Pastoral Reflection for Thursday, April 23rd
Part two of a two part series on the Lord's Prayer
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Matthew Chap 6v10-13
Prayer is the most amazing privilege and blessing given to us. Jesus gave a short model of prayer to help us as we approach God. We looked at the first part of the prayer. We saw who it is we pray to-“Our Father”. Although His presence fills the whole earth, yet heaven is His home-“In Heaven”. We also saw the attitude and spirit of awe, respect and reverence we should have as we come into His presence-“Hallowed Be Your Name.” Finally we saw that before presenting our own personal requests, we must seek the extension and growth of God’s kingdom-“Your Kingdom Come.”
YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN:-The only place where God’s will is completely and perfectly done is in heaven. As Christians we want to do God’s will, and when we pray this prayer we obviously include ourselves in it. Of course the big problem we face is that as sinners, we so often do the very opposite of what we know God’s will to be. This of course causes us sorrow and grief as God convicts us. The greatest fulfilment in our life will be found in walking close to the Lord, and seeking to do His will.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD:- In this request we are asking that God will meet all our needs. We are asking that the Lord will provide for us at every turn. This is teaching us an ever growing dependence upon Him. In this request we are asking the Lord to equip us mentally for all the tasks before us: to give us emotional stability in all the various relationship challenges of life: to give us the health and strength of body mind and soul as we face the daily duties of life. We should be constantly acknowledging the Lord as the Great Provider-that’s what we do when ask a blessing before we eat our food. When we pray for daily bread we should include the spiritual nourishment the Lord alone can give us. Every time we pick up the Bible we should be asking that God will feed, inspire, direct, encourage, rebuke, strengthen and challenge us.
AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE ALSO HAVE FORGIVEN OUR DEBTORS:- Just as we need the daily provision of food, both spiritual and physical, so we need daily cleansing. This is essential to keeping the communication lines open between ourselves and heaven. Our spiritual arteries get clogged up by our sin, so in order to know and experience God’s love and joy in our heart, we need cleansing. You will notice however, that Jesus tells us, the person who is seeking forgiveness, must have a forgiving spirit. We cannot ask God to forgive us, while remaining defiant against forgiving those who may have wronged us. The ones who have a truly repentant spirit before God are generally those who are most forgiving in their own life towards others. Once our eyes are opened to the gravity of our sin towards God, and discovering His wonderful forgiveness towards us, we should in turn be ready to forgive those who may wrong us. It is vital we do know how to forgive, and continually practice forgiveness towards others, because we have been forgiven so much by the Lord. In fact Jesus tells us in verses 14 and 15,”If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.”
AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL:- When we pray we must always remember that we are in the middle of a fierce spiritual battle. Every day of our lives there will be temptation. In this petition we are acknowledging our need for Divine help, protection and leading. We are not capable of standing on our own against the wiles of the devil. It has been said that often regarding temptation there are two aspects to it-(a) Desire and (b) Opportunity. Sometimes we can have the desire to do something wrong, but there is no opportunity given. Other times there is the opportunity, but no desire. The most dangerous times we can face regarding temptation is when desire and opportunity come together. That is when we are in a deadly place and we really need God’s help and protection. The Lord will not keep you from never being tempted, because by withstanding temptation, and refusing to yield, by God’s grace and strength, we become stronger Christians. We need deliverance in temptation. Our hearts will tell us to give in, but by giving in we will find resisting all the harder next time
How thankful we should be the Lord gave us this model prayer. He wants us to be constantly coming to him. Of course we should pray often, but I think it would be a good thing to pray this prayer every day, along with all our other prayers, and as we said-to build on the model of this prayer in our prayers. Pray God bless and keep you all safe and well.
Love and prayers, Kenny
