I was praying early yesterday (Sunday) and my mind stopped on the last word of the Lord’s Prayer. Next to last if you count amen. Forever! What a strange thought. Something that doesn’t decay or decline. Ever. Untouched by time. The Ancient of Days. A picture of God Himself and of His Kingdom. A God as VAST in duration as in glory and size. It convicted me of idolatry, ie. conceiving a God who is small enough to understand rather than stretching my mind to embrace “the God who is really there” in all His infinite mystery. It convicted me of fear, not trusting a God this grand. O God of FOREVER make me a true servant of your eternal kingdom. Make me embrace with my heart what I cannot imagine with my mind. No end to your kingdom or power or glory. The ONE unchanging reality. You are forever.
A way of escape
In the Scripture, the word for temptation and the word for trial is the same. (peirasmos). While God is willing to keep us from temptation (the seduction to sin, and the negative influence of the evil one which often come in times of suffering), He is not willing to keep us from trial. We cannot pray it! The promise of God is that “with the temptation there will be a way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:17) with the continuing thought, “that you may be able to endure it”.In our hardest moments, God desires us to trust Him to monitor the time that the suffering will last. He gains glory as we keep our eyes on Him, even when they are filled with tears. He promises a way of escape! When we pray “Deliver us from evil”, we silently whisper this additional word, “in your time, Lord, in your time”
Defender and Friend
In John 17:15, Jesus prays for us. “I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” Some temptation/trial is an unavoidable part of life, but that being lead into temptation, into it’s power, into it’s captivity is not! When difficult moments come (and they do), we need Him more than ever. We need Him to FIGHT for us! Jesus BELIEVED that the God of the Universe was willing to come and give protection and fire power in our weakest moments. He knew also that we have to ask! Even when we do not deserve His help (we Never do) “Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail: Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end, our Maker, DEFENDER, Redeemer and FRIEND.” (Robert Grant) Today I hope you will ask Him (really ask Him) to Deliver us!
His will, mine
When we pray the Lord’s prayer, part of the benefit is to contemplate a world of people who do the Lord’s will. It is not so now. “All we like sheep have gone astray, each has turned to HIS OWN WAY”. The world does not live in harmony with God’s purposes. Does the church? Perhaps, as we pray these words, we should honestly account for the amount of “self-will” that directs our own decisions. To follow Christ is to learn a life of cooperation with the will of God. Even when it is hard. Especially when it is hard! Facing the cross, feeling the dread, Jesus prayed his own version of His prayer. “Not my will but thine be done”. Today as you pray, will you hold before an eternal God the stubbornness of your heart? Will you yield and let Him soften your heart into complete and glad surrender to His will?
Trust and Timing
When we pray “Thy kingdom come” we are embracing the idea that some amount of time separates what “is now” from what “will be”. “Maranatha!” prayed the early Christians. “Come Lord Jesus!” they cried with urgency and hope. Even so, they recognized, eventually, that patience would be required of them because patience is one of God’s qualities. When I get to glory, one of the things that I believe I will regret is the YEARS that I spent not seeing the outworking plan of God. I was praying for His help but didn’t see it because I was looking for a solution that didn’t take time! Imagine this morning that God is stretching your heart to allow His plan to work out over time, short or long. Imagine Him asking you to pray for things that you may not even see in your lifetime. If you want His will, do you want His timing?
All the saints
“Be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints”. (Ephesians 6:18) Let’s do something together this morning. Knowing that real prayer is never self-centered, let’s pray for the people of Egypt, specifically our brothers and sisters in Christ. ( There are many). What do they need today? Ask God to supply bread, water, jobs. “Give us.” Who do they hate/resent? Ask God to forgive them and teach them to forgive so that they can be instruments of His peace. “Forgive us.” What do they fear? Ask God to lead them and deliver them. “Lead us.” If Jesus has commissioned us to “go into all the world”, part of our obedience is to pray for the people in it. Somewhere in Egypt there is a teenage boy/girl whose future and outlook is being shaped by the events of the past few weeks. Will you pray for him/her this morning? Will you pray for Egyptian families and pastors and churches? They are part of us.
One surrendered soul at a time
I wrote yesterday of the kingdom being global and governmental. Today, I hope you will think of it in terms that are personal and moral. To sincerely pray, “Thy kingdom come”, a believer must embrace the “daily dictatorship” of the Holy Spirit. (Alan Redpath) If the kingdom is not based on democracy, and it isn’t, then the Christian life is an example of the “world that will be”. We are living in the future now! “Those who are being led by the Spirit are the sons of God”.(Romans 8:14) Contrary to my expectations, the LORD does not consult with me re. His decisions or my assignments. He commands. I follow. How strange! How exciting! The kingdom of God established on earth one surrendered soul at a time. You in?
Strong shoulders
Christians are optimistic people. When we pray, “Thy kingdom come”, we are imagining (just as Jesus did) a time in the not-so-distant future when the government of the world will be Christ. ( A kingdom is a very effective, efficient style of government when the king is good and wise. The ancients knew this. ) It is always a shock, to those of us who love democracy, to realize that it is only a temporary fix– a necessary safeguard for now, but not eternal. Isaiah said “The government will be upon His shoulder”. (Isaiah 9:6) HE will bring protection and freedom, law and order. The upheaval in Egypt the past 3 weeks is a reminder of the longing of the human heart for good government. It is also a reminder of our sad history finding it. I wonder whether you really believe the kingdom will come? I wonder if it fills you with hope?
Love covers
It is a common tragedy. A Christian stuck in the “ditch of disappointment” aka unforgiveness. We rarely say “He hurt me and now I have retained a resentment toward him”. We give ourselves too much credit for passing through the stage of “boiling hatred” not admitting that the simmering “record of wrong” stage is still with us. The tragedy is the impact on our own life and energy. “Keep fervent in your love for one another for love covers a multitude of sins”. (1 Peter 4:8) If abundant life is what you desire, one of the disciplines is to release others fully from your judgement re. their failures. Imagine a dry, bare spot in your backyard. Think of the work required (planting, watering, fertilizing) so that it can be covered. Think of the daily effort, the determination. Now think of doing that with your brother’s sin. Hard work? Yes. Love? Same answer. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Above all we ask
“Now unto Him who is able to do far more abundantly above all we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20) Part of prayer’s purpose, I believe, is to help us embrace a dream. The Bible reveals a God who is able to act in the world for our good and His glory in ways that we cannot imagine. So, perhaps we should (imagine). One of the affects of sin is severely lowered expectation. We become “earth-bound”, desiring only to “get by”, empty of any dream of glory. When Jesus taught us to pray “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory”, He was insisting that His children think again of what God has and is willing to share with those who are surrendered to Him in obedience and faith. What is God able to do? For us? For others? Part of our privilege is to ask and then to imagine even more.