can you imagine a better way to start your conversation with God than with words that communicate your love and respect for Him? It’s probably not an accident that this is exactly what Jesus teaches us to start our prayers with: adoration for our Heavenly Father.

Pray…

Our Father in heaven, thank you for loving me more than I can even imagine. You truly are a good parent and I’m so grateful that you call me your child. Even when it’s hard, I’m choosing to trust you. Even when I don’t understand, I’m choosing to follow you. Because I know you are good. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Read…

Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Matthew 6:9 NLT

Consider…

Jesus begins this prayer with adoration, deep love and respect for His Father. The first words in this prayer communicate deep love, “Our Father…”This is the kind of relationship God wants with us. The loving relationship between a father and their child.

The next words in this verse communicate respect, “may your name be kept holy.” God is holy. That means He is completely unique. There is no one like God in all of creation. This is important because this shows us that God is not like our imperfect earthly parents who mess up and fall short. God is a perfect heavenly Father who will always love us and be there for us when we need Him.

When Jesus teaches us to pray, He’s teaching us to start with adoration.

Do you believe that God really loves you? What things make that easier to believe? What makes it harder to believe? What do you think is the difference between loving God and respecting God? How are those things similar?

Practice…

Pray to God with deep love and respect for who He is and all He’s done. Start with the words that Jesus taught us to pray. From there, think of all the things that make God worthy of love and respect. Thank God for those things. Do it slowly so you can feel the emotion and weight of them.

As you do, imagine you are talking to God face-to-face. Because, at its most basic level, that’s really what prayer is: talking to God.

When you’re ready, pray to your Father using Jesus’ words.

Listen…

Now that we’ve spoken, it’s time to sit back and listen. Create space to experience God’s presence by getting quiet, getting alone, and asking Him to speak.

Start by setting a timer for five minutes.

Next, ask God to speak to you.

When you get distracted, because you will get distracted, bring your focus back to God by repeating the first words of this prayer: “Our Father…”

When the timer ends, thank God for the time you got to spend with Him, then head into your day looking for opportunities to better serve Him and serve others.