The Provisions of God

"Give us this day our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.  For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."  Matthew 6: 11, 14 - 15

These verses of the Lord's prayer speak to us about total dependency upon God.  Whether it is for physical or spiritual nourishment we are totally dependent upon God for our sustenance each day.  Can we feed our physical bodies without the God-given provisions of earth, seed or rain?  Can we sustain a Spirit-filled life without our Lord first providing the way and revealing himself to us?? 

Our Lord's gracious presence is available daily; we have only to ask him for our needs to be filled.  The Israelites received manna from heaven while wandering in the desert; we too can ask for and receive the Lords daily provisions.  Trust and believe that your God will provide when you ask and trust his work on your behalf.  

Pondering this verse brings about questions of why there are those who have their needs met and those who go hungry or are homeless.  When considering all scriptural instructions given to believers we might interpret this verse to mean, "Give us this day our daily bread so that we can share with other who are in need."  (Matthew 25: 35-40)  Jesus instructed believers to care for the poor, widows and orphans by sharing the provisions He has given to us.  Believers are to show and lead the poor, oppressed, and unbelieving world to the Lords love and compassion so that they can know and depend on him themselves.  This is our privilege and our duty. 

As we move on to the Lords' words regarding forgiveness we bring along our dependency on God.  Jesus instructs us to ask for the forgiveness of our debts AS we also forgive those who are indebted to us.  Many scholars and translators interpret this verse to mean, 'forgive us our sin as we forgive those who sin against us'.  This verse is very humbling to Christians and keeps us from believing that because we know the Father we are entitled to believe that we are better than others.  We do not have the right to hold on to grievances we have with others because they don't "deserve" forgiveness or that we can keep someone coming back over and over to ask for forgiveness.  Jesus very clearly instructs us that as we are willing to practice forgiveness then we will be forgiven.  (Psalm 24: 1-6)

Jesus displayed true forgiveness to us when on the cross he prayed for his persecutors by asking the Father to forgive them.  (Luke 23: 34) Do we dare hold on to grievances with others when our Lord chose to forgive those who crucified him?  Our acceptance of Gods' work to reconcile us to him by Christs death on the cross is the provision that allows us to approach him.  We can approach God in the righteousness of Christ because He provided the way for us to come to him forgiven and free of our debt of sin.  (2 Corinthians 5: 18-21)

Our God is immense and full of light.  Let's ask the Lord to provide our daily needs and forgive us of our unholy ways.  Let's ask the Lord to help us see where we need to forgive and ask him to forgive us for holding on to grievances rather than act with compassion toward a world without hope.

Father - we seek you for our needs today.  Help us to embrace you with our whole heart.  We want to know and give forgiveness from you.  Help us to acknowledge our dependence on you and share with others the hope that only comes from our relationship with you. 

Blessings in your walk,
Carol

Bringing His Kingdom

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Darrell W. Johnson, in his book Fifty Seven Words that Change the World, says this section of the Lord's Prayer, "is one of, if not the most radical things a human being can do."

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray this, they were starving for revolution. Rome ruled and did so with deadly force. The spiritual climate of the day was lukewarm. People felt the very real need for political change, as well as religious freedom and revival. Sounds much like the world we live in now, doesn't it? On the surface, these words sound like a prayer for temporal, or earthly, relief. In some ways, that's true.

To pray God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven is to pray that His perfect will be done. We often don't realize all that encompasses. And we fail to recognize the upheaval that must take place to bring His will and His kingdom on earth - both in our personal lives and in world events. Think about the change you must make in your daily life to give in completely and live God's perfect will.

A little uncomfortable? Radical? Does it take a truckload of trust to obey God's perfect will? It does for me.

When we pray for His kingdom to come, we must recognize that it is partially here in the form of believers in Christ. The Holy Spirit ushers in His kingdom, and when we accept the Holy Spirit into our lives WE usher in the kingdom. Jesus' return is still to come, so we pray, "Your kingdom come." We're asking Jesus to come back! Even so, Lord Jesus, come.

We'll be finishing up the Lord's Prayer in the next few posts. Don't forget this month's challenge to pray daily, and don't forget to use your prayer journal! We'll talk about that in a few days, too.

Lord Jesus, we pray for your kingdom to be evident in us as we interact with the world. We ask that You would shine through us so everyone would know Your love and grace. Please help us live Your will, Father God. On earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus' holy Name we pray, Amen.

Blessings on you today,
Shelley

Hallowed Be Your Name

        
 "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name"       Matthew 6:9



 What does it mean for the name of God to be  "hallowed"?  


To hallow means to consecrate or set apart as holy.  Have you ever noticed that there are many references in scripture that provide descriptive traits of God?  "Father" is a term most of us are familiar with, but let's consider a few more traits of God that give reason for his name to be hallowed. 


In Exodus 3, God describes himself to Moses as "I Am Who I Am" or in another translation "I Will Be Who I Will Be" which the translator interpreted to mean "My nature will become evident through my actions".   God reveals aspects of His Character to us through a myriad of lifetime situations and intimate relationship with believers. 


Further in Exodus, God describes himself to Moses using more concrete terms.  In Exodus 34, God describes himself as a 'compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin'.   Who do you know that you could ascribe these characteristics continuously, every day, every week, every year?    


In Luke 1, Mary and Zechariah refer to God as Savior who has brought salvation to them, referring to the near future birth of "The Savior" Jesus Christ.  Romans 10 says that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Saved from what?  Eternal separation from God. 


Our God is robed in a nature higher than that of the best human.  He is consistent in the face of evil, faithful to the end of time, cares about the weak, poor, and oppressed, always judges with objectivity according to his laws, always forgives, and always perseveres with humanity to salvation.  He deserves a place of consecration above all others who offer some form of salvation yet come and go on the screen of history.  God is creator, they the created.  God is generous, they receive from him.  God is savior, they granted salvation. 


His name is higher than any other!  


Father God - show us what it means to cradle your name in a holy place in our lives.  We lift your name up in the sea of those who desire to be equal to you by offering their plans of salvation.  Only you can truly provide salvation from the sin that binds us.  Show us your character through our times of prayer and through the situations that crop up each day.   Teach us to consecrate your name as holy. 


May you be blessed by lifting up the name of our God.
Carol



      

Prayer against discouragement

Happy Wednesday, faithful readers!

We're taking a very short bunny trail off the Lord's Prayer path today. It's come to our attention that many people are struggling against overwhelming discouragement. What an effective tool the enemy has developed against us! Discouragement, fear, strife. Fear is one of the most powerful motivators to stay where you are or to move from where you should be. Discouragement is another form of fear.

We're in battle. The field is your mind and the prize is your soul. Dramatic words perhaps, but no less real. How do we fight this battle? We pray. And pray and pray until we see a break in his assault. Satan quivers in fear when we go to our knees, or when we bow our heads, or anytime we reach out to the God of creation and begin talking with Him.

We want to reach out and lift you up, whatever your struggle. God says that whatever is not of faith is not from Him. Let's make a decision today to stop playing into the enemy's hand. We will live in faith. We will no longer bow to the voice that tells us we can not do it, or that it's pointless to go on, or that no one cares anyway. Tell that voice to be silent!

Father God, we pray protection over our hearts and minds. Silence the voice of the evil one and help us to realize that we have the almighty power of the Holy Spirit living in us. When we say, "Be still!" our adversary must be still in the name of Jesus. Help us realize that we have the victory of every blessing you bestow. You are kind, generous, compassionate, and full of love. Every good gift comes from You. We pray that Your blessings would rain down on us, drenching us with Your love and Your vision of us. Remind us to put on the full armor of God so we can continue this fight. We love You and thank You for hearing our prayer. Amen.

Don't give up the fight, dear ones. Don't let discouragement stop you from serving Him and doing what you know to be His calling. Write to us or leave a comment and tell us how you fight discouragement or fear.

Blessings on you today,
Shelley

Our Father in Heaven

"In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven..." Matthew 6:9

The beginning of the Lord's Prayer reveals several things. In these few words, we establish the focus of the prayer, who He is (and by extension who we are), and where He lives.

The Focus
The God of the universe, the God of creation, is the focus of this prayer. Righteous, holy, and true, He deserves to be the focus of all our prayers. Too often, my prayers focus on myself, my worries, my wants. Jesus instructs us to change our focus and put our eyes on Him.

The Father
Additionally, we get a chance to meditate on the nature and character of the Father God. He is timeless, unsearchable, compassionate, gracious, patient, abounding in love and faithfulness, forgiving, and just (Exodus 34:5-7). What a truly awesome gift that we can approach Him at all, indeed that He invites us to come to Him!

The Fruits
If He is our father, then we are His children. Ephesians 1:5 tells us that He predestined us to Him as sons (and daughters) by Jesus Christ to Himself. We belong to Him. He wants us to come to Him as children go to their loving parent. "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:9).

The Foundation
Our Father is in heaven, but He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us at all times and in every place. Because of His triune nature, the Father God is one with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus Christ. So we pray to God the Father, knowing also that our prayer goes to Jesus and His Holy Spirit.

The power in these few words is immeasurable. As you go through this prayer, take time to consider who your prayer goes to, where He is, and how much He loves you, His child. Leave a comment with your thoughts on these first words of the Lord's Prayer and how praying it impacts your life.

Until next time,

Shelley

Meaningless Repetitions and Many Words

Hi all.  When Shelley and I decided to blog on The Lord's Prayer this month we were not prepared for the depth of instruction contained in this well-known simple reflection we repeat weekly, even daily in our religious practices.   Verses 7 and 8 of Matthew 6 give us direction on the content of our prayers.   

                

Matthew 6: 7 - 8
And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.  So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 

What was Christ referring to with the term "meaningless repetitions"?  And wouldn't many words in our prayers be a good thing??   And, if our Father knows what we need before we ask Him, why should we ask?  These are high questions we are pondering.  

In reviewing the scripture around the Lord’s Prayer, I concur with Shelley that the Lord is clearly instructing believers on the motives of their hearts and the practice of their righteousness in a community.  It is evident that there is to be a clear distinction between those who are living a life of faith with God and those who are practicing their religion to be seen by men.  Christ very clearly states that when the practice of our religion is to be seen by others then we have our reward in full.  In other words, when our prayers and deeds are for any other reason than to live a relationship of faith with God, then there is no blessing or reward that will come to us other than being seen by others. 

One prayer of Christ that really struck me was the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.  This was an emotional and trying time for our Lord and he simply prayed the struggle of his heart.  Matthew 26 and Mark 14 record virtually the same words; “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will but as You will.” Christ offered very simple words to convey his longing  to the Father before heading to the cross to die for our sins. 

We do not need many repetitious words before our God to express the longings of our heart.  He knows our needs.  The expression of our needs in prayer acknowledges our reliance upon Him as we walk our life of faith.     “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”   Go to Him and offer the longing of your life, then live in the faith that you have been heard and that God will respond. 

Many blessings on your life,
Carol

Motivation and purpose in prayer

<Sigh.> Forgive my silence, dear readers. February's theme on praying the Lord's Prayer - and helping us all learn how to do that effectively - is proving an intimidating task. It's a little prayer with earth shattering consequences, as we'll see.

We open with the verses immediately before the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:5-6.
And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

I've spent much time considering and praying about this part of Scripture. It seems so self-explanatory that I hesitate to add my own meager thoughts. But one thing continues to plague me. This part of Scripture seems to hone in on motivation. The hypocrites' motivation is to be seen by men. These verses, in light of this month's theme, speak to me.

What is my purpose in prayer? What is my motivation?

Too often my purpose is to get my way. My motivation is worldly discomfort. The Bible says we should pray for the Father's will to be done (Mt. 6:10, 26:39). His way is higher than my own (Is. 55:9) and His will is perfect (2 Sam. 22:31, Rom. 12:2). And James, the brother of Jesus, tells us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials that test our faith (James 1:2). In the end, these trials and this testing perfects our faith, which is far longer-lasting than my worldly discomfort.

The Bible also tells us about the relational nature of God. Adam and Eve, Abraham, the prophets, all the way through Jesus Christ and His model of perfect love, we have examples of God being a friend and a constant companion to His people. How do you nurture your relationships with friends, family, spouses? Do you ignore them or make demands of them and expect that relationship to thrive?

The God of the universe is the God of relationship. That should be our motivation in prayer, friends. He desires a relationship with you, one that involves conversation and getting to know each other. As the Father, He also desires the best for you. That might mean giving you what you want, but it might mean withholding for a higher purpose. His will be done.

What is your purpose in prayer? What is your motivation? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with us.

Praying for you today,
Shelley