How Prayer Changes Us

How Prayer Changes Us
Matthew 6.9-15
9"This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

I once had an anatomy teacher in high school who said, "Prayer doesn't so much change God as it changes us." That's a very interesting concept, but is it true? I believe both are true--prayer both changes our circumstances and it changes our attitudes. Prayer causes actions, but it also changes hearts. As we look at the Lord's model prayer for our lives, we see that this prayer is very generic. That is not a bad thing--remember, this is a model. Nevertheless, this model reveals some interesting things. The majority of the verses in this prayer not only ask God for needs, but they also force the believer to place his on focus on acting upon these desires. For example, the first thing we see is this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." The first statement is not even a request, but a simple yet powerful acknowledgment that when we pray, we come before the throne of God in awe and humbleness. He is everything; we are merely His servants.

Just think of the wealth of wisdom and knowledge we could learn as we pray. Think about our various needs--what do they cause our minds and spirits to focus upon? When we come before God with our needs, are we merely dumping our requests before Him and then leaving, or are we seriously communicating our needs to Him in such a way that those needs affect us? Beloved, it can become so very easy to become callous to the needs we are asked to pray for. Let us not forget to put our own emotions into our prayers. Galatians 6.2 tells us to "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." When we bear one another's burdens through prayer, those prayers change us. We learn to seriously care about those around us. The body of Christ seems all the more intimate. We also learn to "[forgive] our debtors" and to "forgive men when they sin against [us]." Our relationship with others grow as we learn to pray for them in a way that fulfills the law of love through Jesus Christ.

Prayer not only changes our attitudes towards each other, but it changes our attitudes towards God and life in general. When we pray that "[God's] kingdom come" and that "[His] will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we learn that our priority as Christians is our service to God. How do we ensure that these priorities are met each day by our words and deeds? We pray that God "[g]ive us today our daily bread." It is only when we use prayer for the daily strength for Christ to sustain us that our relationship with Him really blossoms. We become intimate with Him. We learn to give up our weaknesses over to Him, and to use Him as the crutch on which we walk. God is our sustenance--our very breath and means of being. Acts 17.28 says that "in Him we live and move and have our being." May we let our prayers of need for God's daily provision, strength, and guidance cause us to rely fully upon Him.

Are your prayers changing you? I hope so. If not, consider each word you say. Do you mean it? There's no point in praying if it is to merely be a ritual. God wants passionate, honest prayers that come straight from our hearts. They may reveal anger, doubt, confusion, worry, and fear. Those attitudes will be changed by the Father, however. Honestly confess your needs and the needs of others before Him, and He will not only help you in your circumstances, but He will change your attitude in the midst of your circumstances. Begin this sort of prayer right now! Amen!

With love in Christ,



Austin Aldrich