“Grounded in Prayer”
Several people
volunteered to head small groups for a church wide study, “Grounded in Prayer”
at the beginning of March. Unfortunately, the necessary materials were delayed
in coming from the distributor. Starting a new small group without a leader’s
workbook would be a good opportunity to exercise faith and also to pray! However,
by the time of the first meeting most of the materials had arrived. Thank God!
The plan was to study and reflect on “The
Lord’s Prayer” from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, taking one line each week leading up to Easter. It is a
very familiar prayer, one that most of us know from memory and have recited for
years. Many of us learned it from the King James Bible and feel most
comfortable with that version.
Jesus modeled this prayer to his disciples
when they asked him to teach them how to pray. I wonder if they were surprised
that he addressed God in such personal terms. He didn’t say “my father” or
“your father,” but rather “our Father” making them feel like part of the
family! We also can approach God as our loving Heavenly Father, having the
assurance that we belong to His forever family through faith in Jesus.
Reverence, respect, love and trust take root in our hearts as we come to Him in
prayer daily.
The idea of
praying for God’s kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it is
done in heaven implies submission, obedience, service and the desire to put Him
above anything else the world has to offer. Not only should we pray for
obedience and diligence in helping his Kingdom grow here on earth, but the
Lord’s prayer can also be used as a reminder to pray for people suffering from
war, religious persecution, natural catastrophes, famine…
If daily bread
isn’t a concern for us, it is for others around the world. We can ask our great
Provider, Jehovah Jireh, to provide food for the hungry and clean water for
those who are thirsty. Doubtless there are other things that do concern us
every day.
Someone recently
asked what my thoughts were about the coronavirus, currently in the headlines
of the news. The words of the late Reverend E.V. Hill came to mind “Be
prayerful and careful!” He gave myself
and two other college coeds this advice the summer we taught Vacation Bible
school in housing projects in South Central Los Angeles. Good advice any time!
Often a
congregation repeats the Lord’s Prayer before participating in communion. As we
partake of the elements, we remember Christ’s great sacrifice of love for all
mankind. This should motivate us to confess sin, repent and surrender to his control
over our lives. But confession needs to happen whenever we sin so that we can
remain close to our loving Lord.
As we ask God to forgive our sins, so must we
extend forgiveness to those who have hurt us. This takes the help of the Holy
Spirit who reminds us of God’s great mercy towards us and enables us to follow
Christ’s example of forgiving his enemies even as he hung from the cross. God’s
will is for us to forgive!
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the
evil one…” a difficult verse to understand.
However, it is vitally important because there is an enemy, Satan, who desires
that we fall into sin and turn away from God. When tempted we need to pray
urgently for a way out.
Being
“prayerful and careful” fits that situation too!
Asking for support from others through prayer, counseling
and even listening is also important during times of temptation as well as in
other challenging times. Temptation is something we all share in common.
Well, who could have foreseen the events of this past week
that have restricted our activities and limited most of us to our homes, in an
effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus? Our small group on prayer will have to be put
on hold. But, while we can’t “do” all of the things we have been used to doing,
we now have more time to spend in prayer getting to know our Heavenly Father
better and interceding for those in need. It was great timing for our church to
have selected prayer as its focus of the Lenten Study, before its celebration
of Easter, even though things have worked out differently than what we expected!
What a short but powerful prayer Jesus gave us! It ends
with the affirmation “…for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory
forever, Amen.” May we incorporate this
prayer into our everyday lives. As we do, may the Holy Spirit change us and through
us change the world!
Dear Father, Thank you for loving us so much that you gave
your Son so that through faith in Him we might be saved. Thank you for
protecting us from harm, for providing for our needs and for helping us love
and forgive others. Please forgive us for fear and worry, for doubting your
love. Help us individually, as families and as a church family to be lights to
the world during a time of darkness. Yours is the kingdom, the power and the
glory forever! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
*Matthew 6:9-13 NIV
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