I have found it easy to be confused about where I have control. I start with correct thinking such as, “I am responsible for my actions”, but I can fall into thinking that I can control the results. Proverbs 16:9 gives us insight into what God does in our lives. We can make plans, but ultimately God directs through His Sovereignty.
What control do I really have? Not much, but I can spend time in prayer asking for help to make wise decisions. Then I can eagerly watch (Psalm 5:3) for what God will do.
I was thinking last night about choices. We have a lot of freedom to make the choices we want. Along with that freedom of choice comes the freedom to experience the consequences. We don’t like negative consequences. We only want the happiness we think our choices will bring.
Friend, I pray you are aware of the direction your choices take you. The only way to make good choices is to take time daily to ask God to guide us. When we submit to His guidance, we will be more joyful and content with the decisions we make.
Last week I posted the story of help that came my way after a hefty snow storm. I was worn out from shoveling and thoroughly enjoyed the help. However, what happens when it feels like (or is really true) that help is not close at hand? We are looking at more snow tonight and after 52″ total snowfall in February, we are weary.
I have been praying the last few days knowing that more snow was coming. The prediction, of course, changes as we get closer to the storm (meteorologists don’t know what God will do, they simply look at weather patterns and make educated guesses). I am tired of shoveling and still getting everything else in life done. Complaining can come all too easily. However, God is still good and will use this time to perfect me. So I go back to praying. I need God’s help to keep up with life. Both the normal aspects of life as well as the storms. In this case it is another snowstorm.
So friend, whatever storm is in your life or will be coming – just keep praying. God will give strength and hope as you seek Him.
The final sentence of Jesus’ example prayer is a plea for help specifically with temptation. The first phrase in the English sounds like there is a risk of God leading us into temptation. However, that is not true. The NET translation says that this “is a rhetorical way to ask for His protection from sin.” We lead ourselves into sin (James 1:13-15). Sin is our poor choice (Romans 3:23). We need God’s help to choose not to sin.
God is ready and willing to provide help. We can talk to Him anytime. Jesus example prayer teaches us how.
After taking time to praise God, Jesus comes to requests. He tells us to ask for our needs to be met. This is a simple enough statement, but as flawed human beings we like to complicate matters. We too often ask for wants as though they were needs. We also ask for more than our daily needs. I believe in planning ahead, but I think we can fall into the trap of asking for more than is reasonable.
So when we pray for our needs, we should allow God to guide our prayers. He will show us what our needs truly are and then He will provide.
The Lord’s Prayer continues with “may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is also easy to say, but much harder to live consistently.
Those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ have the help of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-16). He will lead in our lives to give us the desire to allow God’s will. However, the flesh is still at work and so we switch from being willing to live God’s way back to seeking our own (Romans 7:18).
This is one of the beautiful helps of prayer. In order to keep my heart and mind willing to follow God’s way, I need to humble myself in prayer (James 4:1-3). In order to let go of my own way to consistently accept God’s will, I need to seek God in prayer daily – even multiple times a day. Prayer is a beautiful time spent with God – my Heavenly Father.
I had a little bit of trouble finding information about this phrase. The basic Bible study tools that I own didn’t have much information. However, the Kindle version of the New English Translation (with full notes) had a well worded explanation.
“Your kingdom come represents the hope for the full manifestation of God’s promised eschatological rule reflected in the OT prophetic literature, the ongoing hope of the Jewish people, a hope which is subsumed by Christianity.”
Those of us who serve Jesus look forward to positive future times as described in the book of Revelation. The hope that we have is not just wishful thinking. Hope in God’s Word is a guarantee. He will always do what He says. God never fails.
This phrase of the Lord’s prayer shows a willingness to allow God to work towards something He has promised will happen. We need to cooperate with His will. And friends – when we allow ourselves to be open to God’s way, we are more likely to be satisfied. God’s gifts are always the best.
The next phrase in the Lord’s prayer is easy to say, but it is much harder to live. God is worthy of honor. His name alone is worthy of honor! Yet as flawed human beings we want to honor ourselves. It is in our nature.
The concept of humility has been heavy on my mind lately. I think we get confused about what that word really means. According to dictionary.com to be humble is “not proud or arrogant; modest”. Definition 2 is “having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.”
I think we get hung up on definition 2. We think if we put ourselves down then we are humble. However, “low self-esteem” is just as proud as thinking we are wonderful. Both concepts are centered around “me, myself and I” and therefore based in pride.
So how do we learn humility? Jesus is the perfect example. Philippians 2:5-8 tells us about how Jesus although worthy of worship, humbled Himself and obeyed His Father’s command to die on the cross. When I follow Jesus’ example prayer in Matthew 6, I honor the Father’s name. This is a good reminder that I am not worthy of honor.
Biblical humility needs to be a life-long pursuit. It is only obtainable by pleading in prayer.
Jesus example prayer starts with a simple concept, yet there is so much in it. I hadn’t thought about the first word much, but Warren Wiersbe drew attention to it in his commentary on the book of Matthew, Be Loyal. Wiersbe points out that there no singular pronouns in the Lord’s prayer. They are all plural. While some cultures in the world have a more group mentality, there are many of us who live in individualistic societies. We too easily think of ourselves first. However, Jesus example shows us that we are to be thinking of others.
The next piece is God being our Father. For those of us who have a good Father this is a comforting thought. We have known the love, care and hard work that our earthly father showed to us. We have been able to see a picture of our Heavenly Father. For those who didn’t have a good earthly Father might have a harder time with this. Please know that God is the perfect Father. He never makes a mistake. He never does anything unloving.
One note – God is NOT everyone’s Father. Matthew 7:21-23 tells us that not everyone who claims to follow God will enter the kingdom of heaven. Romans tells us that placing our trust in Jesus Christ to be our Savior is the will of God. If you don’t know how to truly be a child of God, please talk to me. I would be happy to share what God has said. His way is perfect.
As I mentioned last week, 2019 for me is about prayer. To start the year, I want to work through what is often called The Lord’s Prayer. Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. This is what Jesus said.
Jesus always gave perfect advice. I want to learn to follow His example. Here is my start for a prayerful 2019.
Pleading in Prayer 