Praying in the Plural

A few weeks back, we had a sermon at church that has changed the way that I pray. Our pastor told us that there is more of God than we could ever need, and that He seems willing to give us more of Him than we can use. When God shows up, He shows up in abundance. If He is showing up in our lives, our lives should be spilling over with Him.

We have so much of Him that there should be overflow.

Our pastor adopted a boy and his name is Temesgen. The name Temesgen means ‘Thank you to a God who when He shows up, His smallest portion is more than enough.’

Isn’t that beautiful? I may have a new nickname for my little ones.

So if this is true, where is God spilling out of us? What God has poured into our lives, we can be pouring into others since we have such an abundance of what we have asked for.

The day that Pastor Robert said this, I had prayed for more sleep for myself. I have a baby and my two older kiddos were sick. I hadn’t had very much sleep at all in several days, and I was absolutely wasted. I know there are many, many other moms like me who suffer from sleepless nights, so instead of just praying that I would find rest, I also prayed that all the other parents in the world who needed rest would receive it.

How would the knowledge that God gives us more than we need change your prayers?

When asked how we should pray, Jesus says a prayer that we’ve come to know as the Lord’s Prayer:

OUR Family in heaven….
Give US this daily bread…
Forgive US our trespasses…
Lead US not into temptation…
Deliver US from evil…

Even Jesus prayed in the plural.

Think about the things you are praying for today - employment, health, healing of broken relationships, sleep, forgiveness of sins – and consider praying these things for more than just yourself.

Bonus thought: Do you say “Our Father” on Sunday but act like an orphan the rest of the week?