There are two words in the Lord's prayer that can life changing. As we might least expect, they are the simplest words in the whole prayer. In fact, I believe these two words are the most important and powerful two words in the whole prayer. They are the words that helps us to know just where we stand with God and where we stand with our community of faith. These words act as a kind of barometer to our faith, testing its strength, its resolve, its pulse.
And they are not the words as we might use or we'd at first think. In fact, if you are saying the Lord's Prayer right now to discover them, you'll probably skip right by them at least the first time and maybe the second.
Go ahead, pause and say it again....
...know what they are yet?
As we look closer at the prayer we might discover many things: the will of God, our dependence on God's forgiveness, our need to thank God for the food we eat. But do we pay attention to what we really pray?
Okay, you want to know the words. Well, you've already read 3 times in this blog. They are...
...as we.
That's right. Think about it. How do we use them in the prayer? As an act of conditional forgiveness. We ask God to forgive us, not unconditionally, but with the same measure that we forgive others.
ouch!
Yeah, it means that. So it makes me wonder, do I really want God to forgive me like I forgive? Actually, it has made me learn how to forgive like God does.
"Make this your common practice: confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with." (James 5:16-17, Msg)
Something to think about!
Peace ><>
pc
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
People Know Me
It's true, people know me. When I was a kid, whenever we went on vacation anywhere we would run into some we knew, or that knew us. It was always amazing to me and when I think of it, it still seems unbelievable. It's a good lesson, really, no matter where we go, someone probably knows us.
I don't know if that is as humbling to you as it is to me, because I can't go anywhere where I am not recognized. I've met thousands of people, spoken to thousands over the years, done dozens of funerals and weddings. I'm proud to say that, "people know me." But I also realize it holds a great responsibility as well.
"We're being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life." (Titus 2:12, Msg)
That's what I want, what I work hard to achieve and am always falling and failing to reach. Not because I'm afraid of what "those people" might say, but I want my life to reflect who I really want to be, the person I'm striving to become, a life that is God-filled and God-honored.
"He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:7, Msg)
So, I work at living in a way that makes me proud to claim Christ and so Christ can proudly say I am his...
Peace ><>
pc
I don't know if that is as humbling to you as it is to me, because I can't go anywhere where I am not recognized. I've met thousands of people, spoken to thousands over the years, done dozens of funerals and weddings. I'm proud to say that, "people know me." But I also realize it holds a great responsibility as well.
"We're being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life." (Titus 2:12, Msg)
That's what I want, what I work hard to achieve and am always falling and failing to reach. Not because I'm afraid of what "those people" might say, but I want my life to reflect who I really want to be, the person I'm striving to become, a life that is God-filled and God-honored.
"He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:7, Msg)
So, I work at living in a way that makes me proud to claim Christ and so Christ can proudly say I am his...
...and it's a good reminder to me that someone's watching, people who know me.
And people who know you!
Peace ><>
pc
Monday, July 31, 2006
PC On Prayer
After worship yesterday I was talking to one of our faithful and the question arose about prayer, "What would happen if nobody prayed?" So I began to wonder, just what if...
...it means no answered prayers, even prayers for, "help!"
...it means our food wouldn't be blessed before eating it.
...it means I'm not seeking forgiveness or forgiving.
...it means we are not being grateful.
...it means we've stopped caring.
...would the world stop?
...would God stop blessing?
...would the end come?
There are times I am sure that God wonders the same thing, or at least God thinks, "why are my faithful not praying?"
It's a good question that I pray we never have to experience the answer!
The better question is, "what would happen if everyone prayed?"
Paul wrote to Timothy saying, "Every time I say your name in prayer - which is practically all the time - I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors." (2 Tim. 1:3, Msg) Paul was a pray-er. Who challenged his churches to pray "without ceasing." (1 Thess. 5:17) He prayed all the time and things got done.
If everyone prayed like Paul, we could not count the blessings, they would be more numerous than the grains of sand on the beach. God honors pray-ers and answers prayers. If we all prayed honestly and earnestly, we'd see the very hand of God working more than ever.
So, let's all pray, in union and in unity, for the sake of Christ and for the blessing of the Church of Four Seasons. Let's put this church before God every day, all day and ask not only blessing, but harvest. We want to see our church grow, let's ask for people and volunteers. Let's ask for resources and generosity to break out all over the place. Let's ask for our building campaign to be so successful that phase one becomes even larger than we imagined. Let's seek a sanctuary filled 3 times a Sunday so that we have to add another service or build the sanctuary sooner.
It doesn't matter what we ask for, as long as we are seeking God's will, but by all means, let's not stop asking, in fact, let's do it more and more!
God's waiting to respond to our prayers.
And let' s never find out what happens if we fail!
Peace ><>
pc
...it means no answered prayers, even prayers for, "help!"
...it means our food wouldn't be blessed before eating it.
...it means I'm not seeking forgiveness or forgiving.
...it means we are not being grateful.
...it means we've stopped caring.
...would the world stop?
...would God stop blessing?
...would the end come?
There are times I am sure that God wonders the same thing, or at least God thinks, "why are my faithful not praying?"
It's a good question that I pray we never have to experience the answer!
The better question is, "what would happen if everyone prayed?"
Paul wrote to Timothy saying, "Every time I say your name in prayer - which is practically all the time - I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors." (2 Tim. 1:3, Msg) Paul was a pray-er. Who challenged his churches to pray "without ceasing." (1 Thess. 5:17) He prayed all the time and things got done.
If everyone prayed like Paul, we could not count the blessings, they would be more numerous than the grains of sand on the beach. God honors pray-ers and answers prayers. If we all prayed honestly and earnestly, we'd see the very hand of God working more than ever.
So, let's all pray, in union and in unity, for the sake of Christ and for the blessing of the Church of Four Seasons. Let's put this church before God every day, all day and ask not only blessing, but harvest. We want to see our church grow, let's ask for people and volunteers. Let's ask for resources and generosity to break out all over the place. Let's ask for our building campaign to be so successful that phase one becomes even larger than we imagined. Let's seek a sanctuary filled 3 times a Sunday so that we have to add another service or build the sanctuary sooner.
It doesn't matter what we ask for, as long as we are seeking God's will, but by all means, let's not stop asking, in fact, let's do it more and more!
God's waiting to respond to our prayers.
And let' s never find out what happens if we fail!
Peace ><>
pc
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