Jesus, Since God knows when I am just reciting something and when I am praying from my heart, help me understand what it is I am praying and asking for. Let each sentence be what I really want for today, and, each word be filled with great meaning to me. If this isn’t the case, then help me realize praying The Lord’s Prayer won’t help me. Help me not go through a religious ritual that God won’t listen or respond to.

Jesus, if something isn’t addressing my needs or wants, it is hard for me to put my heart into it. Help me address the main issues of my needs and wants. Do this so I will be able to get the greatest results from The Lord’s Prayer. Help me come to my heavenly Father with all my questions, needs, issues, and problems for each day. I will always have things that are causing a certain amount of concern in my life. Help me bring all my questions, all my difficulties, all my needs, and all my desires with me as I start to pray The Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus, it is difficult for me to put my heart into anything that doesn’t express how I really feel. Help me pray this prayer with sincerity and from my heart by You and I working out how I really feel. Empower me to use The Lord’s Prayer to help me check this sincerity, openness, and dependency. Help me to know whether or not I really feel God is my heavenly Father. Show me the best way for me to go from a person who “sort of” feels close to God to one who feels a closeness.

Jesus, help me really feel God is my heavenly Father. Teach me that the best way for me to increase these feelings, is to stop and see what those words mean to me as I say them. Help me take, “Our Father in heaven,” and stop on a regular basis and ask God, “What do I need to do right now that would help me feel closer to You as my Father in heaven?” Let me use The Lord’s Prayer to help me stop on each issue and do a heart check. If God shows me a weakness on that issue, help me always stop and ask Him how to get it fixed.

Jesus, as I start this process of checking my heart’s condition, help me use three questions I need to ask God. Let me take each part of the prayer like, “Our Father in heaven” as an example and stop and ask God, “Do I really DESIRE to have You as my heavenly Father?” “Do I really trust You with my NEEDS?” “Do I really FEEL close to You as my heavenly Father?” Let these three questions address those things that motivate me to do anything I do. Since my desires, my needs, and my feelings inspire me, push me, drive me, create my interests, and focus my attention, help them be present and locked into The Lord’s Prayer. Let them keep me from getting bored, ritualistic, and distracted.

Jesus, You said in John 15:5b (NIV): “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Teach me that in order to grow into a mature, adult child of God through this prayer, I have to have already accepted the fact that I am not going to be able to do anything of value on this planet or for eternity without You. Show me that I can’t pray The Lord’s Prayer without You empowering me, training me, helping me, and guiding me.

I have been doing “a lot of things” without You prior to being born again. And, I may still be trying to do “a lot of things” without You now. Why? Help me realize that this is because I don’t REALLY believe I need You for EVERYTHING. When I pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name,” I need Your help to see if I am addressing my heavenly Father for all my needs. Help me REALLY believe that without You I can do nothing. If there is ever a time that I don’t, empower me to allow God to help me see this truth. Show me that all I have to do is ask Him to help me see this truth.

Jesus, through James 4:2b (NIV) You said that I do not have, because I do not ask God. Help me also come to the place where I give up all my world training for EVERYTHING. I know how to do a lot of things; but, show me that they WILL NOT bring the results that come from getting EVERYTHING through God. If I know how to make money, for example, help me ask the questions: Am I making money where I should be applying myself; am I making money using the procedures I should be using; and, do I have the priorities for making money that I should have?

Jesus, check my heart when I pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Am I trying to get God to bless MY plans, MY methods, MY goals, and MY desires; or, am I aware that His plans, His methods, His goals, and His desires are best for me? Help me stop and allow God to check who I believe in the most. Show me that each part of The Lord’s Prayer will help me work with You to see if there is anything that is hurting me and my relationship with my heavenly Father.

Jesus, You said in Matthew 7:7 (NIV): “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Teach me that I need to ask God about this. Help me find out what ask, seek, and knock mean and how to use them all day long for the rest of my life. You said in Matthew 7:11 (NIV): “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ASK Him!” Help me ALWAYS pray The Lord’s Prayer every day so I will get these things that it helps me ask God for.

Teach me that in The Lord’s Prayer, I ASK for things I only get IF I ASK. Show me that as I come before my heavenly Father, I open doors to blessings, miracles, and supernatural help that only come to those who ASK. As I SEEK these truths of God, show me that I learn truths that set me free. As I knock on the doors of opportunity to move into the plan and purpose of God, teach me that I go through door ways that make me successful in this life and in eternity. Teach me what it means that asking, seeking, and knocking are to be applied to The Lord’s Prayer for the rest of my life.

Jesus, help me realize that I “do not know what I ought to pray for (Rom 8:26b).” Let this attitude be rooted deep in my heart so I won’t try to pray and address God thinking that I don’t really need The Lord’s Prayer. Show me that I don’t know what problems and difficulties I will face today. Help me see that I don’t know what temptations Satan will try to hurt me with today. Help me understand that I don’t know what needs will present themselves to me today. Reveal to me that I don’t know what will help me make the right decisions today. Help me realize that I don’t know which people I should talk to today. Make it clear to me that The Lord’s Prayer will be addressing large quantities of UNKNOWNS I will need to be ready for TODAY.

Jesus, if I start my day with a special relationship with my heavenly Father, if I start my day spending time thanking Him for all He has done for me yesterday and all the days before, if I start my day opening my heart and life to Him meeting my daily needs, if I start my day allowing Him to help me give up any resentment, anger, frustration, hatred, or adversarial attitudes toward everyone, if I start my day asking God to lead me away from all temptations, traps, dead end streets, and distractions, and if I start my day getting God’s power to keep the evil one from being able to sabotage my day, help me see how ready for the day I will be.

Mat 6:9a (NIV) This, then, is how you should pray: Jesus, keep telling me that the procedures found in this prayer will be the ones that I will need TODAY in order to get all my questions answered, all my difficulties solved, all my needs met, and all my desires addressed. Teach me that if TODAY I am going to see miracles take place in my life and blessings from God come my way, then this “is how I should pray.” Let this prayer make sure I start THIS DAY and every day with the correct attitudes; let it make sure I address all the correct issues; let it make sure I approach my heavenly Father the right way; and let it make sure I get the right kind of results TODAY.