Praying for the Glory of God

Meditation for the day taken from Everyday Prayer with John Calvin written by Donald McKim:

Scripture: Matthew 6:7-14

The Savior graciously gave us the Lord's Prayer as a model of prayer and as one that teaches us how to pray. This prayer is used by many in various circumstances. It is often used in corporate worship as a prayer of the gathered people of God. Yet, many offer this prayer with very little thought as to what they are praying. When we pray mindlessly before our God, we treat him as common and not offering him our heart, soul, mind, and strength in worship.

The Lord's Prayer teaches us many things about prayer. The Westminster Shorter Catechism has a wonderful section about this prayer, explaining its substance and meaning. We would do well to meditate on those things (WSC Q98-107). There is another aspect of the Lord's Prayer that is often overlooked. In a similar way that the Ten Commandments are given in two tables, the first representing our moral duty to God and the second representing our moral duty to others, the Lord's Prayer has two sections. The first concerning our devotion to God and the second concerning our own needs and those of others. Calvin wrote, "We shall only be adjusted to pray as we should, when we are not anxious simply for ourselves, and for our own cause, but give prior place to the glory of God, for it is quite absurd if we only take care for our own business, and neglect the kingdom of God, which is so much more important." (73) May it be so for the people of God.