When you see the word, “plan,”‘ what comes to your mind? Is it something rigid, overly structured and formal? Does it sound like something already laid out that you simply follow? That’s one way of looking at it. However, a plan could also be program and intention. So here’s the question with a different twist: When you pray, whose intentions are you honoring?
Prayer is about God. We’ve said it before. Thus in praying it’s important to follow God’s plan. We’ve been exploring this in The Deep Water Praying Program. Much of this program looks at the Lord’s Prayer and goes below to the deeper meaning.
When you pray, whose intentions?
One thing that is apparent is that Jesus lived out God’s intentions. He was very clear, beginning in his childhood, that he was about God’s business and God’s will. When you pray, are you about God’s intentions?
To pray the Lord’s prayer is to focus on God and God’s concerns. This means lifting rather than crushing the poor, the weak, the displaced, the dispossessed. In general, you pray for and act for the vulnerable and the outcasts in society and the world. That’s God’s plan.
The other thing concerning the Lord’s prayer, is that it is communal. It’s always “we” and never “I;” “us” and not”me.” God calls us to community as God calls us to love each other. That’s the plan. What does this tell you about when you pray?
Let’s put this another way: When you pray are you turned inward or upward and outward?
Removing your boundaries to a full and free life through honest, whole-hearted praying.
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