My Way or the Highway

Even though they watched me at work for forty years,
your ancestors refused to let me do it my way; over and over they tried my patience. Hebrews 3:8 The Message

The author is reminding these Christians of their Jewish history and how faithful Moses was, but the people wouldn’t listen to God’s voice through him. He reiterates that Jesus is superior to Moses and that they need to listen and look at all He’s done and be obedient, not like their forefathers in their unbelief.

This passage reminds me of the lyrics from the old Frank Sinatra song, “I did it my way.” And I know we’ve all heard someone say, “it’s my way or the highway.” Or perhaps, “I know what’s best for me and my family,” or “God just doesn’t understand my situation.” Oh, how we must try God’s patience!

When I look at all God has done not just for me, but for my family, friends, the church, and the world in my lifetime, I am compelled to listen to His promptings, teachings, and call in my life. I have chosen to trust and believe that He can and will do what He says He will do! I never want to challenge Him with unbelief or self-centered thinking or actions. My way leads me to wander through a wilderness, while His way leads straight to the Promised Land!! How I want to reach that Promised Land and enjoy Father, Son, and Holy Spirit forever!!

Holy Spirit, help us to obey the truth. Help us to trust You to lead in the path of righteousness and reveal any unbelief we might have. Help us to see Your hand and recognize Your handiwork in our lives and give You the glory and praise Your Name!!  May we stand firm knowing You are in control and can part the seas of confusion, discouragement, disillusionment or unbelief. Keep us focused on YOU! May Your strength infuse us, and Your power overwhelm our weakness. Thank You, Father, for creation! Thank You, Jesus, for Salvation! Thank You, Holy Spirit, for resurrection power that indwells us to keep us focused on the prize – eternal life with You.

Is It Really Evil ?

But deliver us from evil (the evil one). Matthew 6:13b

Are the devil, Satan, and demons real? Is there a real war going on in the heavenlies over our faith? I think all of us would answer a resounding, “Yes!” You can’t turn on the news or read or watch any media source without seeing the effects of evil on our culture. Visit a prison, an orphanage, a home for unwed mothers, an abortion clinic, the streets of the homeless and you will often find the results of demonic forces and evil.

C.S.Lewis said, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils, one is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.’

Jesus said we must ask God to protect us from the evil.one. Satan tries to attack us on all levels. What we see. What we hear. What we do or don’t do. He loves to attack us physically and through pain, our fears and anxieties. Thankfully Jesus not only asked us to pray for protection and deliverance from evil, but He shows us how to defeat and be victorious over evil.

Ephesians 6:11 tells us to -put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. We must be aware of his schemes in order to stand against them. Test your thoughts and actions against the character and actions of Jesus. What would Jesus do, say, or believe.

1 Peter 5:8 says we should be sober-minded; and watchful for our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. I don’t know about you but just the thought of facing a lion, roaring or not, has me running to Jesus for protection and deliverance.

And finally in James 4:7 , James gives us the way to victory over the devil when he says, submit, (surrender in faith), yourselves  to God. Then, resist, fight back, stand firm, against the devil, and he will flee from you. Fight back with scripture as Jesus did. Speak the name of Jesus over your temptation or fear. Burst out in a song of praise to,  the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Whatever it takes, resist, dress yourself in God’s armor daily and be alert to the enemy’s tactics! Most importantly keep your focus on Jesus who has already defeated Satan on the cross and will enable you to be victorious.

I remember the quip from my youth, “If in doubt, leave it out.”  I believe we need to Stop, Drop to our  knees, and Check it out! There is always a reason something doesn’t feel right. Are you hearing lies, feeling false guilt, doubting the power of God? PRAY, RESIST, STAND FIRM ON THE WORD!

For Yours, GOD, is the kingdom, power and glory forever. Amen!

Why Me?

And do not lead us into hard testing. Matthew 6:13a (Jewish Bible)

In Matthew 4 Jesus was tempted by Satan who offered Him everything God had promised him without the suffering of the cross. If you don’t believe Jesus was really tempted but just going through the motions for our sakes, them I weep for you. What hope does that bring us? Jesus came to understand temptation firsthand and show us how to defeat the enemy.

In Luke 17:1 Jesus tells us there will always be temptations to sin. Makes sense since we live in a sinful world where the enemy is seeking to trap us, promise us success the easy way, and misinterpret God’s Word. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that God in His faithfulness will show us a way out of the testing and help us to grow our faith as we endure.

When you are tempted/tested and feeling overwhelmed, remember Job and stand firm in your faith. Fight the enemy with scripture, seek prayer from other believers, speak words of victory into your situation. Remember it’s not how you start the battle, but how you finish, that counts.

You and I are fighting a battle Jesus has already won. We are not talking about the battle over that extra brownie, which tool to buy, or what to wear to a party. We are talking about a battle for your priorities, your time, your commitments, your thoughts, and ultimately your trust in God. The battle of the “Why me, God?” “Why my loved ones?”  “Where are You God in the silence?”

 Let this song encourage you today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJOghIVI3Mc

I’m Sorry; Please Forgive Me.

12. And forgive us our debts,(sins) as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who sinned against us. Matthew6: 12

In the Roman world having an outstanding debt was serious business. It often became a matter of life and death. If you couldn’t pay your debt, you could be thrown in prison or even put to death. Jesus ‘disciples would have understood the seriousness and awesomeness of a forgiven debt.

Jesus told the parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18. A servant owed the King what would amount to billions in our day. He begged for mercy and the King had compassion on him and forgave his enormous debt. That same servant left the king and found a man who owed him a few hundred dollars and grabbed the man by the throat and told him to pay up. When this man cried out for mercy, the servant had him thrown in prison.

Remember the Lord is all about relationships and family. Forgiveness draws the family closer to God. Unforgiveness separates and embitters the ones who should be the most grateful. Unforgiveness hardens the heart and, to me, seems a slap in the face of the One who died paying our debt. As God’s children we are not only forgiven, but must be forgiving.

Daniel Lancaster in his book, “Living Water,” says,” Forgiveness is more than a moral obligation; It is God’s invitation to extend grace and allow healing to take place. God envisions communities as places of restoration where forgiveness flourishes like a gentle rain washing away bitterness and breathing new life into relationships. When communities reflect God’s Kingdom, compassion and reconciliation become the norm. Forgiveness aligns us with his plan, bringing his light into our lives and the lives of those around us.”

Father, God, may be reminded of the exorbitant debt you paid for us and extend that same unbelievable mercy and kindness to others who have sinned against us.

‘

Hot from the Oven

11 Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

It has been a restless night, but you awaken to the aroma of freshly baked bread Just one slice slathered in butter and maybe some jelly, and suddenly you feel refreshed and ready to face another day. If only this could happen every day! Well, according to Jesus, it can! Jesus taught us to ask for fresh bread every day to refresh us and meet our needs. We were created as relational beings with needs – physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. We need God, Our Father, to meet those needs directly or through others on a daily basis.

When Jesus told His us to ask daily for bread, I believe He had in mind two types of bread, physical and spiritual. My mind immediately goes to the children of Israel in the dessert crying out for physical bread and He gave them manna. How often? Daily. Use it or lose it; it will rot if you try to save it for tomorrow. Today we often find ourselves eating that manna like there is no tomorrow and it rots around our waistlines. Ouch!

But what about the most necessary aspect of this prayer, the most important bread of all which takes care of all other needs, praying daily for spiritual bread.

John 6:32-35: 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty

We need the Bread of Life daily. We cannot give God a long list of our needs on Monday and then go through our week independently as if He will remember them and take care of everything, no need for further contact. Well, He certainly does not forget anything, but WE DO!  Especially at the ripe young age of 79, I forget where I put my phone as it is ringing in my back pocket. God tells us to seek daily, pray without ceasing and come for daily renewal and commitment for His will to come to earth in our lives and our world as it is in heaven.

Are there any needs too insignificant or too impossible for Him to meet?!Praying for a handicapped parking space to open so you don’t have to walk the length of the parking lot? Praying for that the item you need to be within your budget?  Praying for your impossible neighbor to find Christ? Praying protection over your grandkids from the evils of this world Praying that the seemingly hopeless alcoholic in your family with turn to Jesus before it’s too late. Those can all be given daily to our amazingly powerful Father..

We can resolve that in 2025 we will take your thoughts captive, attend worship and tithe regularly, seek God in His Word and pray daily, but by the middle of January we find ourselves forgetting, struggling, failing. Help!! Hum? Could that be why, Jesus, knowing our human nature and limitations, reminds us to call on Him daily for forgiveness and renewal

Dear Father, give us today everything necessary to meet all our needs. Give us ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart full of love to seek, believe and obey You , we pray.

Your Will – Does It Matter?

Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10b

In his book, “Praying like Monks, Living Like Fools,” Tyler Stanton calls praying for God’s to do on earth what He has ordained in heaven is intercessory prayer. “We are to intercede, come between two parties, to mediate reconciliation. Interceding is simply praying for others. The motive behind all true intercessory prayer is love for the other person.” When we intercede:

  1. We are asking God to intervene in their lives where love is lacking.
  2. We are praying for them to experience the mercy of God demonstrated in full justification and the acquittal of sin through the shed blood of the crucified and resurrected Christ.
  3. We are asking for healing for body, mind and spirit.
  4. We’re asking for wisdom and understanding of the promises and commands of God.
  5. We are asking God to meet them where they are and take them where he wants them to be.
  6. We are asking that they become a part of God’s family and learn to know him as sovereign and loving Father.
  7. We are praying for their expressed immediate needs to be met.

Our attitude in interceding is important. Do we intercede believing we are participants in seeing God’s will done on earth in others’ lives and situations and our world. Do we pray with open hearts accepting God’s will to be done in God’s way. Do we pray in faith believing God is answering even when we don’t see it. Or… do we pray with a fatalistic mindset that says God’s going to do what God’s going to do regardless of what I pray. But, because He said to do it, I will do it.

 Check your attitude when you pray this prayer for yourself or others. Be sure you are praying for God’s will as it is stated in God’s word. Be careful not to interject your will into your prayer but to leave the “where”, “when,” and “how” in the Hands of our Father who knows best. 

Father, help us as we intercede for those we love and need Your help this day. May we intercede when we don’t see You working, and when the enemy says it’s hopeless. Give us eyes to see beyond what’s in front of our faces, to see Your heart and desire for Your kingdom to come in every situation.

Whose Kingdom Is It, Anyway?

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10a

-What is the Kingdom of God?

            Augustine explained the Kingdom in terms of a city -City of God. Adam and Eve lived in this perfect city to manage and care for it. They lived in constant fellowship with God in the garden and were given rule over the garden. When they sinned, a new city was introduced, the City of Man. All of us were born into that city, East of Eden and live in that city. That city is full of darkness and greed, self-absorption, and selfish ambition. Augustine’s discussion of the two cities reminds us that the Kingdom of God is not something that is part of the political system of this world. No government on earth truly represents God’s Kingdom. Instead, Christians are citizens of the kingdom that will one day arrive in consummate glory. Our hope is not that the governments of this world will transform into the kingdom of God, but that the kingdom of God will come from heaven to earth in power and glory.

Some Christians have mistakenly confused God’s Kingdom with a certain political party or a particular style of government. The Roman emperor Constantine thought that he could bring about God’s Kingdom by political force or some other sociological means. But God’s Kingdom is not of this world. You can make laws against murder stealing, speeding, abortion, homosexuality, pornography, or any illegal or immoral practice you can think of, but none of those laws change the heart of man. As Jesus teaches in this prayer, we are dependent on God and God alone to bring the Kingdom to every heart and every corner of the earth. We cannot manufacture God’s Kingdom by our own efforts. Instead, we are called to be faithful to the Great Commission, trusting that God by his sovereign supernatural grace will spread his redemptive reign to every tribe, nation, and tongue.

 So, what are we ultimately asking for when we pray for your Kingdom to come:

  1. We are praying that history will be brought to a close.
  2. We are praying to see all nations rejoice in the glory of God.
  3. We are praying to see Christ honored as king in every heart.
  4. We are praying to see Satan bound and evil vanquished and death no more.
  5. We are praying to see the new Jerusalem, new heaven, and a new earth

Enough said! May Your Kingdom come today, Father God!

The Perfect Prayer – Session 3

This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, Matthew 6:9

In our last session we concentrated on “Our Father”. -the fact that we are not alone in the family of God. He is our Father and cares deeply about each one of us, but reminds us that from the beginning life was about relationships-God, Adam-Eve…

Today He asks that we hallow(honor) His name. He wants us to understand His character and worship and adore who He is. Although He is intimate with us, we need to understand that He is separate from us. He wants us to recognize that He is Creator King, Lord of Lords, Almighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father. He is our Healer, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper. Risen Savior. He wants us to bow down before Him and praise Him for who He is. I don’t know about you, but I feel closest to our Father, when I am singing His praises, listening to hymns and praise music, and thanking Him for who He is and what He has done.

The second idea behind hallowing His name is asking Him to hallow His name among us and through us. We need Him to visibly demonstrate his holiness and glory among us. To act upon this world so that people will value his glory, esteem His Holiness, and treasure his character above all else. We, too, must petition God to hallow His Name in our discipleship, our prayers, our witness, our work, and our everyday lives.

Today as you pray remember to address Him intimately and then to hallow His name with praise and thanksgiving.  Let’s join David in praise to God our Father.

I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. Psalm 69:30

The Perfect Prayer- Session 2

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’ Matthew 6:9-13

How to Pray –

Our Father who is in heaven.

Most OT Jewish prayers begin with, “Blessed are you, O God, our Lord, King of the Universe.” They had no trouble believing in an invisible God of judgement and miracles. They had heard about the God of floods, parting waters, sending fire from heaven, a burning bush, a pillar of fire and a cloud of smoke. They knew about His judgements against disobedience, sin and rebellion. They knew they were to love Him with heart, soul and mind, as supreme and Sovereign King, Creator, Master of the universe. Very rarely had he been addressed with the intimacy of the term FATHER! Only 10 times in entire Old Testament was He referred to as a Father. It would have sounded to them disrespectful, scandalous, unbelievable, irreverent.  And yet, that is how Jesus addressed God. In fact, He is addressed as Father 165 times in the New Testament.

Although Jesus addressed God as, “My Father,” He makes sure we address Him as “Our” Father, reminding us that all who believe and accept His Son’s sacrifice for our salvation are adopted sons and daughters with the same privilege as His Son, Jesus, to call upon His name.  He is not our Baptist Father, Lutheran Father, Methodist Father, Catholic Father… but Father of all who believe.

Can you imagine the impact God’s children could have in our communities if we all joined together in one accord to bring light into the darkness around us. What If we put aside our doctrinal pitching points and lived out the two Great Commandments to love God first and then others as ourselves? Imagine the glory that would bring to Our Father.

The next time you pray this prayer remember you are not in this alone. You were never meant to be an independent believer. You are part of the most powerful family on earth. Our Father is building a room for each of us in his mansion. If his children can’t live together in harmony and peace here on earth??? Just ponder on that.

Next we will see how we can Hallow His Name .

The Perfect Prayer

I just finished teaching a series on The Lord’s Prayer and want to spend the next few posts looking at what Jesus taught His disciples about prayer. Hope you will join me on this adventure. We will begin with …

How Not to Pray

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, was it because they had never prayed before and they didn’t know anything about prayer? Did they need to pray more or pray harder? If not, then why did they ask him to teach them about prayer since they had grown up with the prayers prayed in their Jewish homes.? 

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. Luke 11:1

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:5-8

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, was it because they had never prayed before and they didn’t know anything about prayer? Did they need to pray more or pray harder? If not, then why did they ask him to teach them about prayer since they had grown up with the prayers in their Jewish homes.? 

I believe they had watched Jesus and heard Him pray. They had seen Him go to the mountain to be alone as He prayed. They noticed something different about His prayers and were curious. His prayers seem to be more personal and resulted in miracles. So naturally they wanted to know His secret. They wanted to be like Him so they wanted to know how to pray like Him.

Isn’t it interesting that the first thing He teaches them is, “how not to pray”? First, do not pray in public places to impress everyone with your piety and devotion. He is not talking here about genuine prayer in small groups or worship. But even in those times remember your prayers are not a competition or declaration of your designation as a prayer warrior. He is saying that when you pray to impress people, you must expect people to answer your prayers. Good Luck!

Secondly, you are not to babble like the pagans, repeating the same thing over and over as if God has set a standard of 144 times before He tunes in to your prayer.  God does not have memory issues. He knows what you need before you utter a word.

I want to add a third from my own experience, God is not hard of hearing. He does not need hearing aids. My dear, sweet, saintly mother begged to differ at this point. I remember waking up in the morning to her prayers. She prayed for my unsaved father, my brothers, her friends, and me. The longer she prayed, the louder she got and when she reached my name, it seemed to me she was shouting! I lay in my bed wondering what kind of horrible creature I must be that she needed to raise the roof with her requests for my faithfulness to Jesus and protection from the enemy. Today I see it from a different perspective. She wasn’t shouting for God’s benefit but out of desperation that I stay true to Him and not face the sinful things she had faced in her life before she surrendered to Christ. I find myself looking at this sinful world and praying with the same intensity for my kids and grandkids. Although shouting in not necessary, I am groaning desperately in my spirit for the

Now we know how not to pray.

                We do not pray to impress people.

                We do not babble on and on, repeating the same thing over and over.

                We do not need to shout at God.

 Let’s see what Jesus says about how we are to pray in our next several posts.