Richard Foster writes in his book, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home, "The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mess of motives - altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. But what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture."
We have been meditating on Lord's Prayer. And we have seen that the Lord's Prayer is brief yet within it's few words there is depth that we can easily miss and to which we can return daily. It is a guide to the Christian life, contentment, freedom, and peace we all need. We come to the last verse of the prayer.
In The Great House of God, Max Lucado, shares the story of a sociologist who accompanied a group of mountain climbers on an expedition. Among other things, he observed a direct correlation between cloud cover and contentment. When there was no cloud cover and the peak was in view, the climbers were energetic and cooperative. When the grey clouds eclipsed the view of the mountaintop, the climbers were sullen and selfish.
The same thing can happen to us. As long as our eyes are on God's majesty and glory, there's a bounce in our step and light in our eye. But when our eyes focus on the dirt beneath our feet we may end up grumbling about every rock and crevice we have to cross.
When we look at the end of the Lord's Prayer, it parallels the beginning. We pray, "Your kingdom come," and we affirm at the end, "Yours is the kingdom." We pray, "your will be done," and we affirm God has the power to accomplish God's wil, "Yours is the power." We pray, "Hallowed be your name," and we affirm, "Yours is the glory." When we pray for God's kingdom to come and state that God reigns over all, we are admitting that we are not self-sufficient.
The Lord's Prayer closes by returning our focus to God with whom it began. The more we focus on God in heaven , the more inspired we are on earth.
We have to be in touch with God for God's power to flow through us. Worship, God's Word, prayer, and service in Jesus' name are the few links to God's power. If those cables are loose or even worse disconnected, we may find ourselves enduring needless trouble, difficulty, or frustration. When those connections are firm and strong, we have power for living and doing God's will.
In Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of the NewTestament, The Message, he renders the closing phrase of the Lord's Prayer this way: "You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty!" As we confess that God is in charge, we admit that we're not. As we proclaim that God has power and can do what God wants, we admit that we need God's power for living. And we give God all the applause and glory because there is no one else like God.
This Lenten Season let the glory of God be the driving passion for us which was the very heartbeat of our Lord Jesus Christ. The highest aim He sought and the loftiest goal He pursued.
May the Lord help us in this journey of prayer. God Bless you.
We have been meditating on Lord's Prayer. And we have seen that the Lord's Prayer is brief yet within it's few words there is depth that we can easily miss and to which we can return daily. It is a guide to the Christian life, contentment, freedom, and peace we all need. We come to the last verse of the prayer.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory.
Matthew 6:13b
In The Great House of God, Max Lucado, shares the story of a sociologist who accompanied a group of mountain climbers on an expedition. Among other things, he observed a direct correlation between cloud cover and contentment. When there was no cloud cover and the peak was in view, the climbers were energetic and cooperative. When the grey clouds eclipsed the view of the mountaintop, the climbers were sullen and selfish.
The same thing can happen to us. As long as our eyes are on God's majesty and glory, there's a bounce in our step and light in our eye. But when our eyes focus on the dirt beneath our feet we may end up grumbling about every rock and crevice we have to cross.
When we look at the end of the Lord's Prayer, it parallels the beginning. We pray, "Your kingdom come," and we affirm at the end, "Yours is the kingdom." We pray, "your will be done," and we affirm God has the power to accomplish God's wil, "Yours is the power." We pray, "Hallowed be your name," and we affirm, "Yours is the glory." When we pray for God's kingdom to come and state that God reigns over all, we are admitting that we are not self-sufficient.
The Lord's Prayer closes by returning our focus to God with whom it began. The more we focus on God in heaven , the more inspired we are on earth.
We have to be in touch with God for God's power to flow through us. Worship, God's Word, prayer, and service in Jesus' name are the few links to God's power. If those cables are loose or even worse disconnected, we may find ourselves enduring needless trouble, difficulty, or frustration. When those connections are firm and strong, we have power for living and doing God's will.
In Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of the NewTestament, The Message, he renders the closing phrase of the Lord's Prayer this way: "You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty!" As we confess that God is in charge, we admit that we're not. As we proclaim that God has power and can do what God wants, we admit that we need God's power for living. And we give God all the applause and glory because there is no one else like God.
This Lenten Season let the glory of God be the driving passion for us which was the very heartbeat of our Lord Jesus Christ. The highest aim He sought and the loftiest goal He pursued.
May the Lord help us in this journey of prayer. God Bless you.
YesAchaaa
ReplyDeleteWhen we have given all authority to God alone our Prayer starts... And ends well
Let us give authorization To God alone
Amen. Glory to God who is omnipresent. We need the help of God, each moment of our life.
ReplyDelete