As we said in part one The Lord’s Prayer is a complete teaching that will bring you into a fullness of what God has for you through prayer and into a fullness of the things of God in your life. In part two we see the building of an intimate personal relationship with God as our Father / Daddy. We are His children in His family. In part three we will see the kingdom of God and how this relates to us. Let us look at the Lord’s Prayer.
posted by Robert Czaplinsky in Christian Lesson, 26 October 2009
Matthew 10: 32-33
Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father in Heaven.
But whoever denies Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
The passage of scripture, which was shared by Christ when commissioning His 12 disciples, is very clear to me. Once you have accepted Christ as your savior, you will be always alert as to share your personal belief in Him with other men, women, and children. You are to no longer encourage, or allow behaviors that do not fully support Christ.
As we said in part one The Lord’s Prayer is a complete teaching that will bring you into a fullness of what God has for you through prayer and into a fullness of the things of God in your life. If we do as the Word instructs us to meditate and confess and pray, when applied to The Lord’s Prayer this will cause this word to be planted in your heart ( spirit ) and will flow over into your soul and into your mind and will produce a change in you according to God’s Word. As you begin to change being conformed to the Word of God then the power in this Word will begin to manifest in your life as a more intimate relationship with God and also the power of God will also be made manifest which we call answered prayer or miracles. Your more intimate relationship with God will give you an awareness of His presence with you, especially when you are involved in spiritual activities such as prayer, praise, worship, reading the Word, but you will also become more aware of Him in day to day activities also.
posted by Robert Czaplinsky in Christian Lesson, 19 October 2009
Galatians 5: 20
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I WARN YOU, AS I DID BEFORE, THAT THOSE WHO LIVE LIKE THIS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN!
Even as I read this article, brought to mind are advertisements shown on television that offer products that enhance sexual experiences, videos that depict nakedness, and outright offers that lead to impure lifestyles.
I notice that broadcasted sporting events have sponsors offering alcoholic beverages, and show examples of how the use of these products can lead to acceptance to being part of the ‘in-crowd’.
The Lord’s Prayer or as it is sometimes called The Prayer of Jesus is one of the things that has been with me from the early days of believing in God. When I first started believing in God I had a lot to learn, just like we all do. But there are two parts of scripture that I held onto. I use to meditate on different things in the 1970’s and I included The Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm as part of my meditations. I think I chose them in a hope that it would bring me into a realization or experience with God, to know that He really existed and wasn’t just some belief without substance. When I started this I had a belief but no evidence, experience, no manifestation of God that I could look at and say yes, HE IS REAL. So in my pursuits of different so called truths I meditated on varies things and these two scriptures, The Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm, were added to those meditations and I meditated on them fifteen minutes a day each. As I look back at that time in my life I did have experiences begin to happen to knowing His presence, beginning an intimate prayer / conversation time with Him and experiencing answered prayer. I was even being led by Him in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake and I didn’t realize this until the early 1980’s after I had learned a lot more in the Lord.
Through praise God has given us a wonder way to express ourselves. We can express our love and feelings to Him through a vast range of actions and emotions, verbally and with or without music. From the softly spoken thank you to the energetic shout, from prostrating yourself or bowing, from crying to laughter and to the clapping or raising of our hands to dancing freely before God or through the vast range of singing our praise to Him gives us the freedom that can be experienced in praise.
In this freedom of praise God can manifest Himself and minister to our needs, emotional and physical.
In the early 1980’s I had experienced an emotional hurt that really was wreaking havoc in my life. During this time I attended an evening church service and the praise and worship had begun. I was feeling so bad and hurt I didn’t feel like praising God. Actually I just wanted to leave but I knew that wasn’t right. So I stood there and raised my hands to the Lord, I didn’t want to but I made myself do it. As the praise music went on I forced myself to sing praises to God. I needed The Lord’s help and I became determined to praise God even though I did not want to. I was encouraging myself in the Lord, and I was giving the sacrifice of praise.
It’s been a long time since most people in America have suffered through some sort of trouble. In the past 50 years, the worst dilemma the entire country has faced is the Vietnam War in the 1960’s. Perhaps some of us still remember the gas crisis: waiting in line for hours to get 10 gallons of gasoline.
Now it seems that the current crisis makes those situations appear to be nothing more than a nuisance. According to the latest national unemployment numbers, there are currently 16.1 million people seeking work. Unfortunately, many of those represented in those numbers are seeking salaries that are not currently being offered. Another part of the population is not even being represented in the number listed above.
Part of being unemployed also means a loss of medical insurance. Medical insurance does reduce the amount of receiving medical help, Even though costs are high even with insurance, it is almost impossible to get decent medical help without insurance. There are doctors and hospitals that turn people away without insurance.
When it comes to praising God different people will usually have their own preference as how they praise Him. Some people will like to be quiet, others loud and boisterous and others somewhere in between. All of these make for a good start in the praise of God, but you should not be limited in your expression and freedom of expression in the praising of the Lord. Our God is an awesome God and He is unlimited and very vast and diversified in His expression and as His children He expects the same from us. God wants you to experience Him in this vast range of expression so that you can better know Him and know who you are in the Lord. If you are letting God be God in your life then you are allowing yourself to be led by the Holy Spirit who conducts you through this vast range of praise.
