Tag Archives: Prayer

Prayer, Protest & Protection: The Grace of a Lost Art by Kelcy Steele

Government authorities like police officers are public servants. They are supposed to be frightening only to those who are bad and do wrong. They are supposed to hold no terror for those who are not bad and have done no wrong. Much of the time, they do exactly what they are supposed to do, and for this we can be grateful.

But they are armed. And the weapons they carry can easily kill people. This means that police officers must be trained to be extraordinarily disciplined in their perceptions of situations and people, and extraordinarily restrained in their use of deadly force. Otherwise the power they have to protect the innocent becomes a power to destroy the innocent. Otherwise their power to keep order becomes a power that creates disorder. Otherwise the sight of a police car in one’s rearview mirror becomes a fear that one will not survive the encounter — a fear that Black people in America know all too well.

Our lives should be informed and marked by prayer. Our God desires us to seek him and pray to him. When we pray with confidence to the Sovereign King, we bring glory to him and joy to his heart. We want to be, always, a prayerful people and a prayerful church.

People should not have to be afraid of dying during routine traffic stops. This is horrifying and outrageous.

The late Philando Castile did not find it to be the case the other night near St. Paul, Minnesota. The late Alton Sterling did not find it to be the case two days before in Baton Rouge. These black men were shot by white police officers, two of 123 black Americans shot by police so far in 2016, out of a total of 506 nationwide.

The question is, what is the role of the church?

Our first call is to prayer; then, our second call is to peaceful protest, to cry loud and spare not.

There is only one real problem in God’s church these days, and that is the prayer life of the Church. We could enumerate many other problems that face God’s people.

In a praying church, there is great grace in the lives of God’s people.

Acts 4:33 says, “Much grace was upon them all”; the word “grace” is the operative word here. It means “Christ-likeness,” and was seen in four ways:

  1. There was the grace of unity (verse 32).
  2. There was the grace of renunciation (verse 32).
  3. There was the grace of fellowship (verse 32).
  4. There was the grace of liberality (verses 34-35).

Will you do your part, God helping you, to make your church a praying church that will impact our community?

Maybe I can help you by framing it this way.

What you’ll witness when you watch us pray as the people of God is men and women who are well aware of their imperfections. We are well aware of our hypocrisies. We are well aware of our shortcomings, yet we earnestly and completely believe that God hears us and wants to hear from us, and that when we pray, it pleases the heart of God. When we consider the God of the Bible, he is unlike any earthly father ever.

“Why Alton Sterling and Philando Castile Might Reject a Beloved Biblical Passage.” Religion News Service. N.p., 07 July 2016. Web. 08 July 2016.

Let Us Pray by Kelcy Steele

 

Rev. Kelcy G.L. Steele prays in the sanctuary of his church.
Rev. Kelcy G.L. Steele prays in the sanctuary of his church.

“When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.'” Mark 2:17

As a follower of Christ, Senior Pastor of First A.M.E. Zion Church in Los Angeles, and an international faith leader through work with World Methodist Evangelism, I must respond to the Pulse shooting: we as a faith community must focus on how we can work to love our neighbors well, both in this and in our daily home, work, and play. This is an unspeakable tragedy and we should take extended time to mourn, to pray for the families of those murdered and injured, and to consider the depth of evil in the hearts of men that this senseless act represents. The fact that this is a gay bar makes no difference. We are all especially broken at some level. The victims were human beings who were innocent and had their lives taken. I have just been physically sick to my stomach. These were our neighbors.

I have several friends who are gay.

Some of them embrace the homosexual lifestyle while others embrace the teachings of Scripture and fight against the sinful desires within them. As I’ve interacted with them, I’ve come to understand something that, on the surface, seems painfully obvious and potentially even offensive to them: They have real feelings and longings and desires. 

Yes, I know. That sounds like something Mr. Rogers would say. Maybe he would even make up a cutesy song about it that he would sing while zipping up his cardigan.

But this is real and this is extraordinarily important.

Many Christians talk about the LGBTQ community in the abstract, as if they’re a homogeneous group of people who want nothing more than to destroy the Christian faith and make the entire world gay. And I will admit that the media as a whole is pretty strongly anti-Christian when it comes to the issue of sexuality.

And the politically correct, never-offend-anyone atmosphere of today is incredibly frustrating.

But here’s the thing. Behind all the stories and arguments and political battles are real people, made in the image of God, who, just like me, desperately need Jesus.

People who desperately desire human connection and sexual fulfillment. People who are trying to make sense of how to live in a world that is deeply and fundamentally broken.

When we call men and women to repent of homosexuality and embrace Jesus Christ, we need to realize the depths of what we’re calling them to. We’re calling them to a life of intense struggle and frustration. A life that is distinctly void of the sexual expression found in marriage. We’re calling them to lay aside something that feels central to who they are as a person. We’re calling them to give up something that seems part of their core identity.

Consider yourself. How would you feel if someone called you to a life of celibacy? How deeply would that cut against you? Would you struggle if someone told you that all your heterosexual desires are sinful? I would, and I think you would too.

My concern with all the passionate, vitriolic and even violent rhetoric about gender and bathrooms and marriage is that we’re forgetting that real people are involved. It’s easy to lob grenades from the safe bunkers of our Christian communities. It’s much harder to do that when we’re sitting across the table from a man or woman struggling deeply.

I’m not at all advocating that we soften the claims of the gospel to be more inclusive. That spells death for everyone involved. And I understand that fundamental issues of religious liberty are involved that require clear, intelligent, passionate advocacy.

But as we preach the gospel and fight for religious freedom, let’s do so with compassion. The gospel is for sinful, broken, struggling, jacked-up people. If we dismiss the struggle as non-existent, the gospel isn’t good news anymore.

The gospel is a superior pleasure—it’s superior to the pleasures of sin. But to hold forth the gospel as a superior pleasure, we have to first acknowledge that sin is desirable, even if particular sins are not desirable to us.

So yes, let’s call people to repentance. Let’s call people to repent of sexual sin and cling to the gospel. But as we preach the gospel, let’s wrap it in compassion. Let’s adorn the truth of the gospel with the grace of the gospel.

We know God values and loves all people, as do we at First A.M.E. Zion Church-Los Angeles. We condemn this horrible and unjustified act of violence against the Orlando community. We hurt and pray for our friends and neighbors, especially in the LGBTQ community, and we extend our deepest expressions of sympathy to all the loved ones experiencing grief over the coming days and months.

 

*”Christian Leaders: Orlando Victims Were ‘precious Souls,’ Loved by God.” Christian Leaders: Orlando Victims Were ‘precious Souls,’ Loved by God. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2016.

Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ The Most Underrated New Year’s Prayer

It’s my (not unkindly meant) guess that tomorrow’s slew of sermons across North America and probably other parts of the world are, in the main, fairly predictable: having grown up as a pastor’s kid, a pastor’s grandkid, pastors’ niece, now pastor’s daughter-in-law, and having preached three years myself, along with having a great number of valued friends in ministry – well, sometimes one can feel along with the famed biblical text that there is nothing new under the sun.

Not that the Word of God doesn’t hold an inspired moment of revelation and transformation for us every time its opened: it does, by the grace of the Triune God, whether or not we feel it or realize it. And by God’s grace, you or I could hear the same sermon every Sunday for a year and grow remarkably through it.

Pastors, parishioners, hear this truth: the Word of God has beauty, truth that is worth hearing, observing, listening to, reading, singing, painting, proclaiming, on its own merit. You don’t have to dress it in a fancy hat, set fireworks off over it or make it go viral. You do have to submit to its terrible, beautiful power: but that’s a very different thing than feeling like Sunday worship is the time of the week you have to market Christianity.

It is in the hard road of following Jesus Christ himself that the Spirit of God sweeps across lands and populations. Actual, painful, weighty life change as we, like Bunyan’s pilgrims, climb, is used by the Spirit in a haunting way – the way that costs.

And so we come to one of the most underrated prayers for the New Year, quietly tucked in a humble corner of the New Testament. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart,” wrote the Apostle Paul in a letter to the Galatians.

Let us not grow weary while doing good.

That’s the big New Year fear, isn’t it? That we’ll grow weary of carrying out our resolutions. That we’ll grow weary of driving to the gym in cold wind. That we’ll grow weary of eating lettuce instead of crispy golden potato wedges. That we’ll grow weary of monitoring our spending, going on another blind date, volunteering at the dingy soup kitchen.

Or worse, we think – that we’ll grow weary of extra Bible reading. That we’ll grow weary of an early alarm allowing us 15 extra minutes for prayer. That we’ll grow weary of helping with Vacation Bible School. That we’ll grow weary of singing hymns in a cramped nursing home activity room smelling of stale urine. That we’ll grow weary of bearing with our obnoxious neighbor who we secretly hope never visits our church – our church: our safe haven, our refuge, interrupted by the person we avoid.

Let us not grow weary while doing good.

G.K. Chesterton captured this with stark but hopeful clarity:

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

Let us not grow weary of doing good: no running down the clock here. Lord, let us not grow weary of doing good this year. Our world groans and lurches. We read how we can feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of suffering, but God calls us to serve one more anyway. In the middle of shootings and terror, Ebola and malaria, cancer and autism, addiction and infertility, let us not grow weary of doing good. In the midst of cruelty and hurt, loss and abuse, panic and depression, anger and pride, let us not grow weary of doing good.

Mother Teresa described it this way:

What we need is to love without getting tired. How does a lamp burn? Through the continuous input of small drops of oil. What are these drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things of daily life: faithfulness, small words of kindness, a thought for others, our way of being silent, of looking, of speaking, and of acting. Do not look for Jesus away from yourselves. He is not out there; He is in you. Keep your lamp burning, and you will recognize Him.

These words of Jesus, “Even as I have loved you that you also love one another,” should be not only a light to us, but they should also be a flame consuming the selfishness that prevents the growth of holiness. Jesus “loved us to the end,” to the very limit of love: the cross. This love must come from within, from our union with Christ. Loving must be as normal to us as living and breathing, day after day until our death.

When we handle the sick and the needy we touch the suffering body of Christ and this touch will make us heroic; it will make us forget the repugnance and the natural tendencies in us. We need the eyes of deep faith to see Christ in the broken body and dirty clothes under which the most beautiful one among the sons of men hides. We shall need the hands of Christ to touch these bodies wounded by pain and suffering. Intense love does not measure-it just gives.

What indicators in your life light up when you’re getting weary? Do you binge-watch television, finish off the pint of ice cream, overexercise compulsively, shout at loved ones, drink a shot or three of whiskey, gossip on the phone, click on the site you avoid, miss the appointment with the friend who knows you so well?

This year, catch yourself when you’re starting to get weary. Ask why. Look around at your life. Friend, it does not all rest on your shoulders; if it feels like it does, something is awry. But next December, if you’re able to look back and point to moments when you persisted in doing good, persisted in hope, persisted in humor, persisted in grace, persisted in humility – then it will have been a good year.

Let us not grow weary of doing good…Father, Son, Holy Spirit, may it be so.

Otis McMillan ~ Christmas Living: Prayer, Preaching, and Possibility

“But the angel said unto him, ‘Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.'” (Luke 1:13-14)

Yesterday’s prayer has been heard: God simply is waiting for the right time to bless.

As a young couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth asked God for a son. Their prayers appeared not to be heard. They aged and came to a place in their lives that they accepted the fact that parenthood would not be a part of their lives. It was at that time the Lord revealed to them their prayer had been heard. He simply was waiting for the right time to bless.

There are prayers that you have prayed that you may have given up on. Before you make that decision it is essential that you understand God’s timing is different from man’s. God has a greater plan for your life and will respond at the proper time. Be assured that yesterday’s prayer has been heard; he is simply waiting for the right time to bless.

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1-2)

Someone needs to hear about Jesus: are you prepared to tell the message?

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord, we must recognize the importance of John the Baptist. He was sent to declare the message of the coming of Jesus. Men and women needed to know that the one who was mightier than he was coming, one that would baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire. The message of salvation had to be told.

As important as John the Baptist was at his time, his role remains vital today. Every child of God must be adequately prepared to share the message of Jesus. There are countless men and women waiting today to hear about the one that can change their lives. There is only one Savior, but there must be a countless number of believers ready to share the story.

“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)

Don’t limit yourself to the possible: with God all things are possible, even the impossible.

Every account in scripture provides the reader with a valuable lesson. Mary’s trust in the fact that God could not fail allowed her to be used by the Lord. Even when she could not imagine how it was possible for her to have a child, she refused to limit herself. She stepped out of her box, knowing that with God, even what appears impossible is possible.

Each child of God has created a box that indicates to them what is possible and what is not. The key to being used by the Lord, and to receive what God intends for your life, begins with you being willing to step out of your box. As you take God at his Word, and walk in faith, miracles will occur. Don’t limit yourself; God has wonderful plans designed for your future. They only appear impossible.

Andrew C. Thompson ~ A Pattern for Prayer (Holiday Archives)

Note from the Editor: This originally appeared on Wesleyan Accent in March 2015. Happy Labor Day!

What is the difference between praying and living a life of prayer?

Practically everyone prays now and then — even atheists, when they end up in foxholes. Offering an occasional prayer is much different than living a life of prayer, though. Biblical teaching suggests that a fully formed faith will express itself in a prayerful life. “Rejoice always,” the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians, “pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” [1]

The practice of prayer was important in early Methodist spirituality and was encouraged by John Wesley. Wesley refers to faithful discipleship as “the Way of Prayer.” [2] About Paul’s counsel in 1 Thessalonians, Wesley says: “God’s command to ‘pray without ceasing’ is founded on the necessity we have of His grace to preserve the life of God in the soul, which can no more subsist one moment without it, than the body can without air.” [3]

So prayer is not only important; it is vital to all life!

It’s one thing to affirm the need for prayer, but it’s quite another to know what that looks like in practical life. We all follow routines and patterns in our lives — but few of us truly set those routines by our commitment to spiritual disciplines. We don’t live in a world very conducive to that sort of life, and it’s not clear that the church does a good job of teaching it.

So here I’d like to offer a pattern for prayer that can help any Christian begin to build a rhythm of prayer into daily life. For anyone who is only used to offering a brief grace before meals or a prayer at bedtime, this pattern offers a fuller approach to the life of prayer. On the other hand, this pattern is also basic enough that it can be incorporated into practically any one’s daily life. First take a look at the pattern itself, and then read on for an explanation about how to use it in your day-to-day life.

The Pattern of Daily Prayer

9:00 a.m.                                                                                                                                                        Pray for Self

New every morning is your love, great God of light,

and all day long you are working for good in the world.

Stir up in us a desire to serve you,

to live peacefully with our neighbors,

and to devote each day to your Son,

our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

12:00 noon                                                                                                                                                    Pray for Family

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

3:00 p.m.                                                                                                                                                      Pray for Church

We give you thanks for this day, O Father in Heaven,

for our work and our rest, for our food and our fellowship.

Sanctify us through the grace of your Son,

our Lord Jesus Christ.

And direct us by your Holy Spirit,

to walk in the ways that lead to life,

to avoid all outward and inward sin,

and to glorify your name in all that we say and do. Amen.

Pattern of Daily Prayer: The How and Why

This pattern of daily prayer will allow you to punctuate your day with prayer to God. By pausing for just five minutes at three times each day, we can build a holy rhythm into our lives that draws us closer to God. As the Scripture says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you … Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” [4] John Wesley echoes this teaching where he tells us, “God hardly gives His Spirit even to those whom He has established in grace, if they do not pray for it on all occasions, not only once, but many times.” [5] It is no exaggeration to say that prayer is the beating heart of Christian discipleship.

The framework for this prayer pattern is Trinitarian. Jesus’ high priestly prayer to God the Father in John 17 includes prayer for himself, prayer for his disciples, and prayer for the whole church. So our own pattern here includes prayer for ourselves, prayer for our families (whether that be our own kin or our faith community), and prayer for the church universal.

We begin at 9 AM with a morning prayer that includes both adoration and petition. It exalts the love and providence of God, and it asks God to be at work in our lives throughout the day.[6] After we say this prayer, we offer up a prayer from our own hearts that includes our personal thanksgivings and humble requests.

Our midday prayer comes at 12 noon and begins with saying the Lord’s Prayer. This is the prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples, and it is the most precious prayer that we know. After we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we offer up a prayer from our hearts for our families. It is appropriate
to think of this prayer either as a prayer for our own blood kin or as a prayer for the church family to which we belong. Most days it will probably include both.

Our evening prayer follows at 3 PM and consists of a prayer to the Holy Trinity. This is a prayer that both gives thanks to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and also seeks the grace of God for our sanctification. After we offer up this prayer, we lift up a prayer from our hearts for the wider church — which will focus on those intercessions that we know are needed for that day.

Even when we add each written prayer to the personal prayer which will follow at 9 AM, 12 noon, and 3 PM, the daily rhythm will not take more than 5 minutes at each period. That means just 15 minutes in prayer — something which even the busiest among us can incorporate into our lives. The best practice would be to print out the prayer pattern and keep it somewhere that you will notice it throughout your day. Even after you learn the three written prayers by heart, you can use the printed copy as a visible reminder to pause and live up your heart in prayer to the God of love.

 

 

[1] 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; NRSV.

[2] John Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” ¶III.1, in volume 1 of Sermons on Several Occasions (London: W. Strahan, 1746), 233

[3] Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, Q.38.5 (Peterborough, UK: Epworth Press, 1952), 101.

[4] James 4:7-8a,10; NRSV.

[5] Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, Q.38.5, 100.

[6] This prayer is adapted from the “Prayer of Thanksgiving” in the Order for Morning Praise and Prayer,United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: UMPH, 1989), 877.

Jim Lo ~ The Power of Student Prayer

. . . when you pray go into your room . . .and pray to your Father, who is unseen.  – Matthew 6:6

10929903_10152945796909064_5058865526324947824_nInto the silence of the early morning they marched.  A small percentage residing in the dormitories began to stir from the night of rest, but since it was only 6:15 in the morning, the number doing so was fairly small.  Most were still sleeping, snuggled comfortably under warm blankets.

Silently the army of 40 soldiers marched.  Most on campus had no idea that this small army even existed.

Each Wednesday during the academic year between 30 and 90 gather to walk and pray over the campus.  They don’t talk to each other, but they intentionally focus their attention on God while praying to him.

This army has lifted up a variety of things to the Lord.   One week the prayer was for peace and protection.  That day a wonderful worship experience took place.  After walking and praying for the campus we gathered together in a circle.  Our routine is to use this gathering as our means of closing our prayer time together.  The group holds hands, and one person is asked to pronounce the benediction.  On this day, however, something wonderfully special took place.  One student in the circle spontaneously began to praise God.  She prayed, “Heavenly Father, I praise you for Jesus Christ being our Prince of Peace.”  Before long others began to also shout out praises to the Almighty:

  • I praise you, God, for being holy.
  • I praise you, Father, for being omnipotent.
  • I praise you, Lord, for being awesomely wonderful.
  • I praise you, God, for being the Creator, which allows me to then be creative.
  • I praise you, Heavenly Jesus, for being Healer – One who is able to heal one’s spirit, emotions, and body.
  • I praise you, Father, for being there for us at all times.
  • I praise you, Lord, for being victorious King and loving Lord.
  • I praise you, Lord, for being the great and powerful I AM.
  • I praise you, Lord, for being the shepherd of my soul, who leads us to streams of living waters.
  • I praise you, Jesus, for being the Son of God.
  • I praise you, God, for the comforting touch of the Holy Spirit.

For over ten minutes these student-soldiers of prayer kept verbalizing their praises to God.  My heart thrilled listening to the words of adoration which were emanating from these early risers.

10929964_10152831563299064_7893047786850647925_n
PHOTO: Jim Lo. The “power” of IWU flows to us from God through the prayers of His people. IWU morning prayer walkers.

Each week different things are prayed for.  On one occasion the prayer centered around the themes of reconciliation, refreshment, and revival.  Another day these prayer warriors prayed for students, professors, and the university president.  Some other themes have been healing, hope, and holiness; safety, strength, and supply; and for God to be glorified at our university!

One day a student approached the student chaplain in charge of our early morning prayer walks and asked, “Why do you have these walks so early in the morning?  Wouldn’t it be better to have them later in the day when students are more awake and energized to walk?  Besides, when you walk so early in the morning no one knows that you are doing a prayer walk.  Don’t you think that you will get a lot more attention if you do them later in the day?”

I was interested to hear how this student leader was going to respond.  “Jesus told us that we are not to show off with our prayers.  He instructed us that when we pray we do so, not to be seen by men, but to be heard by God.  One has to be willing to enter the silence of God to experience his spectacular power!”

Silently this group walks, believing that out of this silence we will one day experience God’s “spectacular!”

Roz Picardo – Loving Our Communities: A Heroin Epidemic Prayer Vigil

Wesleyan Accent will run several articles and essays on Wesleyan Methodist responses to the surging drug use in North America. Drug overdose deaths now outnumber gunshot wound deaths and motor vehicles crashes, and news coverage increasingly reveals headlines like  120 Deaths a Day: US Heroin and Prescription Drugs Epidemic Spinning Out of Control or this coverage of clergy, physicians, law enforcement officers and recovering addicts networking together.

Last fall Rev. Roz Picardo organized a prayer vigil at his Dayton, Ohio church, in response to the overwhelming increase in heroin use in Ohio. We’re pleased to be able to share his description of the event and to encourage church leaders to look for creative ways to reach into our communities.

Heroin is an epidemic spreading like wildfire throughout our country. Last month alone, there were over 200 heroin deaths in Montgomery County. The Governor’s Cabinet Opiate Action Team reports that in Ohio there has been a 366% increase in drug overdose deaths from 2000 to 2012, and authorities say they don’t see that number slowing down. This is a disease that is plaguing cities across the United States. It doesn’t discriminate and has become a killer of all ages.

The Point: A Ginghamsburg Church Community decided to take action to reclaim the brokenness in our streets by having a prayer vigil this past fall. Two news stations were present because they were intrigued by how our faith community was responding. Testimonies were shared of life transformation by folks in recovery who moved from a life of brokenness to blessing. The evening culminated with the group going outside in the parking lot, clasping hands, sharing names of lives personally affected by heroin, and praying in unison the Lord’s Prayer.

We can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. Our solution is simple. We don’t want to be silent. We want to pray for our community and be the answer even to our own prayers by raising awareness of what is going on in our city. This includes partnering with recovery programs, starting recovery houses, and working with those who desire a life change. Addiction, death, and destruction do not have to have the final word!

To see a video of prayer in the parking lot, visit The Point Facebook page here.

 

Jim Lo ~ What the Lord’s Prayer Teaches Me about Prayer

My eyes slowly force themselves open.

From between the warm cozy sheets
I peek at the digital clock.
The illuminated numbers
tell me that it is around 5:00 am.

I stretch under the sheets…

I want to ignore the time on the clock;
flashing at me to announce
that I should be waking up.

But routine causes me
to throw the covers off my body.

The cold air hits me
and quickly wakens me up.

My mind and my body
are now in tune with each other.

The cold has a way of doing that.

I am now ready
to lift up a prayer to God.

The words come easily.

They were memorized many years ago.

Our Father who art in Heaven…
may Your name be hallowed
in my duties today…
as Your name is hallowed in heaven.

Thy kingdom come…
may You truly reign in my life
on earth as You rule heaven.

Thy will be done…
in my work…. teaching… advising…
as your will is done perfectly in heaven

Give me daily bread…
for my physical strength…
for all my needs this day.

Forgive me my sins….
including my actions and intent…
and forgive others
as you have forgiven me.

Lead me not into temptation…
do not let sin overwhelm me,
but give me victory this day.

Delivery me from the evil one…
protect me from physical
and even spiritual harm

For thine is the Kingdom…
I recognize Your sovereign control
of my life.

For thine is the power….
I recognize Your ability
to do these things.

For thine is the glory…
I give You credit for every answer.

In Jesus Name, amen.

Notice the following Truths:

The first petition,
“Give us this day our daily bread,
is a prayer for our present need.

The second petition,
“Forgive us our debts”
is a prayer for our past sin.

And the third petition,
“lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil”
is a prayer for our future welfare
and goodness.

In other words, the three petitions
take the past, the present and the future
and informs us
that we are to lay them
at the foot of the cross.

But also notice the following:

According to William Barclay,
when we pray the first petition
we are to think of God the Father
who is Creator and sustainer
of all life.

When we pray the second petition,
the prayer of forgiveness,
we are to think of God the Son,
the Savior and Redeemer.

And when we pray the third petition,
we are to think of God
the Holy Spirit, our Guide,
and Helper and Protector.

Saying the Lord’s Prayer
has become part of my routine of late.

I pray it as soon as I wake up.

You and I cannot fail
to see that the Lord’s Prayer
begins by giving God His own
and His proper place.

The first three petitions
of the prayer are for the hallowing
of God name,
the coming of God’s Kingdom,
and the doing of God’s will.

A great fault of prayer
is that it can become self-centered
and self-seeking.

We can be so busy thinking
of what we want
that we never think of what God wants.

We can be so concerned
about our own desires
that we never think of God’s will.

We can be so busy talking to God
that we never give God
the chance to talk to us.

This is why the Lord Prayer
begins the way it does.

Jesus taught us that we can address God
as “Father”,
telling us that we have a unique
relationship with Him.

Catch the Truth being presented,
The Father is first…
then come the children.

The foundation of prayer
is understanding this reality…
I am not first,
you are not first…..
God is first.

The Lord’s prayer therefore begins
by putting, not us,
but God the Father
at the center of the picture.

The circumference can only be right
when the center is right.

All other things can only
take their proper place
when God is given His proper place.

“Our Father”- is to be hallowed

To be hallowed means
to remove something
from the category of the common
and placing it in the category
of the holy.

God is holy-love…
not our santa claus…
not our servant…
not subservient to us.

There are three implications
that are to be attached to this
term hallowed…
as it relates to us
and our relation to God-
distinction,
dedication
and devotion.

Being hallowed, first of all,
speaks of distinction:

This is the meaning implied
in Jesus’ statement
that the Temple sanctifies the gold
of the Temple
and the altar sanctifies
the gift on the altar.

In other words,
the gold used in the construction
of the temple was distinct
from all other gold in that
it was set apart for God.

Likewise the animals
sacrificed upon the altar
were distinct from other animals
in that they were set apart for God.

In other words, God is distinct…
there is no other like Him…
He is truly Lord of lord
and King of kings.

Our part?

When we say the Lord’s Prayer
we should be saying
we recognize
that God is distinct!

Being hallowed secondly,
speaks of dedication:

Mark Copeland explains it this way,

The Bible tells us that
the “people of God
are sanctified by the blood of Christ,
by the Word of God
and by the Holy Spirit.”

Through the blood, the Word and the Spirit,
people are called upon
and enabled to dedicate their lives,
no longer to the service of sin,
but to the service of God.

Our part…when we pray the Lord’s prayer
we should be saying
we are willing
to dedicate ourselves to God.

And being hallowed also speaks of devotion:

This is the meaning implied
in the words of the apostle Peter
when he encouraged believers
to sanctify God in their hearts (1 Peter 3:15)

Our hearts are to be so
completely devoted to God
that we are willing
to do His bidding
willingly and joyfully.

By doing this
we are hallowing His Name.

For God’s name to be hallowed
is to acknowledge God
in His holiness as being distinct
from all others and therefore ,
to be revered.

It is to acknowledge God
as worthy of our dedication and devotion
and, therefore to be adored.

Or simply put…

to hallow God’s Name
is to revere and adore Him
and such reverence and adoration
are the substance of true worship.

Reflecting on the phrase “Our Father”
reminded me of the following
realities of God:

God is person
not the idols like what I saw in Cambodia
not like the idols spoken of in the Psalms.

God is personal
in other words, He knows me and He ministers to me as an individual with individual needs.

God is to be praised

The Hebrews had long been concerned
with the proper approach to God.

The rites of purification
which they prescribed on certain
occasions were intended to prepare them
for drawing near to God.

Therefore to praise God is
in a special sense to be conscious
of His holiness….
recognizing that He is righteous,
absolutely good, and
totally pure.

God is parent and as parent He is
paternal in the sense
that we are all His children.

But He is also Pateir,
the Greek word for Father…
That in God we can be adopted…

Giving us full rights as His children…

Giving us full resources

Giving us full regard
in that He regards…favors us as being
fully loved,
accepted
and included into His family.

As parent God is present-

Phillip Keller,
“A layman looks at the Lord’s Prayer” –
“…prior to the time of Jesus,
God was regarded as someone
remote and august in His demeanor.
He sat in the high and holy place,
a stern judge behind the hard,
harsh bar of the law.
Only with fear and foreboding
did any man dare to
address himself to such
a powerful potentate.”

He provides,
He protects –
God is powerful.

And quickly connected with the phrase,
“Our Father” is the phrase,
“Thy Kingdom”.

We are not here on earth to
establish my kingdom…
but God’s Kingdom.

The Kingdom has a ruler

The King is to be respected-
to be held in esteem and honor:
to show regard or consideration for
to relate or have reference to.

The Kingdom has rules

The Kingdom “now”
is invisible
it is inward
it is loving
it is graceful

The kingdom has rebellers

“Thy will be done”
A matter of submission
A matter of seeking
A matter of stretching