Learning to See: Your Kingdom Come...

Last week, as we looked at the first phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, we mentioned three things.  First, we mentioned that we are not God.  We can only pray this Prayer when we realize that we are not ultimately in control and cannot bring about our own salvation.  Second, we mentioned that God has drawn us into a parent-child relationship with himself.  We are now not orphans, but children of God.  Finally, as children, we are apprentices who are to be about learning how to become like our Father.  Now, onto the next phrase, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  

The World Isn't as it Should Be:
It doesn't take much imagination to realize that the world isn't in the kind of shape that anybody wants it to be in.  You don't have to be a Christian to know that this blue sphere of gas, water and dirt is out of shape.  One only has to watch the news to see and hear tragic stories of death, pain, injustice, and suffering.  Everything, everybody, and every nation on this globe has problems.  If we are honest, and if we are serious about praying this Prayer, we must realize that we can't fix these problems. 
 
Realizing that the world is not as anyone would have it be does not leave us without hope.  Deep in Israel's consciousness is the understanding that, even though they were God's people, things were not right.  Yet, they dared to hope that one day, in a very real way, God would be King in Jerusalem. 

God Didn’t Just Save You from Hell: The Lord’s Prayer –Our Father…

This week is the second week of our series looking at the Lord's Prayer.  Last week we had a short introduction to the Prayer and why we should and need to study and pray this Prayer.  We said that we will be using the Lord's Prayer as a filter and a lens through which to pray and to see the world.  I've put together a prayer guide that will lead us in praying the Lord's Prayer in a different way each day.  It's available here. 

The first phrase in the Lord's Prayer is, "Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name."  A lot is caught up in this little phrase.  One of the things that I think has to be considered before even beginning to pray the Lord's Prayers, is that God is God and we are not. To find oneself truly believing and praying this Prayer one must first come to grips with the fact that he or she is not able to be their own savior.  In all ways we must realize that we are small, finite, weak and rather ignorant about ourselves and the world around us.

The Lord’s Prayer and Works of Mercy

The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-14) has been, since my college days, an almost constant companion.  As I have prayed it, it has challenged me, guided me, and comforted me.  It has provided structure and given direction for prayer times both private and corporate.  So, the youth group which I lead will be taking the next few weeks to study and pray the Lord’s Prayer together.  In our group times, we will take the Prayer phrase by phrase, seeking to understand just what Jesus was saying and doing when he taught his disciples to pray those words.  Individually, we will be challenged to pray the Lord’s Prayer in a different way each day of the week.  For instance, one day we will pray, “And give us our daily bread….” Our prayers offered that day will center on being thankful for what we do have while seeking to be content with that and seeking not to worry about what we don’t have.  It’s my hope that by praying and studying the Lord ’s Prayer that we might actually begin to believe it and mean what we pray, that we might truly believe that God is our Father, that we might truly want to do God’s will, and that we might participate in helping to bring God’s Kingdom here. 

So, for the next few weeks, I’ll try to post here the thoughts and insights we learn from praying and studying the Lord’s Prayer.  I’ll also post, when it is finished, the prayer guide we will be using for the Lord’s Prayer.  Perhaps you will pray along with us.  My guides for this journey have and will be N.T. Wright’s book The Lord and His Prayer, as well as John Wesley, especially his sermon Upon the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount: Discourse 6 (Sermon #26).