THE LORD'S PRAYER--Tuesday of the First Full Week of Lent

In Matthew 6:7-15 this is how the Jesus told His disciples how to pray --

"Jesus said, 'When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

'Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

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 do not bring us to the time of trial,

but rescue us from the evil one.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.'"

This has, of course come to be known as the Lord's Prayer that we pray in worship services and privately. As members of the Body of Christ in the world, praying it connects us together and for each of us as individuals, praying it can be comforting and uplifting. Nevertheless, it is possible that because it is so familiar, that we might pray it without thinking about what it really means.

Because we pray it so often, we may not always remember what Jesus says before He tells His disciples what to pray. He admonishes them that they do not need to go on and on with many words in order to get through to God. He reminds them that God knows what we need before we even ask. And sometimes we might wonder why we need to pray at all if God knows what we need before we ask. But often we just try to do everything on our own and the Lord would rather that we count on Him for all we need. When we pray and trust God to help us, we are opening a channel to receive what God has for us.

And while it is important that we pray the words that are part of the scriptures, we can also look at the Lord's Prayer as a model for a way of praying. BY that I mean that when we pray, as Jesus taught, we see that the first part of the prayer is a recognition of who God is and the power that He has in heaven and on earth.

Next, in the prayer is the acknowledgement that it is God who gives us the sustenance to live, the food that we eat. After that comes the request that God will forgive our sins just as we forgive those who have sinned against us.

Finally, when we pray as Jesus taught s, we ask that we will not be tempted to sin and that the Lord will deliver us from the evil one. In each part of the prayer it is not so much that we are asking the Lord for something that He may or may not do for us. Each phrase is really an acknowledgement of what the Lord is always ready and willing to do for us, but because of the free will that god has granted to all human beings, we need to ask in order to receive.

The way the prayer sounds to us sometimes, it may seem like we have to beg God to do all that we are asking in it. But that is no the case. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray using that format to make clear to them what God wants us all to know and understand about who God is and what He wants to do for us.

When we do not have an active prayer and meditation life, we miss out on so much. The Lord wants more than just a formula prayer and prayer when we are desperate or in trouble. God loves each one of us so much, and He wants us to be able to open our hearts to hear the loving assurances that He has for us. So we can begin our prayer lives with the Lord's Prayer and prayers based on its model. But after that the most important thing is to spend time listening with our hearts and receiving the peace that God has for us no matter what is happening in our lives.

As we get to know the Lord better and understand that every good gift and provision in our lives comes from Him, we are able to praise Him and thank Him with hearts full of love and joy.

More than anything else, the Lord wants you to trust Him and be open to Him so that you can live in loving relationship with Him. That relationship begins with prayer, and we are blessed that when Jesus' disciples asked Him how to pray, that He taught them and they passed it on. Nevertheless, they had the advantage over us of living with him day by day and knowing Him personally.

All that was written down in the Gospels cannot really disclose completely what that was like. But even though we could not have been there at that time, we are blessed that the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us. And because of that we, too, can live with the Lord day by day and get to know Him. We can be aware that He is by our sides and in our hearts all the time. We can count on Him no matter what is happening, and as we get to know Him, He reveals Himself more and more.

As ever, Beloved, you know that my hope for you is that you will allow the Lord to reveal Himself to you so that you will come to know how much He loves you and how He will always take care of you and provide for you.

I praise Him and thank Him for all He is and for all the ways He loves us, and I ask Him to continue to bless and keep you and all those you love.