Where is My Focus?

When my husband taught on the subject of prayer, he would teach us to pray to the Father as the Lord Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6:9-14.  He focused quite a lot of time on that.  My husband made much of Jesus Christ, but when he prayed he addressed the Father with his petitions, and his focus was on the Father.  Recently I have just sat with my eyes closed and my mind going to those times when my husband prayed. It has been a source of comfort, and I praise God that He gave us a memory.  Whether my husband and I prayed together, or he prayed in a group setting, or as he was recording his Facing Tomorrow radio programs, or praying before he preached, each memory was the same, he always first focused on our Heavenly Father.  

The Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples to focus first on Our Father—Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven—Matthew 6:9-10.  The tendency of our human nature is to focus on the need, the trouble, the circumstance, the desire, ourselves, or whatever we are bringing in prayer to the Father.  However, when the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray, the asking came after focusing on the Father—Matthew 6:11--in worship. Whenever my husband prayed it was like we were in the very throne room of Heaven, and the Holy Spirit was leading in prayer.  If I was having trouble praying, I would go get my husband and ask him to pray with me; it wasn’t long after he began praying with me that the difficulty I was having was no longer an issue, and I had great liberty to pray. I realize more clearly now than I did then that taking time to focus on the Father takes the focus of prayer off of self.  I am learning even more so to focus on the personal relationship I have been given with our Father through Jesus Christ and His shed blood. Focusing on the sureness and security of that relationship with the Father which art in heaven causes my heart to praise and thank Him even more.  Focusing on Him and His perfection draws my heart to desire that my will would align with His.  As my husband said many times, we learn to pray by praying.  And it is through trials of suffering that lead us to our knees in prayer.  He never chose all the times of suffering in his life just as you and I have not chosen the trials of our suffering, but my husband’s life taught me and many others a great lesson, we can rise to Heaven in prayer during those times of suffering when we focus on the greatness, the wonder, the power, the love, the glory of our Heavenly Father. 

Reflections:

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• Take a moment to pray this, or write your own prayer in the comments.

  • Our Father,

    Thank you for this day. Thank you for your mercy, your kindness, your goodness. Thank you for your long suffering. Thank you that you know about tomorrow and the next day after that and a year from that day. You already know. You said, I’m the Alpha and Omega. I’m the beginning and I’m also the end. And You are, and we praise you and find great comfort in that.

    In Jesus’ sweet name and for his sake,

    Amen

• This week, let every prayer begin with adoration instead of anxiety. As you focus on the Father, trust Him to care for every need you place in His hands.

Here is an excerpt from Dr. Williams' book, Learn to Pray:

To Whom Do You Pray?

We do not pray to the Holy Spirit.  When we are asking for anything we pray, ask, God, the Father.

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26)

The Spirit of God will never say anything that Christ did not teach, and He did not teach us to pray to the Holy Spirit; therefore, you do not pray to the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit didn’t come to be prayed to.

Neither do we ask Jesus for anything.  We cast our cares upon him—read 1 Peter 5:7 and Psalms 55:22—but we do not petition or ask Him for anything, according to the Scriptures.

Therefore, when we pray, we pray to God, our Father. It is to Him that we make our petition.

The Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray saying, “Our Father . . .” (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2)