i'm finishing up the last bite of a peach, warmed up with a bit of cinnamon in my cast iron skillet...my new favorite indulgence. For a variety of reasons, i have been in a "stay-away-from-fruit" season. But those days are over and this peach is AMAZING.
Have you read Luke 11? "Lord, teach us to pray...and He said to them...
When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation."
i know it's a stretch, but i'm feeling about this familiar prayer a bit like i do about the peach. It's certainly not new to me, but the words are so fresh that its as if the ink is still drying from Dr. Luke's pen. Every word is precious as it instructs my troubled soul. i hope you've taken the time to read it on your own. See what you think....
Father. While his example pales in comparison, i think about my own dad -- who for all of my growing up years provided for our family, disciplined and corrected us, protected us from harm and loved us without reserve. He was far from perfect, but not for lack of effort. My Heavenly Father? He is for me all that my dad would have wanted to be and He is so perfectly and fully. He is my protector. My provider. My instructor. My coach. My counselor. Do my prayers resonate with deep affection and trust in God my Father?
In his Gospel, Matthew adds the plural possessive pronoun "our". Our Father. Which seems significant because it reminds me that God is not only in the business of protecting, providing for and leading me and my interests. His responsibility is for our family. The Church. Collectively. To whatever degree my stuff is mingled in with yours, as my siblings, He must work all of that out. Like pieces of a great cosmic puzzle. It's actually not all about me. Do my prayers resonate with a concern for the cares of my faith family?
Hallowed be your name. This is all about the glory. i recently had a conversation with a wise friend who said to me "As i think about on my own walk with God, i realize that i began to grow up when i started asking the Lord to show me how to bring Him glory in my circumstances...rather than asking how i could escape from them". Wow. i'm thinking this is exactly what Jesus meant when He included this phrase in His "intro". All of my stuff, whatever it is, is about His glory. Do my prayers resonate with the priority of God's glory?
Your kingdom come. (And Matthew adds: Your will be done, which is pretty much the same thing.) Ultimately, this is the purpose of our lives --- that His "kingdom would come" in my life individually and in our lives corporately and, ultimately, in the world. What does it mean for His kingdom to come in my life? It's probably a subject for another blog, but in general it means He reigns on the Throne of my life. It means i serve at His pleasure and i am increasingly becoming like Him --- reflecting His love, honoring Him, pointing others to Him.* It means His Will Be Done. Ouch. Do my prayers resonate with a desire to see His Kingdom grow in my heart & mind?
Give us each day our daily bread. "Just for today, Lord. Just for today. i will look to you this day for what i need this day. i will not wish for yesterday's bread, which i may have wasted or forgot about and left to grow stale. i will not long for tomorrow's bread. Wondering if it will taste good. Or if it will be enough to sustain me. Today's bread. In the same way that you provided manna one day at a time so that the people would learn to depend on you, i will gather what you give me for today." Straight from the pages of my journal. Easier said than done. It is so hard to live in the moment and let that be enough. Do my prayers resonate with a resolute conviction to focus on this day?
Forgive. O to be tender to the Spirit so that i am the "chief repenter" in all of my relationships and as i walk with God. i am --- particularly in difficult seasons --- too easy on myself. As if my failure has a genesis outside my own self-serving soul. i am undisciplined because i am tired. i am snappy because i am under a lot of stress. i am dismissive because i have too much on my plate and i can't be bothered. Ugh. Forgive...yes, please. i am a sinner. Do my prayers resonate with my desperate need for mercy?
Lead us not into temptation. (And Matthew adds: And deliver us from evil...again, same but different.) It's so significant for me to take the time to think about what temptations threaten me during this season of heartache, or pain, or disappointment. How am i tempted to console myself? What am i tempted to think of others? What am i tempted to listen to, watch, or read? What am i tempted not to believe about God? Father, don't let me go there. Do my prayers resonate with a desperate commitment to flee temptation?
When you pray, say... when was the last time i prayed like this?? Teach me to pray. Indeed.
More tomorrow. That's enough to savor for today. Thank you, Jesus. Amen?
*ESV study notes on Matthew 6:10
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