In the book of Mathew, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. He warned them against behaving like the hypocrites who love praying in open places and saying long prayers so that people would see them. He told them that saying long prayers like the pagans is not necessarily because God, our Heavenly Father already knows what we are going to pray or ask for even before we start praying.
This way Jesus taught his disciples to be humble in their prayers. There is no need for one to let everybody know that he is praying and attract attention. A simple prayer, like the Lord's Prayer that he taught them was enough.
The Lord's Prayer is very complete and exhaustive on its own. It gives praise to God, the Creator of the universe as well as offering thanksgiving for all His providence. It is a prayer that Christians should try to pray often in addition to any other requests they may have.
" Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
Amen."
Notice that the Lord's Prayer also emphasizes on God forgiving us our sins, in the same way that we forgive those who offend us. If you say the Lord's Prayer, you must be ready to forgive others. God always forgives us our sins and so we must also be willing to forgive others. If we do not forgive them then our Heavenly Father will not forgive us either.
This aspect was also very well stated in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. It is the story of the servant who owed the King a lot of money and was unable to repay him. When the time came for him to repay the loan, he was brought before the King. Because he did not have the money to pay back, he asked the King for more time to get the money otherwise both he and his wife and children would have been sold as slaves until they paid the entire amount owed to the King.
The King felt sorry for him and forgive him the entire amount owed. He let him go. However, the servant went out and on meeting another servant who owed him some money, he harassed him and demanded to have his money paid back despite his fellow servant asking for mercy. He refused and had him thrown into jail till he repaid his debt.
When the King found out what had happened, he was very upset and had the first servant arrested and jailed because he failed to forgive hos fellow servant yet he had been forgiven for his much bigger debt.
This way Jesus taught his disciples to be humble in their prayers. There is no need for one to let everybody know that he is praying and attract attention. A simple prayer, like the Lord's Prayer that he taught them was enough.
The Lord's Prayer is very complete and exhaustive on its own. It gives praise to God, the Creator of the universe as well as offering thanksgiving for all His providence. It is a prayer that Christians should try to pray often in addition to any other requests they may have.
" Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
Amen."
Notice that the Lord's Prayer also emphasizes on God forgiving us our sins, in the same way that we forgive those who offend us. If you say the Lord's Prayer, you must be ready to forgive others. God always forgives us our sins and so we must also be willing to forgive others. If we do not forgive them then our Heavenly Father will not forgive us either.
This aspect was also very well stated in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. It is the story of the servant who owed the King a lot of money and was unable to repay him. When the time came for him to repay the loan, he was brought before the King. Because he did not have the money to pay back, he asked the King for more time to get the money otherwise both he and his wife and children would have been sold as slaves until they paid the entire amount owed to the King.
The King felt sorry for him and forgive him the entire amount owed. He let him go. However, the servant went out and on meeting another servant who owed him some money, he harassed him and demanded to have his money paid back despite his fellow servant asking for mercy. He refused and had him thrown into jail till he repaid his debt.
When the King found out what had happened, he was very upset and had the first servant arrested and jailed because he failed to forgive hos fellow servant yet he had been forgiven for his much bigger debt.
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