A Model Prayer #2331

9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9–13, NKJV).

Jesus left us a model prayer that teaches disciples what to pray. Matthew 6:9-13 is a digest of the manner or form our prayers should take. (1) Prayer recognizes God’s paternity: “Our Father in heaven.” (2) Prayer revers God’s person: “Hallowed be Your name.” (3) Prayer respects God’s program (His rule and reign): “Your kingdom come.” (4) Prayer submits to God’s purposes: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (5) Prayer gives thanks for God’s provisions: “Give us this day our daily bread.” (6) Prayer petition for God’s pardon: “And forgive our debts.” (7) Prayer’s proviso for forgiveness: “As we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:14-15). (8) Prayer seeks God’s protection: “And do not lead us into temptation.” (9) Prayer praises God’s preeminence: “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” May our hearts form these worthy expressions of faith and dependence on our heavenly Father when we pray.

Imitate the Apostles #1653

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1, NKJV)

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit expect Christians to follow the examples set by the apostles. By inspiration, Paul the apostle commands imitation of him as he imitated Christ. Obviously, our ultimate model is Christ Jesus. The apostles were His faithful witnesses to the world. It is by their preaching that we know of Christ, come to trust in Christ, are called to follow Christ, and are saved in Christ. It naturally follows that once saved by the apostolic gospel, we then follow the pattern they set to continue to be faithful to the Master (Matt. 28:19-20). To imitate means to mimic, to be a follower of another. In today’s verse, Paul is repeating an earlier exhortation (1 Cor. 4:16). Who is your role model? Jesus, you say? Then, you will be following the examples of His apostles, because they are our “pattern” (Phil. 3:17). Let us imitate the apostles of Christ to have peace and fulfillment in life and throughout eternity. “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9).