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How does Jesus teach us to go deeper in our asking when we pray?
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He introduces the Lord Prayer to show us how we should pray properly – the structure is focuses first on God and then on us. There are many examples of Jesus praying in the Bible and we should be able to learn from his actions when praying.
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Jesus invites us into a relationship with him. He wants us to go beyond just asking for things in prayer, rather truly spending time with him, getting to know him. He shows the love of God in the sermon on the Mount. He reminds us that just as an earthly father would provide for his child so will our heavenly father. He shows us that God loves us so much despite who we are, sinful by nature, and wants to hear from us!
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We tend to get stuck on the things that we see in our lives that we need or want. If we are “advanced”, we might keep prayer journals and track other people’s needs so that we can pray for them too. But Jesus teaches us to remember to pray for eternal, Heavenly things first- to pray for God to be honored above all else, to pray for God’s kingdom to come soon, to pray for His will to be done here on Earth. By focusing on everlasting things and God’s will, we are put in the right mindset to pray for our needs and the needs of others.
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He tells us to ask, seek and knock in Matthew 7:7 , but then He teaches us how to pray when He instructed us by giving us the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).
