The just
concluded seven part examination of the model prayer – the Lord’s Prayer –
which Jesus Christ gave to all His disciples (past, present and future), leaves
one thing now for us. The question is “what do we do now”? How does
this apply to our daily lives? How do we walk this out and apply it
effectively, so that we can be transformed by the teaching of the Savior into
doing that which He hath called us to do?
Remember the
Will of God is for us to reject the world, like Jesus did, and to be
transformed into a new way of thinking. That is, if you will – to reject
“stinking thinking” and live more like the new creation we have become, through
rebirth (as a son or daughter of God).
So in applying
the divine content of our Lord’s Prayer, we are free to abide in its structure
and grow more and more fully into the widths and depths and lengths and
breadths of it. Over almost two decades, my own personal prayer life and
analysis on this amazing passage of Scripture has evolved into a depth of
meaning, which stuns me, even though I have been a Christian for a long time.
This is a perfect illustration of what a “closer walk with God” truly is.
Therefore, the first thing to note in personal application is this - don’t
throw the long ball. Christianity is a slow maturing process where God has
eternity to teach us as much as we wish to know this side of heaven with
continuing education into eternity. Start small.
We have all
heard the mighty prayer warriors in all their verbal fluency and excellence,
shaking the rafters with their power prayers, sounding like John Knox, George
Mueller and Robert Sheffey rolled into one…or even dear old mom, who spent
hours on her knees praying for us. None of them started off sounding like
Franklin Graham or his father. We all began our prayer lives stumbling and
bumbling. The
Bible tells us that we do not know how to pray, but the Spirit does it for us “(Romans
8:26).
So we simply
begin to apply the following technique –
a. Acknowledge
God – “Our Father Who is in Heaven”….is adoration! We must acknowledge our Heavenly Father,
Abba, to Whom we are praying. God is not an ATM machine where we go pull out
our daily withdrawal of blessings.
b. Gratitude
– thank Him
for all His blessings thus far. Thank Him for our very lives and just about
anything you can think of, because anything we have, comes directly from Him.
He owns everything including the food in our fridge. Be grateful for our
families, our job any and everything. Most of all, be thankful for salvation. The
Lord inhabits the praises of His people. Most of all He wishes His people to be
grateful for ALL He has done for us…..and why shouldn’t we be? The very next
breath we breathe literally belongs to Him, as does the food on our table and
the roof over our heads. The One Who sent His own sinless Son to give it all
for us, one and out, has every right to expect those whom He saved,
sanctifies and provides for, to fall over ourselves in sheer humble
thanksgiving and worship to Him.
d.
e. This is the reasoning God uses behind our testing. The
same process we used in school to apply knowledge, in order to answer multiple
choice in complete silence, is the way we are expected to view our own personal
trials, tribulations and testing when God is silent. When we sit in the
classroom with our test booklet, the Teacher is always quiet as we test. But
the Teacher always takes our booklets with a smile, knowing it will be graded.
If we are confident in our execution of the examination, we get a passing
grade. There is nothing like a passing grade with God! Praise His Great Name!
Such
understanding of how the God, Who gave His own Son on a Cross for our sins,
operates, will move us to persist and persevere in prayer. It will become
second nature. It will become the best way to learn, like the original 12
Disciples did, how and WHY the Master taught us how we should pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment