Posts

Showing posts from April, 2015

AMEN!

Image
Amen!   That is the word of the day.   Jesus has taught us, in the Lord’s Prayer, to pray as sons.   Not as slaves.   Not as beggars.   Not as strangers.   But as sons, “ Our Father in heaven.”                 In the Lord’s Prayer we ask for some rather lofty things.   These are no mere trifles and trinkets.   This is the stuff of necessity.   And it is costly, worth a king’s ransom and more.                  We pray that God’s name would be kept holy, that we would live according to His Word.   We pray that His kingdom would come, that the Church would grow in faith and love and that Christ would return to raise the dead.   We pray that God’s will would be done, that His gracious desires would be fulfilled for our good.                 Jesus has taught us to pray that God would give all that we need to support this body and life, that He would give our daily bread.   We pray for the forgiveness of our sins, strength against temptation, and deliverance from evil.

Deliver Us from All Evil

Image
  Jesus teaches us to pray, finally, “Our Father…deliver us from evil.”                    What is the evil from which we are to pray to be delivered?   We have already prayed for deliverance from evils that plague and attack the body.   This happens when we pray for daily bread.   So that is included here.   We pray that God would take away all sickness, poverty, and hardship that harms our human flesh.                  Theft, war, bad leaders, angry neighbors, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, heat, and more.   There are so many bodily dangers in this world that it is impossible to name them all.   That is why Jesus summarizes them under the heading of daily bread.   These are evils from which we need to be delivered.                 We have also prayed for deliverance from evils that attack and assault the spirit.   Forgive us our trespasses.   Lead us not into temptation.   Your greatest spiritual need, contrary to popular wisdom, is forgiveness.   We are sinful

Lead Us Not into Temptation

Image
    Jesus teaches us to pray, “Father in heaven…lead us not into temptation.”   Temptation.   What exactly is that?   There is a lot of confusion out there because of this word.             Some churches will say things only count as sin if we actually do them with our hands.   It is only murder if I physically pommel someone.   It is only adultery if I actually do it.   It is only stealing if I actually take it.              On the flip side, you have those who will say you have sinned even if you have simply thought about breaking a commandment.   Because the thought occurred to you to punch your co-worker in the nose, you have already sinned.             Neither of these is exactly accurate, but the answer is not easy.   It is notoriously difficult to draw a bold dark line between temptation and sin.   The line is not bold and distinct, but, due to our sinful nature, it is foggy and hard to see.             We know that temptation is not sin.   If you have