The Lord's Model--The Lord's Prayer

After this manner therefore pray:
Our Father which are in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory,for ever
Amen.
-Matthew 6:9-13

Many of us have, at one time or another, memorized this prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. At least most of us have heard it recited or read in some media.

For many, it has become a meaningless recitation of words, rather than the powerful prayer it is. The beauty of the prayer is not disputed. Most will acknowledge it lifts up and comforts those who pray it from their hearts as well as their memories.

However, Jesus taught this prayer, not as the end all for prayer, but also as an example to follow.“After this manner therefore pray,” He said. He meant this prayer to be a model for our ongoing conversations with God. So how do we pray?

First, we start by addressing our Heavenly Father with respect and reverence, and to praise Him for who He is.

Second, we are to indicate our willingness to do as God directs. (Why bother asking if we plan to ignore His guidance and do things our way anyway?)

Third, we need to honestly share our needs and desires with God. This includes our hurts, feelings, good or bad, and even our disappointment of, or questions to Him. (Share what is on your heart and mind. Don’t worry, He knows what you’re thinking anyway.)

Fourth, we need to make certain our hearts and lives are right before God. (Again, He already knows, but wants us to acknowledge our bad choices, thoughts, behavior to ourselves and Him. Reality check.) Here we humble ourselves with confession (admission of) and repentance (turning away) from things we know are not right in our lives and relationships.

Fifth, we live in a world growing more dangerous. When praying, we need to ask God’s safety and protection over ourselves, our families and others on a daily, sometimes moment-to-moment basis. Prayers for wisdom and healing also fit this pattern.

Finally, prayer is more than making demands. Prayer is also about gratitude, praise and giving thanks for what God has done in our lives, is doing and will do in the future.

The end of prayer is the beginning of leaving things in God’s hands and trusting Him for the results. Sometimes we need to ask God to help us do that as well.

Help me, Lord, pray with a willing heart and mind, not just when things are going badly, but daily and even throughout the day. Help me realize prayer is my direct line to Your help and to my relationship with You and to access it often. Help me also pray with the full expectation that You can and will answer, though, sometimes, not in the way I may expect. That’s OK, too. Amen.

Meditations:
Monday: Proverbs 15:8, 29; 16:3
Tuesday: Psalms 70
Wednesday: Ephesians 6:18; 3:14-21
Thursday: Philippians 4:4-9
Friday: Romans 12:9-21
Saturday: I Thessalonians 5:12-28

(C) 2018, 2022 Carolyn R Scheidies

From Listen! Who Me?
Feel free to share

Blog Easter--it's our day of hope

We live in a time of fear and hopelessness as many are losing hope that getting back to “normal” will ever happen again. What we forget along the way is fear is no way to live. When we fear, we stop thinking and acting rationally.

Fear and Easter do not mix. In fact, Easter is all about freedom from fear. Easter is the culmination of a very special plan for humankind. We are the creation of a loving being, that chose to give those created a very special gift. Instead of making robots who slavishly did whatever the Creator demanded, the Creator created human beings with minds and hearts and gave those humans the gift of choice.

Since the Creator wished to have a real relationship with those created, the Creator included the choice to say no. Being able to say, “No,” meant humans early on made devasting choices that separated them from the loving God who created them. They began to quarrel and fight and steal and kill as they turned their backs on the very one who had a better plan—one of caring, peace, and hope.

Yet, some strove to follow, even when following proved difficult, even when it meant suffering. The life and love they found in their Creator were worth anything. But these humans only had a glimpse of God’s plan, one that looked forward to a day when the Creator would be revealed as Someone very special. That person was and is Jesus.

Jesus didn’t come simply to show His power but instead came not as a king, but as a servant. He showed how to reach out to care, heal and set free those held captive in pain and hurt and bad choices.

For His actions and teachings, the government and religious leaders hated Him and eventually executed Him. They had no idea Jesus came for that very purpose. He did no wrong. Yet took on Himself all the mistakes, flaws and fears that burden and destroy those He’d created. Jesus died that we might live and proved His power to do so by rising again, as attested to even by the secular sources of the day.

Our Creator is not dead. In power and purpose and love He lives, interacting with and changing lives for the better from that time to this. The cross has become a symbol, not of evil and suffering, but of salvation, peace, and hope. I John 4:18 (NASB) reads, There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

Love casts out fear when we allow our Creator to become our savior. John 3:16-17 is the key to life, love, hope, and Easter. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.”

Get rid of fear? Remember love and peace, as well as fear, is a choice. Ask Jesus to show you a love that doesn’t change with circumstances; a love that casts out fear as Easter morning dawns in your heart.

Happy Easter!

© 2021 Carolyn R Scheidies

Published in Kearney Hub 3/29/2021
Feel free to share

Devotion The Key to Wisdom

The fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins, and knowing holiness demonstrates understanding. Proverbs 9:10 ISV

Wisdom is centered not in human law or ancient writings, though some wisdom can be found here. Experience also helps us on the journey to wisdom. While all these offer a certain knowledge, the deepest wisdom keys in on one central action—choice.

We choose whom we listen to and who and what we follow. If wisdom begins with God, then true wisdom comes from getting to know this God who created the world and us—you and me. If we truly wish to become wise, we need to read God's Word, meditate on His Word and develop a relationship with God's Son—Jesus Christ. It is in following Him to righteousness, holiness, truth that we truly gain wisdom.

What better time to begin to follow Jesus than at Easter that celebrates the One who rose from the grave to offer us new life and hope in Him. That is the wisest choice of all.

(c) 2015, 2020 Carolyn R Scheidies

Feel free to share