However, what I do believe is we are called to more than anything in these statements is a position of prayer. I am not saying people who have been expressing an opinion or claiming certain stances are not people of prayer, but I am saying that if we soaked our statements in more time of prayer, we would be more honoring to those we do not agree with or do not want to love...
Some may be reading and asking, “Where was God in the many attacks across the earth? Where was the faithfulness of the Lord in the midst of the perpetuation of racism globally? Where has God been at work in the loss of family members, in the downfall of work, in the storms of life?” Some may be asking, “How can you see God at all?”
Jesus = God is Love // God loves us // We reject God's love // God extends grace // Grace empowers us to receive love // We live from the model of grace and love = Jesus
The following verse made me stop in my tracks, recognizing both the season I am in, and the beauty of how our Lord orchestrates the best movements and provision for us. Joshua 5:12 states that “the manna stopped the day they ate this food from the land; there was no longer manna for the Israelites, but that year that ate the produce of Canaan.”
Congratulations! You made it 31 days! I am so thankful to have journeyed this time with you and I am truly believing that the Lord has been at work within us together. My prayer is that as you move forward into this next season ahead, that the words, the prayers, the vision, the time in and with Jesus would inspire you to live out His prayer every day. I hope that this devotional would be an encouragement to you and a refreshing, healing balm for your heart.
When we pray “Forever. Amen” we are agreeing that God came for all of our lives and we are giving all of our lives to Him to have. We are proclaiming that every bit of glory, fame, power, humility, brokenness, pain, victory, etc. is all for Him, and that He is worthy of all of us, and so much more.
When we pray this prayer, we are not just recognizing the God who can speak and all of creation is formed, but also the God who came as the Word that laid down His life to recreate all things. We see the One and Only God whose love is pure and perfect. We see the One revealing power through humility and authority through the humiliation of a Roman torture device.
The end of Jesus’ prayer is a conclusion that points it is for God and it is from God alone. It is an ending that reveals the beginning and the present as well. It is a creative way in which we can join in this prayer to not seek to make idols out of the things of this world, but to rather trust in the in the King of kings.
One of my favorite worship songs is by Jon Thurlow and he sings, “I want to give all that’s inside of my heart to You.” It is simple, eloquent, beautiful, and mysterious. It is a powerful way of singing and speaking out surrender to God as not just Savior, but as Lord of our lives. My favorite part of this song is in the last two words: to You.
The reality at hand today, as we continue in the Lord’s prayer, is that Jesus is teaching His disciples to pray for deliverance not just from the evil one but from all evil. It is an acknowledgment in this prayer that, ultimately, what we are believing is that God is perfectly good, and in God’s perfect goodness, He is capable of delivering us from the evil one and the schemes of evil.
Yet, Christ is the only source of all these things. When we pray this prayer, we are not just asking to be delivered from situations or circumstances, but rather we are asking to be relocated and realigned with the truth, the way, and the life.
All throughout the story of God, our Faithful Father has been delivering the people of God from awful and terrible things. Sometimes it is from other group’s decisions, such as the Hebrews being freed from slavery to the Egyptian people. Sometimes it is from their own decisions such as idolatry and dependence on other kings and religious systems. Ultimately, we see the greatest deliverance that our Lord gives us is from the enemies of evil, sin, death, and ourselves.
We serve the God of the second chance, the possibility, the hopeful assurance that one day, at the right time, all things will come into alignment with the creative imagination and intention of the Creator.
Our Lord is not a far-off entity that does not understand or does not want to know us. Rather, our Messiah is one who has come, taken on flesh, experienced the ups and downs of human life, knows our triumphs and pains, knows our struggle and our overcoming, and can empathize with us as He encountered and knows our weaknesses.
When we pray, “Lead us,” we are ultimately asserting that God’s direction, God’s will, God’s Kingship and Kingdom, and God’s life are the best things for us. We are by no means claiming that we cannot do things or make decisions, but rather that we want to partner with the Shepherd who has been leading us before we were born.
Our God is a God of the more, the immeasurable. He is constantly working and growing and leading us to the greater things He promised that His disciples would do.
It is not a forgiveness that is extended without a relationship. In this same manner, when we pray these small words, we are reminded of what others have done to us, but most importantly, we are reminded of asking the Lord about how He sees them.
As you pray this today, I encourage you to remember the Lord’s activity in the past toward you and how you can join in that activity toward those around you, because, ultimately, this is the best activity you can live from today. Amen.
The power of the Lord’s Prayer is that is not passive. It is a constant pushing forward into activity. It is never leaving us without something to do, but it is only doing that is understood from being and abiding. As Jesus continues to teach His disciples to pray, He is beautifully and graciously leading them to a position of this understanding.
The good news for us is that our Lord does not just lead us to a place of knowing we have debt, but He teaches us to pray from His payment for our debts.
