What should I do after I get saved? Pt 6 of 8

Today we're going to delve into a very potent and very misunderstood facet of the Christian life: Prayer. Prayer is, in it's most basic form, a conversation between us and God. In fact, most of the time we try to complicate it and turn it into something else.

Jesus gave us a model for prayer, but He didn't say that this was the only way to pray. Before we read through this model together, take a moment to tell God about how your day is going so far. Go ahead, I'll wait. Good job! That was prayer right there, and that's all it takes to begin building a relationship with God.

However, there is more to prayer if you feel like taking the next step, and Jesus told us how we should pray (Matthew 6:9-13). I'll color code this section, and you can see my comments below.

9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

• Jesus begins by taking time to praise God. He's done so much for us, we need to express our gratitude for how God is working in our lives.
  
• God is our King, and as believers we are a part of His Kingdom. We need to learn to obey Him in everything we do, and submit ourselves to His guidance and correction. Jesus is telling us to submit to God.
• All of us have needs, and God is interesting in helping us. He wants us to ask Him for the silly things, as well as the important. But know that He is A LOT smarter than we are, and He knows what's best for us, even if the answer is no.
• If you've messed up (and all of us have) He wants us to take the time to say we're sorry.
• And then ask Him to help keep you from sinning again.

There is a lot more that can be brought out of this teaching on the Lord's Prayer, but my goal here is to wet your appetite for more. Hopefully you're beginning with your day with Bible reading. Take a minute before you open the bible to pray and ask God to show you the truth in His Word, and when you come across something that challenges you, pray about it.