Good
Morning All,
Matthew 6:9; “Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”
As someone who is an observer, it is fascinating to see how some people
are “literalists” and some are “creative-ists”.
We all start as literalists; children are literalists to the extreme. When my wife was still the librarian in the elementary
school, the rule was they had to wear coats if the temperature was below 50
degrees. Let it hit 50 or especially 51
and all the coats were off. It might
have been raining and a stiff, cold wind but at 51 degrees nobody wore a
coat. Yet as we grow, some become a
little more “adventurous” and willing to stretch our wings.
Our verse points to this observation.
How do you pray the Lord’s Prayer?
Do you say it just as you memorized it in Sunday School with no
deviation because any deviation means you are saying it wrong? Do you try to get it done in one breath? Do you spend a lot of time wondering why the
way you learned it is not in the Bible exactly as you learned it? If you do, you might be missing a great part
of this prayer.
When Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples, it was about how to pray
not necessarily what exactly to say. “Pray
like this.” It is a learning tool as in;
here is a way to do this. Jesus was
teaching his disciples what real prayer is.
It is not the vain repetition of the heathen nor is it the public
spectacle of the Pharisees. Prayer is
about a relationship with God. Prayer is
about opening our hearts to God actually exposing our faults, fears, and
failures to Him. That is prayer.
Now, you may be a word for word, never alter it, dyed in the wool
literalist. I am ecstatic that you
pray. But you might try to be a little
flexible one time. The Lord’s Prayer has
a rhythmic pattern that allows for breaks and rests and suspension of
speaking. Take advantage of these breaks
to add your personal petitions. So, if
you get to “give us this day our daily bread” and you are worried because your
hours have been cut, the insurance costs are up and a tight budget got tighter;
insert your concerns here. If you are
struggling with forgiving a brother, add this after “as we forgive others”. If you are dealing with a hard temptation add
it after “lead us not into temptation.”
The Lord’s Prayer is a great pattern, short and to the point yet it does
lend itself to a little personalization.
This personalization can, and should, increase the value of this prayer
to us. Rather than be a rote memorized
set of words; it becomes a personal plea to God. When you don’t know what to pray, start here
and add your elements and these petitions can be added wherever and whenever you
need. God gives us prayer so we can
speak our hearts. Open your heart to
him.
Father
of all mercies, you give us prayer to speak our hearts to you. Keep us from becoming so focused on saying
the right words that we do not express our true self. Guard our hearts that we always come to you
with joyful expectations of your wonderful mercy. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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