Tuesday, May 08,
2012, 6:11 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song “Now Abiding” playing in my mind. Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 6:1, 5-15 (NIV 1984):
“Be careful not to do
your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you
will have no reward from your Father in heaven...
“And when you pray, do
not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have
received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door
and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done
in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like
pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not
be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This, then, is how
you should pray:
“‘Our Father in
heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our
daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into
temptation,
but deliver us from
the evil one.’
For if you forgive men
when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if
you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
My Understanding: Prayer
is a very private matter between us and God Almighty; between us and Jesus
Christ, our Lord God and Savior. We are not to enter into prayer with God to
impress men, because then it really isn’t prayer to God anyway. This is not
intended to be an indictment against public prayer, as the New Testament speaks
of prayer in corporate times of worship, and of agreeing with one another in
prayer, but this is speaking against hypocritical performances of what is
supposed to appear as prayer to God, when it is nothing more than show for the
approval and honor of men. Basically, this is a heart issue and goes to the
core matter of the attitude and motivation behind the public prayer. Are we
truly praying to God without concern for what man thinks of our words? - And,
without looking for man’s approval? And, are we truly seeking God with our
hearts in all humility, repentance, faith, love, and with a desire to hear from
him and to obey what he says?
Jesus said we are not to be like the hypocrites who pray
publicly for show, or who just repeat rehearsed or memorized phrases over and
over again to sound good, but we are to go to him in private where no one can see
how we pray or hear what we say. It is just between us and God. We all need this
kind of private prayer time with the Lord each day. This is where the phrase “Prayer
Closet,” comes from, I believe. We need to have a place and a time each day
when we can get alone with God free from the cares and distractions of this
world, where we can pour out our hearts to God, share with him what is going on
in our lives, bring our requests before him, be ourselves and not perform for
others and not be concerned about what others think about us, where we can
enjoy our fellowship and companionship with our Lord, and where we can truly
worship him in spirit and in truth.
It is in these times of private prayer in our “Prayer Closet”
that we can truly meet with God on a personal level, where we can experience
the closeness of his love and care for us, and where we truly grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is where he can really speak to
our hearts, because we are still before him, and we are listening to hear from
him. It is during these times of prayer, coupled with time spent in his word
listening to him speak to our hearts, that he speaks words of conviction,
inspiration and instruction in right living. This is when he gives us words of
comfort and encouragement, hope and healing, and where he reveals his will for
our lives to us and calls us to his service. This is our time of intimacy with
our Lord in his arms when he lets us know how very much he loves us, even
enough to correct us when we are wrong. And, it is during these times that we
make our heart-felt commitments to him in obedience to what he teaches us,
where we ask for direction, counsel, leading and guiding, as well as we call
upon him for strength and the power of his Spirit within us just to make it
through each day. These are special times!
How we Should Pray
Jesus gave us a model prayer, not so we just repeat this
prayer as a matter of reciting a memorized prayer in a public service as part
of the liturgy of the service, but as an example to us as to HOW we should
pray. He didn’t say, “This is WHAT you should pray (these exact words), but
that this is HOW we should pray, meaning in like manner.
For instance, we should pray “Our Father…” Now some people
say that means we should always pray to the Father only. Yet, Jesus is our
mediator, i.e. our high priest between us and God, and the book of Hebrews, in
particular, speaks much about how we can go boldly to the throne of grace
because of what Jesus Christ did for us in dying on the cross for our sins, and
how we have a high priest who is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses.
Obviously we are coming before Jesus Christ where we find such mercy and grace.
Because Jesus suffered when he was tempted (yet without sin), he is able to
help those who are being tempted. So, we do talk with Jesus. He is our Lord and
Savior! Yet, we talk with the Father, too. Jesus is God and the Father is God,
so whether we say “Dear Father,” “Dear Jesus,” or “Dear Lord,” we are still
talking with Almighty God, our Lord and our Savior. The important thing is to
approach God with love, honor and respect. He knows the difference.
We are to pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.” Honestly, I pray those exact words many times. It is
good to pray scripture, and there is certainly nothing wrong with regularly
praying this exact prayer. Again, it goes back to the heart. Are we just saying
a set of words? Or do we really understand what we are praying, and are we
really voicing that as our prayer to God?
The kingdom of God began with Jesus Christ’s earthly
ministry and will culminate in his millennial reign on the earth, I believe.
Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the kingdom, and we, as his church, are the
body of Christ, so we make up that kingdom. The kingdom of God is everything
that Jesus/God is and what he did in his earthly ministry and continues to do
in and through his followers, and it will be fully realized when Jesus Christ
comes back to earth to judge and to deliver his people for eternity. So, when
we pray “your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,”
this is not merely a prayer for the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
this is a prayer for revival of the church and the salvation of souls. It is a
prayer seeking God’s holiness and righteousness to be realized and lived out in
the life of the church so that they can impact this world for Jesus Christ. It
is praying for God’s righteous character, his morals, his commands and his word
to so infiltrate our society that there will be a radical transformation of God’s
Spirit in the lives of human beings. And, it could be a prayer calling upon God
to bring divine discipline and correction to his church, so that they will
return to him in full surrender and obedience.
We are to pray and ask God to provide us with life’s
necessities (not necessarily wants) one day at a time, as needed. So, this is a
prayer of faith to trust God for those daily provisions, even when we can’t see
ahead and we don’t know what waits us around the corner.
We are to ask God for forgiveness, as we forgive others.
Jesus said that he will forgive us if we forgive others, but if we don’t
forgive others, he won’t forgive us. This sounds pretty harsh. Yet, it goes to
the principle of repentance. John the Baptist’s main message was “Repent, for
the kingdom of God is at hand” (or is near). Jesus began his ministry with the
same message, and the first time the gospel was preached at Pentecost, Peter gave
a similar message. The Bible says that we must repent (turn away from our sins
and turn to faithful obedience to Christ) if we want to have eternal life with
God. It says this over and over again in many different ways. If we claim to
have fellowship with God but we still walk in the darkness of sin’s
deceitfulness, then we are liars. If we say we love God and yet we continue in
a lifestyle of willful sin and rebellion against God, we are liars. If we hate
our brothers, we don’t love God. If we don’t obey his commands, we don’t love
God and we are not part of his family. Don’t believe me? Read 1 John. He makes
it quite clear! We can’t hold on to willful sin in our hearts and expect to
have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
Jesus said that we are to pray that God will not lead us
into temptation, but that he will deliver us from the evil one. Jesus was led
into the desert by God to be tempted of Satan. Now God the Father did not tempt
him nor can God tempt anyone toward evil. It is against his divine character to
do so. Yet, he may allow us to be tempted of Satan to test our faith. So,
perhaps this is a prayer seeking compassion, or perhaps it is a prayer asking
God to lead us away from temptation, which is more likely. 1 Co. 10:13 says
this:
“No temptation has
seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let
you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (NIV 1984)
That goes along with “deliver us from the evil one.”
God/Jesus will not allow us to go through temptation beyond what we can bear up
under in his strength and power within us. This does not mean, however, that he
will keep us from willfully leading ourselves into temptation, and/or that he
will provide a way out for us if we are decisively and rebelliously ignoring
his word, his teachings, his counsel, and the conviction of his Spirit in our
lives, etc. If we are willfully and knowingly taking into our minds or eyes or
lives what we know is harmful and sinful, and/or if we allow ourselves to be
desensitized by today’s filth passed off as entertainment because we fail to
exercise God-given wisdom and discernment, then we can’t expect God to “provide
a way out.” So many Christians struggle with sins of lust and adultery
(unfaithfulness to God and/or spouse) and/or fornication, and yet they
rationalize their way through allowing things into their lives that they know
lead them to sin. We can’t have pure minds and hearts if we are filling our
minds and hearts with filth on TV or in movies, no matter how subtle it may be,
or how seemingly harmless it may appear.
Abiding in His
Presence
If we want to have a close and intimate relationship with
Jesus Christ, we must spend time with him in sincere and honest prayer, and
time in his word in listening to what he wants to teach us, and then in
obedience to whatever he has taught us. We must desire God’s will and his
righteousness and purity in our lives, and long for it in the life of the
church, and grieve over the sins of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and
those of the world. We must trust him to meet our needs one day at a time, even
when we are not sure where the next meal will come from or how we will pay the
next bill. We must forgive others who have sinned against us. How can we, mere
humans, refuse to forgive others of so little when God Almighty poured out his
life blood for us so we could be forgiven of all our sins, and they are many
and grievous? And, we must avoid and shake off any hindrances to our walk with
Christ that might lead us into temptation and pray for deliverance from the
evil one, as we willingly cooperate with God in freeing our lives of any other “gods”
in our lives. This is truly what this prayer is all about. May its truths sink
into our minds and hearts so that we truly grasp the truths being taught, and
so we live lives of obedience and faithful love to our God.
Now Abiding / An
Original Work / January 31, 2012
Walking with Him; have
Him near me,
Brings me comfort, joy
and healing.
Now abiding in His
presence;
His words speaking,
oh, how gently:
Speak conviction,
inspiration,
And instruction in
right living.
Hope and comfort Jesus
brings you,
When you’re walking
with Him daily.
Be His servant; share
the gospel;
Be His witness of
salvation.
Love your brothers and
your sisters.
Share with them that
Jesus loves them.
Talking daily with my
Savior;
List’ning to Him while
He teaches,
Draws me closer; get
to know Him,
So that I can now obey
Him.
Follow Him where’er He
leads me.
Worship only Jesus,
Savior.
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