Matthew 6:9-15

Day 1: verse 9 “This, then, is how you should pray:  “ ‘Our Father in heaven,  hallowed be your name,…”  (Praise)

It seems so easy to go to God in prayer when I need something. When my relationships are not going well, or when I need to make a decision, or if I need money. Whenever I am nervous about anything, I know I can go to God in prayer. But Jesus says that we should start our prayers by praising God.  The word “hallowed”  means:  “make holy” or “greatly respected”. When we start our days in prayer and start our prayers with praise, suddenly our whole day is put into perspective. The things we were worried about before don’t seem as big when we remind ourselves of how huge God is. King David, the writer of most of the book of Psalms, was a great praiser!
Psa 139:14      “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Do it: spend 5 min. praising God for who He is in your life. Try reading a Psalm that lists praises and then think of your own. There are so many things that God is and does for us…  you can never run out of things to praise Him for!!

Day 2: Verse 11 “Give us today our daily bread.” (Petitions)
How do you feel when you need help from someone else? Is it hard to admit it? Do you sometimes feel embarrassed? It’s not always easy to ask for things. But God wants to supply all of our needs. He wants us to depend on Him for everything.
James 14:2 says “… You do not have, because you do not ask God.”  Now, this doesn’t mean that every little thing we want, God will give it to us…  that would make us all spoiled brats!! But as far as our daily needs and things that are necessary to live, God will provide.  Nothing is too big our too small for God.

Do it: Spend 5 min telling God what you need and asking Him to be your provider. Think of something that you think may be impossible…  God wants to blow your mind!

Day 3: Verse 12 “Forgive us our debts…”  (confession)

I hate making mistakes. Nothing feels worse than knowing that I have done something bad, especially when it hurts someone else. I always wish I could just pretend it didn’t happen, or if it’s really bad, I might even be tempted to lie about it so no one finds out. But no matter how hard I try to make it go away, I can never fool God. He sees and knows everything I do. Imagine that you are standing inside your house and you want to go outside, but there is a door keeping you inside. What would happen if you just pretend that the door is open and try to walk through? You will walk straight into the door!! No matter how many times you try it, you will never get outside until you open the door. That’s what confessing our sins to God does. Sin is like a closed door keeping us from being close to God. But when you admit the things you’ve done wrong and get honest before God, all of a sudden He opens the door and you can talk to him with nothing in the way.

Do it: Spend 5 min. getting really honest before God and confessing everything you’ve done wrong. He already knows about it, so why not just tell Him? Nothing feels better then knowing that you have told the truth