Recently our church had a week of prayer. Since we are going through a complicated and difficult transition, it was exactly what we needed as a church body, but also something I needed personally. Each night that we gathered, a part of our time was devoted to hundreds of handwritten individual requests that were spread across the altar. They varied from, “Please pray for my Nana; to, “Pray for my friend, who is depressed and thinking of suicide.” I found it too easy during those times to simply close my eyes, repeat the words and then flip to the next request, without truly engaging my heart in intercession for those needs. Though I have not come all the way, it does help me to move a little closer to what Jesus has in mind when He taught us to pray in what we call: “The Lord’s Prayer.” I especially love the last verse in the King James version.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. Matthew 6:13 KJV

Though the more modern translations leave out the last half of this verse, I always include it, because it gives me the reason behind why God hears and answers our prayers. It is also interesting that almost the exact same prayer was used by Solomon when he was dedicating the temple eight hundred years earlier,

Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 KJV

So, if you are struggling to pray because it is hard to believe that God will answer, remind yourself: that God will provide our daily bread, forgive our sins, protect us from evil and will lead us today because He loves us as a Father and it gives Him glory. ANd everything is possible with our God who rules as King over all the universe!