How We Pray
How many of us say the Lord’s prayer every day, week, or month? In the 8:30 service, we almost always recited the Lord’s prayer every Sunday; not sure about the other services.
But how many of us pray the Lord’s prayer?
Below is an explanation of how to pray the Lord’s prayer that I find very helpful.
I. “Our Father who art in heaven”
Spend 3 minutes focused solely on God as:
“Our Father” – imminent: provider and protector.
“In heaven” – transcendent: omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient.
II. “hallowed be thy name”
Spend 3 minutes praising and thanking God.”
Think about the things you love about God and praise God for them.
Think of the way God has blessed you, specifically for the things in your life that are bringing you love, joy, and peace. Thank God for these things.
III. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Spend 3 minutes sitting with the question, “Lord, I’m reporting for duty. What would you have me do?” Just listen, then do what you are led to do—provided you know the voice you hear is not guilt or people-pleasing. The cumulative effect of listening like this on a daily basis is powerful.
IV. “Give us this day our daily bread”
Spend 3 minutes praying about daily needs.
Identify what you need to survive the day and ask God for it–your basic needs, not your wants. Then ask God to give to your family and friends what they need to stay on their feet today. If other people or things are on your heart, this is the time to pray about them.
V. “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”
Spend 3 minutes confessing, receiving forgiveness, and forgiving. First, confess your sins to God and asking for forgiveness. Be specific. Then pray this prayer: “Lord, forgive me as I forgive ________.” Put a name or names in the blank. Turn this person/persons over to God and surrender a right to get even with them. Pray for God to bless them.
VI. “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Spend 3 minutes reflecting on the things that are depleting love, joy, and peace from your life, and the ways you are stuck in destructive behavioral patterns. Pray the “Serenity Prayer”: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” Ask God to reveal what things you need to change and what things you must accept, at least for now. Ask God to disinfect your brain, to intervene throughout the day to make you aware of vulnerabilities, and to give you the strength to break patterns where destructive muscle memory has taken over.
VII. “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.”
Spend 2 minutes reflecting on the things around you that appear to be great, powerful, and important but are actually transitory, trivial, and tinsel.
VIII. “Amen.”
“Amen” is the Hebrew word for “So be it.” Conclude your prayer time by asking God to bring fulfillment to your prayers.
I hope you find it helpful as well.
We are blessed to be a blessing.
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Do You Have Enough to Go the Distance? Part 3
An Orderly Fashion…of Sorts
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Do You Have Enough to Go the Distance? Part Two
to talk with God before I write and ask Him to give me the words He wants you to hear. Sometimes a message
is loud and clear but sometimes it is very subtle and requires a little interpretation on my part. The message
this time smacked me right in the face.
be greeted by a vision of lush springtime green. But I wasn’t! All I could see was an ocean of white fluffy balls
an all-out assault on our unsuspecting lawn! Before we knew it,
they would sprout everywhere. Soil that seems useless for
anything else will always support dandelions. And don’t you know
they find the tiniest crack in the pavement to sprout and grow like
there’s no tomorrow. It seems they are always in an eager rush to
bloom and seed and drop to sprout again in their vicious cycle of
aggression. I have even watched a bloom cut from the plant or
sprayed with insecticide continue the process of reproduction.
Because it lies helpless on the ground, the wind can’t disperse the
seed so it all drops in the same spot and tries to sprout, sibling
fighting sibling for space and water and sunshine.
bloom at a time, they are intricate and quite lovely. Even the seed head has its own unique qualities and I have
to admit that I have spent some amount of time photographing both the bloom and the fluffy white seed head.
They are truly mesmerizing when backed by sunlight.
ants in a former article, display a persistence that defies human imagination. Their instinct to survive and
reproduce is so strong they let nothing get in their way, not even mowers or chemicals. Imagine our world if we
could muster a fraction of that persistent endurance.
whatever good we can find in the place or situation in which we are planted. There is a reason for everything
that happens in this life. Sometimes we wish we could see the bigger plan; we think life would be easier if we
knew what was coming. But if life were always easy, how would we learn endurance. Remember that diversity
defines personal character.
and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4 ESV
More next week….
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Do You Have Enough to Go the Distance?
Part One: Why Worry?
On March 11…I am sure of the date because I took it from my COVID 19 journal…Ken and I decided that it might be best to give credence to the chatter we were hearing regarding a possible epidemic. It still seemed remote, after all, it began in China and seemed unlikely to affect us too much. We embarked on an epic shopping trip to stock up on needed items just in case. You can’t imagine our surprise when we found shelves in the paper supply section at Wal Mart stripped completely bare of stock. We shook our heads in disbelief, Ken took a picture as proof, we grumbled a bit with other customers and went on about the rest of our shopping.
To be continued……
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Hattie’s Gift
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Stand Up
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
I heard a sermon by Dr. David Jeremiah recently and the theme of the sermon was from the book of Daniel and in this book, God told Daniel to do 4 things.
- Do not stand down. In other words, do not ignore or disregard God’s message.
- Do not stand aside. Do not compromise your beliefs.
- Do not stand against. Daniel didn’t go around talking against the Babylonians, he lived among them. He lived his life according to the teachings of God. We too should live our life according to the teachings of God and His son Jesus. Don’t go around accusing others of their sin. Remember what Jesus said about removing the splinter from your neighbor’s eye while not removing the plank from your own eye.
- Do Stand up. Live your life according to God’s teachings and do not worry about tomorrow. Daniel wanted to know everything that was going to happen, but God told him not to concern himself with everything that was going to happen, just live your life. And He did.Let us love one another. Let us Be Love. We are blessed to be a blessing.
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Happy Tax Day to everyone!
virus. It is amazing to me just how we as a people have reacted, some good and some not so
good. I am excited by the outreach opportunities to which so many of our congregation have
recognized and responded. From phone calls to delivering meals to going to the grocery store,
many of you have taken on the role of caregiver.
hands (this one makes me laugh as we must be taught and or reminded), PPE’s or lack thereof,
and fear. Yes, fear… (Fear not, for Christ will never leave us or forsake us)
healthy spiritually. During this time of being in our homes, we could have cleaned every closet of
the clothes and items we needed to discard (re-sale shops will be really crowded and full of
good stuff once we can get out…}. Maybe we got caught up with our reading, or even caught up
on our soap operas. I have been able to watch some new shows and have found National
Geographic television has some very good programs.
material that I enjoy and I am so grateful for the opportunity to hear the Word being shared by
Pastor Dennis every Sunday morning at 10 am and on Wednesday evenings at 6 pm. I have
also been able to hear former classmates from St. Paul seminary as they share the word. This
may not sound like much, but it is a change for me. Had it not been for the time spent at home, I
would have gone on doing the same thing I always did.
and if not, why not make a change. If you would like to comment, please do so below. Yes, the
church building has been closed, but the church has been busy reaching out and helping to
change attitudes, opinions, and lives.
and they shall renew the face of the earth…
Pastor Phil
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Where is Happiness Found?
By: Ed Vigneaux
Life today can be extremely stressful. We seem to search for refuge, rest, and relief and never completely find it. When we look at the world around us, we can see that something is wrong or missing. Most people are not happy.
In fact, the American Psychological Association notes that the national suicide rate has increased 33% from 1999 through 2017 and has increased sharply since 2006. It’s not about money. America is proof that happiness is not found in collecting an abundance of physical things.
That is actually good news. It means that happiness is found within us. The following are seven steps that can possibly bring us the happiness we search for.
1. Head for the park. We have become a society that spends most of our time indoors. We should spend more time enjoying nature, this beautiful world that God created for us.
Let us love one another. Let us Be Love.
We are blessed to be a blessing.
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Tiny Source, Big Lessons
Easter has come and gone! We have once again followed Jesus on his journey to the cross and we have experienced His resurrection. Amidst all our current chaos, He rose! He always has and always will be there.
I think God gave me a very unusual answer. Ants descended on our home this past weekend. Happy Easter! The tiny demons found our candy stash in the kitchen and have been beating a path to our drawers for several days. Is there anything more determined than an ant when it locates a food source? But the ant doesn’t depend upon itself. It calls on all its buddies and leads them to the treasure. In a matter of minutes, it becomes an onslaught and without mitigation, your home is a landscape of devastation.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we took a lesson from these tiny little creatures? One of them can carry very little but have you seen an army of ants working together in perfect harmony? What could we do if we came together in one accord and tackled the injustices of this world? What if we created teams to tackle hunger? What if we stood up to the abuse of others? What if we carried the message of Jesus to people who haven’t heard?
Wherever we go and whatever we do, we are telling the world what Jesus means to us by the way we treat those around us and right now carrying a message requires a little more creative thinking. Pastor Phil told us in the Easter service, “The word of God is to be spoken and heard”. That really resonated with me right now because of our nemesis, COVID 19. Our special gift is to do the speaking to those who need to hear.
I’ve seen all kinds of things being done online; church services, education, and activities for kids, business meetings on Zoom, the list goes on and on. What I’m writing now is my small part in the scheme of things but I realized I can do so much more. So, I keep my phone handy to text a friend who might be lonely or get together a group of friends who can’t physically be together at this time. Of course, we have Facetime and shared family photo albums to keep us in touch with our special people.
Those of us who are healthy and not at high risk can volunteer to hand out food and the rest of us can make monetary donations to organizations that provide food assistance. One day, we will all be back on the frontlines helping others. When we are, I hope that we don’t forget the lessons learned from COVID 19 and I hope that I don’t forget the lesson from my ant friends. I know they are God’s creatures too and they need to eat, but not in my house and especially not when chocolate is involved. They’ll keep waging their offensive and we’ll keep fighting back. But remember, we will ultimately win the battle over evil and we want to take a lot of people to heaven with us! As we make ourselves less important, we make Jesus’ army exponentially larger. Start speaking up so others can hear!
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