“Does it bother you that the Lord doesn’t say please or thank you in His prayer?” The question came last week from a friend. Honestly, I had never thought about it. The answer is that the Lord’s Prayer is not all that the Lord believed about prayer. In John 6 Jesus says thank you. Before feeding the 5000, he took the bread and the fish and gave thanks. Did He thank God that he had 5 loaves? Did He thank God that the people were gathered and that He had the opportunity to help them? Was He thankful for the goodness of God that answers such prayers and provides what we need? Probably all of the above. This morning(the Sesquicentennial Celebration of First Baptist Church), I will step outside the words of the Lord’s prayer and “thank my God in every remembrance of you”. I will thank Him for the people and the moments in the past when He has met our needs. I will thank Him for the privilege to be your pastor. This, too, will be a prayer I learned from Him.
Pastor Don, this blog is a blessing to me (and, I might add, more than a little amazing at your success in keeping it up and going – just kidding). This morning was FULL of Philippians 1 moments for me. How grateful I am to God for connecting me with this family of faith and with you through it.