Robert Morris - The Petition of Prayer

As we are submitted to God’s will and dominion in our lives, He wants us to ask for everything we need.

The Lord’s Prayer is a pattern that teaches us how to pray. (The portion to memorize for this is week is Matthew 6:10.) The Lord’s Prayer begins and ends with praise. Everything in between is a petition, which is a request.

God wants us to ask Him for what we want and need (John 14:13–14; John 15:7; John 16:23–24; Matthew 6:8; Matthew 7:7–11). It’s not selfish to ask Him if we allow Matthew 6:10 to be the filter for what we ask for and how we ask. We can ask for anything when we have the attitude that we want His kingdom to come and His will to be done instead of our own. He wants us to ask Him to move on behalf of our families, our businesses, our health, our jobs, our kids, etc.

When we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” it’s not a prayer for the future. His kingdom came when Jesus, the King, came to earth (Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:14–15; Matthew 12:28; Matthew 10:7; Luke 17:20–21). His kingdom is now here, continually being worked out in our lives. His kingdom is growing in us as we daily grow in submitting to Him (Matthew 13).

He taught us to pray “Thy will be done,” because His will is best. We have a choice as to whether we will submit our will to His will (John 7:17). Jesus demonstrated this for us in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:42) when He chose to submit His will to God’s will. The perfection and joy of heaven give us a glimpse of how God’s will and dominion are best (Revelation 21:4).