Tag Archives: Lord’s Prayer

A Loving Trustworthy God

Trust GodLiving in the Spirit
July 23, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 11:1-13

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
   Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
     for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
   And do not bring us to the time of trial.’ –Luke 11:1-4

I honestly do not remember a time in my life when I did not pray. I do not remember being taught to pray, but I surely was. We prayed before every meal. My mother prayed every evening on her knees at her bedside. Example is a great teacher.

Jesus was a great example for his disciples, and they indicated hunger to learn more. He taught a simple prayer. First, it recognizes the omnipotent, all-powerful nature of God. It then, in the briefest of statements, gives Jesus’ purpose, which he passed on to us: to bring about God’s Kingdom on the earth. Nourished by a request for sustenance, I think both spiritual and physical, we are enabled to ask for forgiveness of our sins and to forgive the sins of others. The final phrase in Luke’s reporting of the Lord’s prayer is not in Matthew’s more familiar rendition. Luke includes a plea for not bringing us to the time of trial, which speaks to our human fears as well as trust in a loving God.

It feels like a time a trial now and fear leans heavy on us. It reminds me of Helen Keller’s saying, I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet. It is a time to trust in a loving God.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace*.

Prayer: Lord, so nourish us with your love that love becomes the only response we can make to those people and events that cause us fear. Amen.

*Chorus from Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus, Helen H. Lemmel. See at http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Turn_Your_Eyes_upon_Jesus/

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Strength for Today

StrengthAdvent
December 18, 2014

Scripture Reading: Romans 16:25-27

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages— Romans 16:25

During after dinner conversation on Thanksgiving Day, I bragged about the fact that I had finally reached my goal of being able to push my weight on a leg press machine at my gym. Family members just nodded rather politely but my former high school football-playing grandnephew stated rather matter-of-factly that he could push four times his weight. Do you have any idea how much work it took to reach that level?

My trainer says that the difference between me, whose exercise goals are to move without pain and continue to do the routine functions of daily living as independently as possible as long as possible, and an athlete is that most athletes don’t have a stop button. They work through strain and even sometimes pain when the rest of us would be backing off or nursing an ice pack or heating pad. Athletes often require an outside source like a trainer or a coach to say you cannot do that as it may result in permanent, irreparable damage.

This truth applies to our faith strength training as well. We must be an athlete of faith investing our time, talent, and treasure in strengthening our faith until we test God’s parameters of growth and he ultimately says, Well done my good and faithful servant. (Matthew 25:23) Take heart, like a good trainer and coach, God is with us each step of the process and it is God who is the source of our strength and it is God who will catch us when we occasionally get off balance and start to fall.

Prayer:Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,  your will be done,  on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen.*

*new English version – adopted by the Church of England in 1977
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.