Dr. James Goll, founder of God Encounters Ministries, says when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, it may sound as if we are praying for ourselves. But, Goll says, that’s not the way Jesus taught this model prayer.
“It’s how we interpret it, and it’s often how we pray,” says Goll, who discussed his newest book, Praying With God’s Heart: The Power and Purpose of Intercession, with host Dr. Steve Greene on the latest edition of “Greenelines” on the Charisma Podcast Network. “But what Jesus actually taught was corporate identification. In other words, praying in a way that’s bigger than our own life.
“It’s like the model of Daniel where he confessed generational sin. So, it isn’t only ‘forgive me of my sins and my family,’ no. It is ‘forgive us,’ and how often do you it? Daily. ‘Forgive us this day our sin.’ So intercessory prayer stands in the gap between God’s righteous judgments that are due and the need for mercy on the people’s behalf. Identify with your city, identify with the body of Christ in your region, identify with your nation and pray to remove the hindrances.”
It’s a great prayer to pray in intercession over America, Goll says.
“‘Forgive us this day our sin of abortion,’ let’s say, ‘and give us this day the solutions to our problems,'” he says. “Jesus calls us to pray with God’s heart, which is also an identification with the needs of our people that we are all a part of.”
Goll says God wants you to align your heart with His. He wants you to pray more effectively in these turbulent times, and He wants you to help usher in the fullness of His purposes on the earth.
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