Matthew 6 (Awaken Day 13)

A couple things in this passage stuck out to me. First, the Lord's Prayer is contained in this chapter of Matthew. Like Andy said the other day, this prayer is powerful, and I don't necessarily think the exact words need to be prayed, but the concept of the form is something to be noted.

Matthew 6:9-13
This, then, is how you should pray:
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one."

One thing I find interesting about this prayer is it focuses on God first. Then it focuses on us here and now. How often do we selfishly pray only about us, and forget to thank and ask God about Him? I shared the "form" of prayer we always practiced when I was a kid last week at small group, and I think its interesting because in other prayers in the Bible, you can see these different parts.

A doration
C onfession
T hanksgiving
S upplication
I love also that this way of praying follows the example of the Lord's prayer - adoration (about God) first, supplication (about us) last.

Matthew 6:33-34
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Again, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. If we seek Him first, we have nothing to worry about. His kingdom and the righteousness that comes from a relationship with Him is bigger than anything we could ever worry about.