Matthew 6:5-15
Prayer
5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Acts 17:26-27
26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Matthew 1:23
God With Us
23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
John 14:25-27
Our Father Will Send the Holy Spirit
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 16:5-16
The Work of the Holy Spirit
5 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
16 "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."
John 17:20-26
Jesus Prays for Us
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Jesus in the above verses teaches us how to pray to "our Father" in heaven...Then He tells us that our Father will send us a Counselor, a Helper, the Holy Spirit to be with us, and in us...So we have the Holy Spirit of God...I believe, the stronger and more mature our faith is, the stronger our Holy Spirit...So I believe, when we are constantly are doing our will and not God's Will the Holy Spirit is not as strong in us...So Jesus had the Strongest of Holy Spirit's, because He was always and is always doing God's Will...
Then Jesus, right before He is arrested, prays for us...He prays for a Spiritual Unity, a Spiritual Oneness among all believers...This oneness seemingly would require us to love one another...It is much easier to pray for those we love...Jesus wants us to know that His Father, (and) "our Father" has sent Him and that He LOVES us (all of us), as His Father has LOVED His very own Son...A Son knows how close His Father is to Him...The work and duties of the Counselor is to be with us...The Holy Spirit wants us to seek and find the Truth...When we need His assistance, when we are so troubled when we cannot think of what to pray -He will be there to pray for us and with us...The Counselor will guide us to the Truth...The Counselor will bring glory to Jesus...The Counselor, our Holy Spirit will take from what is Jesus and know to Him and make it better known to us...All these things show a closeness to our Father, Jesus, and His followers...
In the LORD's prayer Jesus teaches us to pray "Our Father in heaven"...When we pray our Father (and to our Father) in heaven, we recognize that God is close to us, that He is Divine (because we are praying to Him and that He is, in fact, is above and in heaven), and that -He is is heaven...This is one of the reasons Jesus uses in His teaching of prayer for us to call God, "our Father"...Our Father created us, He is near us, and He is close to us...
St. Paul agrees that God is our Father, and that He is close and near to us...St. Paul says God is not far from each one of us...In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul writes them about God, our Father (Galatians 1:4)...
St. Matthew tells us of Jesus' birth and one of His names...In Jesus' name Immanuel, means a closeness to us and our Father...Born of a virgin, Jesus is called Immanuel -which means God with us...St. Paul, St. Matthew and Jesus (in His name Immanuel), and in the LORD's prayer, we see and better understand the closeness of God to us...God is close to us and with us...
The Holy Spirit which Jesus promised us, is truly in us...We often overlook our Holy Spirit, even though it is in us...The Counselor in us, helps us when we need help...Sometimes the Holy Spirit, our Counselor is called our Comforter...The Counselor is helping us internally when we need Him...The Holy Spirit, the Counselor would be there for the disciples and us, when Jesus left the earth...We are not left alone, because of the Holy Spirit...We would like to think of our Holy Spirit that is in us, providing a lot of great feeling, lots of great faith, and lots of great happiness (or at least I would)...(As a footnote here -Jesus did not come to earth with fire and brimstone or pomp and circumstance...He came humbly and quietly, as a poor baby boy born in a manger...Maybe each of us are given a humble a quiet Holy Spirit -but nonetheless He is in us, ready to counsel and comfort...It seems the more we seek and know the Father and Son, the stronger the Holy Spirit is within us...All that belongs to our Father also belongs to Jesus...This is why Jesus tells us that the Spirit takes from what is His, and only then makes it known to us...)...Our humble Holy Spirit of our Father is helping us, when we do not know what to pray or how to word our prayers...And our Father is Almighty and is also answering our prayers...There is much mystery here about prayer and in our Father, His Son, and our Holy Spirit...But Jesus lets us know about how close our Father is to us...Our Father is not only near us, but He is all around us...We are truly near our heavenly Father...