The Lord's Prayer (Victory Over The Evil One)

Say HiThe Lord Jesus Christ is a man of prayer. He was committed to prayer during His lifein the flesh. Scripture attests to the fact that He is still interceding for His church tilldate. Talking about Christ’ prayer life, S. D. Gordon said: “The man Christ Jesus prayed;prayed much; needed to pray; loved to pray.”In his bid to teach his disciples “to pray,” Christ provided them with the prayer model inLk. 11:1ff.A good understanding of the principles taught in this passage would no doubt helpeveryone who desires to grow in his/her prayer life.Meanwhile, apart from learning the principles of prayer from this model prayer, wecan also deduce principal reasons why we should pray. Some of the reasons are:1. To Strengthen our Relationship with our Heavenly Father - V.9.God is the Creator of all mankind. He is however not the Father of all humanbeings.God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.He is also the Father to all who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord andSaviour - Jn. 1:12; 2 Tim. 2:19.The word “Father” means source. Ancestor and inventor.Prayer gives us the opportunity of daily and constantly connecting with ourSource.This explains why you experience spiritual dryness when you are not consistentwith your prayer life.2. For the Establishment of God’s Kingdom - V.10.Satan the thief is regarded in scripture as the god of this world. Till date, he holdssway over people’s lives and communities. For us to dislodge him out of people’slives and communities, we must be committed to concerted prayers.You can bring down the kingdom of God in your compound, street, office, school,village, nation by your prayer.Bringing down the kingdom of God is another critical reason why we must be menand women of prayer.3. To Operate in the will of God - V.10.Being at the center of God’s will is sweet and fulfilling.Prayer is essential to knowing and doing the will of God.Many of our young people are going through time of crisis today in the choice oflife partner, career, etc just because of prayerlessness. Prayer will help youdiscern God’s will for your life and also help you submit to that will.4. To Receive our Daily Provisions - V.11The Almighty God is our El-Shaddai. He is more than enough.As a responsible and reliable Father, He is committed to providing for our needson a daily basis. Prayer gives us the access to receiving His daily provision for ourlives.5. To Receive Forgiveness for our Sins - V.12.Man’s greatest problem is sin. Jesus came to save us from our sins. He paid the full pricefor our sins past, present and the future. While Christians don’t sin deliberately, we dofall into it once in a while. God has made provision through prayer for us to receive Hisforgiveness through confession and repentance.6. To Offer Forgiveness to those who have Offended us - V.12, 14-15.The condition for us to receive forgiveness of our sins is that we all must forgivethose who have offended us. Failure to do so would make the heavens to beclosed to us. It also means we are sitting in the place of God - Gen. 50:19.God expects us to forgive people who have offended us regardless of the gravity oftheir sins. Prayer offers us the opportunity of forgiving all who have hurt us. Lk.11:24-25.7. To Shield us from Temptation - V.13; Matt. 26:41-41.Believers are faced with temptations everyday. Part of Satan’s daily schedule is toset traps for God’s people - Jn. 10:10b. Living a prayerful life helps to shield usfrom the many temptations that come our way on a daily basis - Lk.22:31-32, 39.8. To Secure Victory over the evil one - V.8.Christ has made us over-comers through His finished work on the cross - 1Jn.5:4;Rev. 12:11. We are truly more than conquerors - Rom. 8: 37. Even Satan knows this.www.ikoyibaptistchurch.org, instagram.com/@ikoyibaptisthurch, facebook.com/@ikoyibaptistchurch, x.com/@ikoyibaptistchurch.