Our Father
Who art in Heaven
Holy is Your name
Your kingdom come; Your will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from the evil one
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
amen.
This is how I pray the Lord's prayer; a strange mish-mash of translations. It's what happens when you memorize it in the NKJV and then read NIV84 and ESV. Jesus taught it to His disciples after decrying the hypocritical show the Pharisees and teachers of the law pronounced in the streets.
Today we are often told to just tell God everything that's on our hearts and minds. Make Jesus your best friend. I didn't question this until I started to read Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and started thinking about how incredibly, awesomely majestic the God we serve is.
The introduction to The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis is by a friend of Lewis'. He tells the story of an old atheist who met him on his daily walk and taunted him- I am still going strong at ninety-seven; how is your friend Lewis doing? This friend confided in Lewis at one point, and said he was very tempted to tell our Lord that he thought it very unfair that the atheist should continue living while Lewis was so ill.*
That stopped me in my tracks. He was tempted to tell Jesus something disrespectful.
I think we are often flippant in our prayers. That's a grievous mistake. Not that we shouldn't confess what's on our hearts to God... but He is God. A loving King. Our greatest Friend. But also our Creator, the Judge and the great I Am. When you pray.. love Him. Jesus said that those who love Him will obey Him. Obedience means respect.
Don't stop praying- that's even worse. Don't get so scared of Him that you won't approach Him. I've made- and make- that mistake. He loves you! We cannot fathom it.
Read the Bible. Read a few Psalms. Read the story of the cross. And you will be blown away when you consider the love story you're seeing across the pages; the romance that occurs across the world every day.
Watch the sunset tonight. If you go to the beach, breathe in the view. Run through a meadow. Listen to the birdsong like you would a symphony. Take a few minutes to look at the stars and the moon. And sing... You're beautiful.
*Lewis' response: He would say, what is that to you? John 21:22
Who art in Heaven
Holy is Your name
Your kingdom come; Your will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from the evil one
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
amen.
This is how I pray the Lord's prayer; a strange mish-mash of translations. It's what happens when you memorize it in the NKJV and then read NIV84 and ESV. Jesus taught it to His disciples after decrying the hypocritical show the Pharisees and teachers of the law pronounced in the streets.
Today we are often told to just tell God everything that's on our hearts and minds. Make Jesus your best friend. I didn't question this until I started to read Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and started thinking about how incredibly, awesomely majestic the God we serve is.
The introduction to The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis is by a friend of Lewis'. He tells the story of an old atheist who met him on his daily walk and taunted him- I am still going strong at ninety-seven; how is your friend Lewis doing? This friend confided in Lewis at one point, and said he was very tempted to tell our Lord that he thought it very unfair that the atheist should continue living while Lewis was so ill.*
That stopped me in my tracks. He was tempted to tell Jesus something disrespectful.
I think we are often flippant in our prayers. That's a grievous mistake. Not that we shouldn't confess what's on our hearts to God... but He is God. A loving King. Our greatest Friend. But also our Creator, the Judge and the great I Am. When you pray.. love Him. Jesus said that those who love Him will obey Him. Obedience means respect.
Don't stop praying- that's even worse. Don't get so scared of Him that you won't approach Him. I've made- and make- that mistake. He loves you! We cannot fathom it.
Read the Bible. Read a few Psalms. Read the story of the cross. And you will be blown away when you consider the love story you're seeing across the pages; the romance that occurs across the world every day.
Watch the sunset tonight. If you go to the beach, breathe in the view. Run through a meadow. Listen to the birdsong like you would a symphony. Take a few minutes to look at the stars and the moon. And sing... You're beautiful.
*Lewis' response: He would say, what is that to you? John 21:22
Read Job, too. There are Amazing shadows of the Gospel told to him in his deepest sufferings (by young Elihu, no less!) Of course (but the wonder is THAT, that this thing really happened!) it has been prefigured - promised - from the beginning of the fall. There is no place in the Bible where God does not show his love.
ReplyDeleteOh, But love is so hard. No. Just "Love is hard" and no buts. There can be no buts. Buts are prideful little snivelers.
And God is the Great One! He shall not let us fall, if He wishes us to live. If we submit - then we are filled with Happiness.