Has your prayer life grown stale? Do you find yourself offering up the same "canned" prayers over and over again, prayers you say by heart, but not necessarily with heart? Perhaps now would be a good time to rethink prayer and turn away from your old habits and ways of thinking about prayer, and turn in a new direction. In the Lord's prayer, Jesus attempted to give us a new model for prayer, a new template to follow. His goal wasn't to teach us the exact words to pray, but to teach us how to pray. For most of us, prayer is about asking God for this or that. This isn't wrong, God specifically tells us that in every situation, we should bring our prayers, petitions and requests to God. He is attentive to our voices. This is just an incomplete view of prayer.In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus gives us what I have called three "pre-petition postures". Three postures we should take in prayer before we ask God for anything, before we bring all of our prayers, petitions and requests before our heavenly Father. These postures are meant to prepare our hearts, similar to how an athlete stretches and does warm-ups before exercising, or how a musician or vocalist warms up before performing. These pre-petition postures help get us in the right frame of mind. The first is, "Father, let your name be hallowed", on earth as it is in heaven. The second is, "Father, let your kingdom come", on earth as it is in heaven. And the third is, "Father, let your will be done", on earth as it is in heaven. We live in a fallen, broken, sin-stained world where these 3 statements are not facts. They are not givens here on earth, as they are givens in heaven. This is why we need to rethink prayer as "pious priority". As his sons and daughters, are we going to give priority to God's name, God's kingdom, and God's will being done here on earth, in each of our own personal lives, or are we going to give priority to our name, our kingdom, and our will being done? How much damage and destruction has been caused on earth by my giving priority to my name, my kingdom and my will over God's name, God's kingdom and God's will? When we prioritize God over ourselves, this also gives us "proper perspective". We are able to get the vertical view on our lives and our circumstances, that it is next to impossible for us to see here on the ground on earth where we only see the horizontal view. We need to rethink prayer, and specifically these 3 pre-petition prayers, as a means for giving us proper perspective before we begin asking God for anything.

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