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29 March: The Lord’s Prayer: (Luke 11:1ff)
Mtt 6:7,8 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repletion as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; your Father know what you need before you ask Him.
Mtt 6:9-13 Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from the evil one.
For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
- Our Father which art in Heaven: Jesus teaches His disciples that God is our parent in Heaven. The Apostle Paul restates this by exhorting the believer to address God as "Abba!" Father! (Rom 8:15) (Aramaic for "Daddy"- the kind of intimate word that a child would use to his or her father)
• Hallowed be Thy name: "Hallowed" means holy. As we pray this line, we are reminding ourselves that God is separate from us, completely pure and faultless. His ways are higher than our ways. Here we acknowledge our own frailty as we adore and worship the living God. God is to be sanctified and reverenced in prayer. I am reminded of Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush where he is told to take off his sandals because he was on holy ground and that was because God was there. When we commune with God in prayer we are standing on holy ground, because we are approaching a holy God. Ps 89:8 “O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?” If you are familiar with the acronym ‘ACTS” as a prayer format then you know the ‘A’ is for ‘adoration’. The next phrase is:
• Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven: When God's kingdom is on this earth it will be doing the same thing that is being done in heaven – God’s will. This means to do things according to His ways and according to His desires. One very important element of the kingdom is that it illustrates the reign or rule of Jesus in the hearts and lives of its members. Here we are asking that God's ways happen here within us, just as they are fully obeyed in Heaven. This requires knowing what the will of God. This in turn requires our spending time acquainting ourselves with His word and coming to understand and applying it. (Ps 1:2 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…but delights in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night.) The study of Scripture will sharpen our focus and keep our prayer life attuned to the Father’s will on earth – above self-interests and personal needs. This is well illustrated by the Lord during the night spent in the Garden of Gethsemane. That is why Mtt 6:24 records these words: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” We are servants of God and not self.
The second part of the Lord’s Prayer addresses the common needs of all who would identify as one of His disciples. The author of Hebrews supports our ability to come before the Lord with our lives: Heb 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The Lord invites us to boldly come before His throne of grace and we are told in Galatians that as God’s children we may cry out “Abba! Father!” and know that He will hear.
1st address: Give us this day our daily bread This emphasizes a request for what is needed but is not requesting an abundance of said needs. We seek what is ‘daily’ needed and trust in Him to provide for tomorrow when we get there. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Mtt 6:34) I am reminded of this attitude as illustrated by God’s instructions with the Israelites during their travels in the wilderness. Each day they were to go out in the morning and ONLY collect what was needed for that day!
Just as we are in need of a daily portion of bread we also are in need from God in ALL areas of our life (physical, spiritual and mental). We need to come back to God regularly, each day- indeed, many times each day and many ways, so that we do not become independent and self-seeking. Jesus reiterates this daily dependency when he exhorts us to not to worry about tomorrow.
2nd address: And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us: Different versions of this prayer use different words here - sometimes "trespasses", "debts" or "sins". Here we bring to mind the ways in which we have failed God and others and ask the Lord for His forgiveness. In numerous passages we are reminded that all have sinned but Paul particularly expresses the situation in Ephesians: Eph 1:7,8 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which he lavished on us….” Jesus actually told a number of parables regarding the importance of forgiveness. I am reminded first and foremost of the servant that was forgiven a vast sum of money and then turns around and has a fellow servant thrown in jail for a relatively small debt. Peter expresses this attitude of forgiveness this way: “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8 NKJV) As we receive God's forgiveness, we should recall all those who we feel may have wronged us, and pardon them. Peter was told to forgive – 70 X 7 3rd topic: And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. The next request in the Lord's prayer to ask for help in avoiding places and situations where temptation might overwhelm us. It is not wrong to be tempted or tested (Jesus was!). It is wrong to give in to this temptation. 1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the lord is against those who do evil.” When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He declared to Satan 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'(Math 4:4 NIV). In times of trial, Jesus recognizes the Lord as His source of deliverance. Likewise, we are to depend on God when evil is at our door. Ephesians gives us a list of gifts/armor that we are to use so that we can stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 1 Cor 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such is common to man; but God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” We might be reminded of how Joseph fled the house of his master when the wife tried to seduce Joseph. Peter tells us 5:8,9 “Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood, in the world.” We need to realize that Satan is ever after us just as he was with Eve and even our Lord. Col 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
- For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Forever and ever. Amen. The prayer finishes with a closing doxology, that is, a hymn of praise to God. Not all versions of the Lord's prayer include this as many biblical scholars believe that this was added at a later date. But, if these things prayed for are to come to pass within our lives then we shall illustrate to the world the existence of God’s kingdom, His power and His glory. We will be a living testimony to the existence of God’s Spirit living within us.
22 March: The Final Words of the Lord on the Cross:
“I am thirsty.”
“It is finished!”
John 19:28, 30
John 19:28-30 “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’. And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
Shall I dare say that this is the second shortest statement made by Christ. This statement is made by our Lord to describe the physical discomfort that He is suffering. A simple declaration: I am thirsty.
When you think on it, it is amazing that only one comment coming from our Lord’s lips addresses His personal suffering. He prays for those persecuting Him; He brings a promise of salvation to one hanging next to Him; He takes care of His mother and then eventually succumbs to the anguish of being rejected by His heavenly Father. Then finally He struggles and addresses His physical suffering.
After as many as twenty-four hours without food, drink, compounded by the loss of blood and physical abuse – He utters not one “cross” word from the Cross but only the brief expression – ‘I thirst’.
How does His thirst compare to the thirst of others:
Judas thirsted for money.
Pilate thirsted for appeasement.
The mob thirsted for blood.
The soldiers thirsted for sport.
The religious leaders thirsted for vengeance.
Is it fair to ask what we thirst for???
Jesus offered blessings for those who thirst for righteousness (Mtt 5:6).
We are promised that if we believe in the Lord we will never thirst (John 6:35).
In the depth of His passion of thirst – we find “full” – “fill”ment:
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
And of all the things the Lord brings us, the most wonderful gift of all is our soul’s salvation:
1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.”
Eph 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”
Rom 5:1,2 “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
Like all sinners who come to faith we have been forgiven; like the criminal we have been promised eternity; like His mother we have had our future secured by His love; and unlike Christ, we do not have to experience God’s rejection – if we too have a thirst for our Lord Jesus Christ and Savior! John 4:14 “But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life”.
As with all stories, this one also comes to an end: Luke 23:46 “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last.” And in John we read this: John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
Father – twice in the seven recorded phrases spoken from the cross, Jesus addresses God as ‘Father’ – first in the opening word of prayer and here in the closing words. Much has transpired between “Father, forgive them” and “Father, into Thy hands”.
This personal addressing of God as His Father is not an unexpected familiarity. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus calls God ‘Father’ 17 times; In the final discussion of Christ with His apostles, He used Father 6 times; when the Lord teaches His followers how to pray it begins with calling upon His heavenly Father.
This is a term of personal affection which we, each and everyone of us, can use as we come to God in prayer. John 1:12,13 “To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Gal 4:6 “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” 1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
We too can enjoy the presence of the Lord in our lives. Col 1:13,14 “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
When Jesus commits His spirit to the Father and breathes His last - He has finished that cup of sorrow which the Father gave Him to drink: John 10:11,17,18 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. . . . . For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” Satan did not orchestrate this death by his power, planning and might. It happens because this is the cup which the Father had planned since before the creation. In Mtt 16:21 and 20:18,19 Jesus warns His apostles what was about to transpire. The events which transpire around the cross and death of Christ is in fulfilment of God’s eternal plan: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
So, the question that remains to be answered is – to what have you given your life? Has your life, like that found in the Parable of the Sower become so wrapped up in the cares of this world that it is no longer being productive. Are your talents being used for God’s kingdom or have your buried them? Are you the ambassador which has become stuck at home or have you become a servant reaching out to the lost and feeding/clothing those who are suffering? Have you truly given your life to following Christ?
At the end, with His final breath Jesus declares: “It is finished”. Heb 9:12 “and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Heb 10:10,12 “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. … but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God”.
Mission accomplished – every sin judged and paid for.
So, to pick up on the previous question: When our lives come to an end will we have done all that we could to love and serve God, to love and serve our neighbor? Have we faithfully carried our cross and been the faithful and trusting child of God that we have been called to be?
I do want to clarify one thing. We are not being faithful and obedient because we have to in order to earn our salvation. When Jesus declared that it was ‘finished” that means all that needed to be done for redemption was done. Now, all that remains is for our love and appreciation become the motivation for our lives and the way that we live. We live from love not necessity.