Judgmentalism is more than something that we are towards other people. It is also what we do to God. It is impossible to be judgmental without judging God.
My grandchildren, Ethan and Chloe, seem to have already been bitten by the judgmental bug. We know this because whenever they don't get what they want, they say "This is the worst day ever." I ask them "Why is it the worst day ever?" Then they tell me about how they did not get the snack they want or the toy they want, or that someone did not allow them to play with matches or stick their fingers in an electric socket. Never mind that whatever authority did not allow them these privileges did it for their benefit. Never mind that they say it coming home from a movie that they loved. Never mind that they had just eaten their favorite lunch and played happily all day. One little "no" makes it the worst day ever.
These little children are expressing a misguided view that is common even with the grown ups around them. Why do we think that our worst day was our worst day? What happened to make it a bad day? For that matter, what made our best day our best day? Are we sure?
Whether a day is good or bad is not up to us. Every day is a providential day, one decreed by God to be the day we receive. Somehow, though we feel it is necessary to label days or events good or bad, and to store away the memory of the day in some neat little pigeon hole in our mind.
But in God's mind, how do we know what is good or bad for us? Illness breaks and softens us. Riches can destroy us. A wedding day is a great day, but becomes a bad memory when the marriage ends in divorce. A firing is a bad day, but becomes a blessing when it opens the door to a greater opportunity. All we have and are comes from the hand of a God who loves us and has a plan for our lives. God can make a good day from a bad one, and a bad day from a good one.
When we label the events of our lives as good or bad based on a moment's pain or enjoyment we are no better than ungrateful children. We are judging God's motives and purpose. If we had the faith we claim to have, we would be happy with what we have, enjoying the moments we have, instead of trying to judge our moments as good or bad.
Having judged God, we move on to judging others. Since we can't accept what God has given us, we can't accept others, either. We want to put labels on people, just like we do on our moments. Is this person good or bad? Are they working for our benefit, or are they out to get us? We do have friends and enemies, to be sure, but most people have their own agendas, most of whom have nothing to do with us. They are neither trying to help us or hurt us, but are living their own lives, under the all-judging eye of God. It is not our place to decide if they are living to God's satisfaction. Instead, it s our job to do good to all people, especially those who call themselves our brothers and sisters.
If we can learn to enjoy what God has given, and give up our right to judge the moments, then we can also perhaps learn to enjoy others without judging them. Every individual who comes across our path was put there, or allowed to be there, by a benevolent God who seeks only our benefit. No one is an accident, and no one can come near us without God's permission. Once we give up the right to judge others, we are free to see the blessings that may come from them.
Later, I'll talk about who we judge the most.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
A Reason to Live
On September 11, 2001, nineteen men boarded four airplanes, gained entrance to the cockpits, and hijacked them. Three of the airplanes hit their targets. One crashed in an open field
Two weeks later, a friend from Rock Hill--Kyle Torreyson, left for New York with the Red Cross. He served doughnuts and breathed the poisoned air of the World Trade Center. Years later, Kyle got cancer from being there. He knew it was a possibility when he went, but he was willing to risk his life to serve doughnuts and ground zero.
In the last nine years, hundreds of thousands of men and women have gone into harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan—every one a volunteer. Thousands did not come back. But they went, believing in a cause greater than themselves.
There is a big question that hangs over all of this. Why do people walk into danger, even certain death? There is one simple answer--because they believe in something greater than self, greater than comfort, and even greater than family.
It was the same reason that Christ went to the cross. If life is all there is, then it doesn’t make sense.
Spirituality is not just a matter of religion. Just as there is a Holy Spirit, there is a human spirit--a part of all people regardless of their beliefs. That spirit fulfills an essential function in who we are and what we do.
Think of the human soul as a triangle. The top two sides are our physical and the psychological self. The physical side contains our bodies and the needs of our bodies. It involves our health, our jobs, houses, etc. Our psychological self is everything that it non-material--our relationships, social standing, memories, intellect, and our wants and needs.
But underneath all this, there has to be a foundation. The foundation is our spiritual self. It is the system of belief and values that keeps us going. It helps us resist temptation, take the difficult road, keep on enduring, and put ourselves in harm’s way, when necessary. It is what makes a man fight for his country, and a missionary travel to the ends of the earth. It is what we love and believe.
This spiritual basis is not just a feeling. It is farther down than feelings. People will act contrary to all their feelings if they do it for love or loyalty. There is something that cries out to be part of something greater than ourselves. We want to have contributed, not only to our family, but to our world.
Years ago there was a psychiatrist named Maslow, who came up with an idea he called the "priority of need." He said that if a man is hungry he will think about nothing but food. If he is insecure, he will think about nothing but security. But if a man is full and if he is secure, he will think about other things--love, a family, friendship. If he has those things, then he will seek for something else--something he called "self-actualization." It is having a purpose in life. We do not want to think that we've lived and died in vain.
I disagree with Maslow in one way. I think that this desire for a reason to live is far deeper than food or drink, or security. I think everyone, no matter where they might be, needs to have a reason to live.
And the first place people go who need a reason to live is to their church.
God promised Jeremiah this when he said “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not evil to give you an end and a purpose.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
God has a plan and purpose for our lives.
Unfortunately, many will walk away from church without a reason. They will leave frustrated and disappointed, because the church does not give them a reason to live.
Try to imagine what it is like for the poor seeker who comes to church. He comes looking for a challenge, a real God, and real love. He wants to be part of God’s great movement in
But what does the seeker get instead? He hears tired old songs, incomprehensible messages, meaningless rituals, and people who look as though they can't wait to get out and go home. The messages are aimed at soothing and comforting those who are already saved. The seeker does not want soothing and comforting. He wants a fresh challenge and a holy cause. It's frustrating for a seeker, especially a young seeker, to find that the church has no reason to exist, except to keep its own members comfortable. It is as though they showed up at the army recruiters and discovered they were meeting inside the lobby of a nursing home. They take one look at the people around him, and leaves because he thinks he’s gone to the wrong place.
What is your reason for living? Don’t say that your reason for living is to get to heaven—that’s our reason for dying, not living. That’s like saying that the reason for doing your job is to retire. We need more than that—some reason for being here in this life. We need to know why we are doing what we are doing.
There was once a king named Solomon. He had great wisdom and knowledge. He had literally hundreds of women at his beck and call. He had all the money he could stand. He had absolute power. But none of this gave him a reaon to live. He said of it all, "Meaningless--it is all meaningless." After he explored wine, women, wealth, and wisdom, he still could not find a reason to live.
Most people live like Solomon without the wealth and power. They live for pleasure, wealth, or fame. As long as they can have a good time, then they do not care whether life has a meaning or not. In the end, though, money fades, along with power and glory. Even the people we love on earth, even our family disappears in the end/
Suppose some day we stand before God and God asks us "what have you made with the life I have let you borrow?" Would we say. "I sat six hours a day in front of my big screen TV all week, and spent two days on the lake in my motor boat. I owned a vacation home, listening to my music, and partied whenever I got the chance?" Meaningless, Solomon said--all is meaningless.
There is something I've noticed about some people who become wealthy. They are no happier than the poor. The rich seem to go through three stages. First, they use their wealth to meet their needs, and their family's needs. That ought to make them happy, but I usually doesn’t. Then they feel the need to play with their wealth. They fulfill their wildest desires. But after a while, this, too becomes boring. Finally, they get an itch to do something important with their money. They give to charity, politics, or religion. They look for a reason to spend, and a cause to suppoer.
I wish it were true for all rich people, but it is not. Some people never grasp that were given what they have to give what they can. Too late, they recognize Solomon’s words-- "Meaningless--all is meaningless."
It was not until late in his life that Solomon understood it’s meaning. He wrote in Ecc. 12:13-14 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
You don't have to be as rich or as smart as Solomon to find the meaning. You don't even have to read Solomon’s book. Just flip to the back page and read the conclusion. We exist to fear and obey God. He is the meaning of life.
How do we do that?
First know what you believe. Don't settle for secondhand faith. Is fearing God and obeying His commandments really foremost in us? Or do we say that because we think we are supposed to say it?
We are all too quick to let others think for us. We often are guilty not putting what we hear to the test. As a result, when tests come, we find that our faith is not as strong as we thought. Second hand religion produces secondhand lives--lives that are carbon copies of those we have observed, without any divine spark of purpose. Secondhand faith does not really inspire
us to deep purpose or sacrifice.
In Herman Hesse's novel Siddharta, a seeker after truth in India spend years searching for the Buddha. When he finally meets the Buddha, he receives an invitation to become a disciple. The man turns him down. When the Buddha asks why, he replies tha the wants what Buddha has, not just o follow him. He wants bo be enlightened, not to live off he enlightenment of others. This ought to be the vision of we Christians. We want to now Christ, not to just know those who know Christ. We want to serve Christ, not to serve those who serve Christ. This kind of faith cannot be arrived at without struggle.
Second, know what is really important. Don't waste time on secondhand goals.
There is only one leading north from Waxhaw--highway 16. They have been working on that intersection and it has been shut down. Now, suppose I went to the drug store, taking my usual, and came to that detour. Instead of going around, I park my car and wait until they reopened the street. My real goal is not to pass through that intersection, bt to get to the other side. That would be confusing the road with the destination.
We confuse our road with our destination. The church could use a building, but our goal is not to build church buildings. We make money, but now to have money. We don’t even raise children for their sake, but to instill in them the same reason for existence as we have ourselves. God is the purpose for our being, and all other things take second place.
Third, constantly reinforce the truth. Don't settle for being a "cross-eyed" Christian. Know our purpose does not end our struggle. Our minds must be conquered for Him, bringing every thought into captivity for His divine purpose.
Faith requires constant reinforcement. Even Paul had to to this. See Phil 3:13-14
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Moses put it this way in Deut 6:4-9 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Today, no doubt, he would put it differently. He might say “Hang them as pictures on your walls. Put them as bumper stickers on your cars. Make them the screen savers on your computers. God wants us to put Him in before us at all times. That’s because God knows how easily we forget. So we must keep being reminded that we have a reason to live.
A Reason to
Two weeks later, a friend from Rock Hill--Kyle Torreyson, left for New York with the Red Cross. He served doughnuts and breathed the poisoned air of the World Trade Center. Years later, Kyle got cancer from being there. He knew it was a possibility when he went, but he was willing to risk his life to serve doughnuts and ground zero.
In the last nine years, hundreds of thousands of men and women have gone into harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan—every one a volunteer. Thousands did not come back. But they went, believing in a cause greater than themselves.
There is a big question that hangs over all of this. Why do people walk into danger, even certain death? There is one simple answer--because they believe in something greater than self, greater than comfort, and even greater than family.
It was the same reason that Christ went to the cross. If life is all there is, then it doesn’t make sense.
Spirituality is not just a matter of religion. Just as there is a Holy Spirit, there is a human spirit--a part of all people regardless of their beliefs. That spirit fulfills an essential function in who we are and what we do.
Think of the human soul as a triangle. The top two sides are our physical and the psychological self. The physical side contains our bodies and the needs of our bodies. It involves our health, our jobs, houses, etc. Our psychological self is everything that it non-material--our relationships, social standing, memories, intellect, and our wants and needs.
But underneath all this, there has to be a foundation. The foundation is our spiritual self. It is the system of belief and values that keeps us going. It helps us resist temptation, take the difficult road, keep on enduring, and put ourselves in harm’s way, when necessary. It is what makes a man fight for his country, and a missionary travel to the ends of the earth. It is what we love and believe.
This spiritual basis is not just a feeling. It is farther down than feelings. People will act contrary to all their feelings if they do it for love or loyalty. There is something that cries out to be part of something greater than ourselves. We want to have contributed, not only to our family, but to our world.
Years ago there was a psychiatrist named Maslow, who came up with an idea he called the "priority of need." He said that if a man is hungry he will think about nothing but food. If he is insecure, he will think about nothing but security. But if a man is full and if he is secure, he will think about other things--love, a family, friendship. If he has those things, then he will seek for something else--something he called "self-actualization." It is having a purpose in life. We do not want to think that we've lived and died in vain.
I disagree with Maslow in one way. I think that this desire for a reason to live is far deeper than food or drink, or security. I think everyone, no matter where they might be, needs to have a reason to live.
And the first place people go who need a reason to live is to their church.
God promised Jeremiah this when he said “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not evil to give you an end and a purpose.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
God has a plan and purpose for our lives.
Unfortunately, many will walk away from church without a reason. They will leave frustrated and disappointed, because the church does not give them a reason to live.
Try to imagine what it is like for the poor seeker who comes to church. He comes looking for a challenge, a real God, and real love. He wants to be part of God’s great movement in
But what does the seeker get instead? He hears tired old songs, incomprehensible messages, meaningless rituals, and people who look as though they can't wait to get out and go home. The messages are aimed at soothing and comforting those who are already saved. The seeker does not want soothing and comforting. He wants a fresh challenge and a holy cause. It's frustrating for a seeker, especially a young seeker, to find that the church has no reason to exist, except to keep its own members comfortable. It is as though they showed up at the army recruiters and discovered they were meeting inside the lobby of a nursing home. They take one look at the people around him, and leaves because he thinks he’s gone to the wrong place.
What is your reason for living? Don’t say that your reason for living is to get to heaven—that’s our reason for dying, not living. That’s like saying that the reason for doing your job is to retire. We need more than that—some reason for being here in this life. We need to know why we are doing what we are doing.
There was once a king named Solomon. He had great wisdom and knowledge. He had literally hundreds of women at his beck and call. He had all the money he could stand. He had absolute power. But none of this gave him a reaon to live. He said of it all, "Meaningless--it is all meaningless." After he explored wine, women, wealth, and wisdom, he still could not find a reason to live.
Most people live like Solomon without the wealth and power. They live for pleasure, wealth, or fame. As long as they can have a good time, then they do not care whether life has a meaning or not. In the end, though, money fades, along with power and glory. Even the people we love on earth, even our family disappears in the end/
Suppose some day we stand before God and God asks us "what have you made with the life I have let you borrow?" Would we say. "I sat six hours a day in front of my big screen TV all week, and spent two days on the lake in my motor boat. I owned a vacation home, listening to my music, and partied whenever I got the chance?" Meaningless, Solomon said--all is meaningless.
There is something I've noticed about some people who become wealthy. They are no happier than the poor. The rich seem to go through three stages. First, they use their wealth to meet their needs, and their family's needs. That ought to make them happy, but I usually doesn’t. Then they feel the need to play with their wealth. They fulfill their wildest desires. But after a while, this, too becomes boring. Finally, they get an itch to do something important with their money. They give to charity, politics, or religion. They look for a reason to spend, and a cause to suppoer.
I wish it were true for all rich people, but it is not. Some people never grasp that were given what they have to give what they can. Too late, they recognize Solomon’s words-- "Meaningless--all is meaningless."
It was not until late in his life that Solomon understood it’s meaning. He wrote in Ecc. 12:13-14 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
You don't have to be as rich or as smart as Solomon to find the meaning. You don't even have to read Solomon’s book. Just flip to the back page and read the conclusion. We exist to fear and obey God. He is the meaning of life.
How do we do that?
First know what you believe. Don't settle for secondhand faith. Is fearing God and obeying His commandments really foremost in us? Or do we say that because we think we are supposed to say it?
We are all too quick to let others think for us. We often are guilty not putting what we hear to the test. As a result, when tests come, we find that our faith is not as strong as we thought. Second hand religion produces secondhand lives--lives that are carbon copies of those we have observed, without any divine spark of purpose. Secondhand faith does not really inspire
us to deep purpose or sacrifice.
In Herman Hesse's novel Siddharta, a seeker after truth in India spend years searching for the Buddha. When he finally meets the Buddha, he receives an invitation to become a disciple. The man turns him down. When the Buddha asks why, he replies tha the wants what Buddha has, not just o follow him. He wants bo be enlightened, not to live off he enlightenment of others. This ought to be the vision of we Christians. We want to now Christ, not to just know those who know Christ. We want to serve Christ, not to serve those who serve Christ. This kind of faith cannot be arrived at without struggle.
Second, know what is really important. Don't waste time on secondhand goals.
There is only one leading north from Waxhaw--highway 16. They have been working on that intersection and it has been shut down. Now, suppose I went to the drug store, taking my usual, and came to that detour. Instead of going around, I park my car and wait until they reopened the street. My real goal is not to pass through that intersection, bt to get to the other side. That would be confusing the road with the destination.
We confuse our road with our destination. The church could use a building, but our goal is not to build church buildings. We make money, but now to have money. We don’t even raise children for their sake, but to instill in them the same reason for existence as we have ourselves. God is the purpose for our being, and all other things take second place.
Third, constantly reinforce the truth. Don't settle for being a "cross-eyed" Christian. Know our purpose does not end our struggle. Our minds must be conquered for Him, bringing every thought into captivity for His divine purpose.
Faith requires constant reinforcement. Even Paul had to to this. See Phil 3:13-14
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Moses put it this way in Deut 6:4-9 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Today, no doubt, he would put it differently. He might say “Hang them as pictures on your walls. Put them as bumper stickers on your cars. Make them the screen savers on your computers. God wants us to put Him in before us at all times. That’s because God knows how easily we forget. So we must keep being reminded that we have a reason to live.
A Reason to
Listening
1 Kings 19:11-13
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
There are two kinds of people in this world—those who hear God speaking, and those who do not. Most of us fall in this latter category. We hear God only rarely, if at all. When we do, it is usually through some indirect means such as the Bible or a sermon. We do not expect that God will speak directly to us, because we live in a world that is rational and pragmatic. To us, a thunderstorm is just a thunderstorm, and an earthquake is jus an earthquake. We don’t listen for the voice of God in them as Elijah did.
We don’t hear directly from God very often, and truthfully we like it that way. Divine revelation comes from a world we cannot control or understand. It upsets our feeling of being in control of our own existence. That is why we neither seek nor do we expect to hear God’s voice. We wake in the morning and go to bed at night with no expectation of dreams, visions, or omens.
Even so, there are a few people who fit into the former category. They hear from God all the time. They hear from God in the same way others hear from their wives or husbands. Everything that happens to them is a sign of God’s presence.
Most of my life has been spent among people who did not regularly hear from God. Even as a believer, I had no expectation that I would regularly hear from Him. Outside of some vague feelings of peace, I really could not say there was much actual communication from Him—neither did anyone I knew claim to have direct contact with the Almighty.
Then in the summer between high school and college I worked at a Christian summer camp in the mountains of Tennessee. There were church services twice a day at the camp, and all kinds of pastors and evangelists came and went from the camp. One of them was a man who claimed to have seen angels. I asked him if he had really ever seen an angel. He replied “Yes, there’s one standing over there in the corner.” Was he crazy? Or was he a man who actually was able to see angels.
In the Bible, some people had the ability to peer into the spiritual realms. Jacob had dreams of angels. Joseph was an interpreter of dreams. God spoke regularly with Adam and Eve. Noah heard from God and built the ark. Abraham heard from God and left his country. Moses heard the Ten Commandments and the Law. During the Exodus, God went before his people in a pillar of fire. The Prophets were all called by God, and spoke the oracles of God. John heard from God and wrote about the end of the world. Throughout the Bible people communicated directly with God.
The great men and women of the Bible all had this in common—they heard God. Think about the wisest man in the Bible (Solomon). His intelligence did not make him wise. Whatever wisdom he had came from his communication with God. Think about the most foolish hero in the Bible (Samson). He became great in spite of being foolish, because he knew how to draw on the power of God. Listening to God is made both of them great. Neither were paragons of virtue, but when they listened and obeyed, they were great.
Yet most Christians do not expect to hear from God. Why?
We have been told that God speaks to man only infrequently--and there is some justification for this. In the Bible, there are often hundreds of years between divine visitations. When God speaks, not everyone hears Him. Even if He is speaking, we may not listen.
Why God chooses to speak clearly only infrequently I do not know. But God has caused a veil to fall between us and the full extent of His majesty and presence. In the Bible, we sometimes see examples of people who encounter God, and anyone who did was permanently changed. The direct sight of God in our bodies of flesh strikes us with fear and terror. God usually appears veiled to us in the natural, so that we may stand His presence.
But God does reveal Himself in indirect ways. God shows Himself in the creation of the World. He has also revealed him in the written record of His acts on earth—the Bible. God handles us with the gloves of this rational world. But if we are discerning, and recognize His presence behind all things, we encounter him every day.
Prayer is part talking, but mainly listening. So why don’t we hear His voice more often? Why don’t we see angels, or have visions? Why do we not hear the quiet whisper?
Hearing God requires three things—faith, calmness, and discipline.
Faith is the assurance that God still speaks to people today. In the Bible, God sometimes spoke in an audible voice--through dreams, visions and signs. The way God speaks is through impressions in the heart. We feel His voice more than hear it. This is where faith comes in. We learn to trust the inner voice of the Father.
Those who hear God’s voice often believe that they will. They are looking for it. Everything that happens might be an omen. Every dream might be a message. Every impression of the heart must be paid attention to. God can speak through anything and anywhere.
I do not mean to say that every impression is of God. But some impressions of the heart are from God, so we had better listen to them.
In regard to divine impressions, it is a good rule to keep four harbor lights in sight when we navigate those waters. First--the written Word of God. Second--the witness of the Spirit in our heart. Third--circumstances that God arranges. Last--the witness of others. Before we make a serious decision based on an impression, we should wait until the lights line up.
Here’s a rule of thumb on divine impressions. If it involves no risk or inconvenience, then we should do it immediately. But if God is telling us to do something that is life-changing, we should seek careful confirmation before we act upon it. That confirmation should come from circumstances, other believers, the Bible, as well as the inner voice of the heart. If God wants us to move in a certain direction, He will make it abundantly clear before we go.
Calmness is a second prerequisite to hearing listening to God. We must stop what we are doing and listen. To hear the voice of God, we must learn to be calm. Psalm 131 says I have calmed and quieted my soul. Until we learn to be calm, we cannot hear that still small voice.
How do we get calm? First of all, we need to turn off the noise and distractions. We who live in a technological age are seldom calm and quiet. We are bombarded with sensory overload. If we are to hear God clearly, then we must break free of all this. We must get away and listen.
This cannot happen overnight. But it can be done, even in the busiest of lives. Remember that God wants time alone with you, even if you don’t want time with Him. He desires to speak with you more than you desire to listen.
We are not likely to hear God’s voice over the television or radio noise. We have to get alone in a quiet place. If you are still trying to have devotions between commercials or driving down the road, you will probably miss much of what God is saying. So lay aside your outward distractions, and concentrate on that “still small voice” within.
There are many techniques. One is to take a single verse each day, repeat it to yourself, over and over until you have memorized it. Concentrating on one verse or phrase can help you focus on Him. Clear your mind of everything but thoughts of Him, and then look at the world around you.
Have you ever seen a “magic eye” picture? When you first see it, it looks like a meaningless pattern. But usually there are two dots at the bottom.
If you look at the two dots, then cross your eyes until the two dots seem to come together. Then when you look at the picture and be still, a picture seems to emerge from the mess, and hover above the page. By focusing on the dots and looking away, you see the message in the mess. The same is true with hearing from God. Once we focus on Him, we can see the method in the mess around us.
The third prerequisite is discipline. Discipline is denying those feelings which we think of as natural instincts for a higher purpose.
Listening to God also must become a habit. God speaks to us primarily in two ways—through the Word of God, and the Spirit of God. If we are to hear God, we must discipline ourselves to constantly seek the Word of God. The Word of God to us is the Bible.
One thing we can know about God is that He will never contradict the truth that He has already said. Our God is a God of consistency and order. That is why we need to make a constant, lifetime study of the Bible. The Bible is a record of what He said to the people of God in the past. Nothing that God says to us today will contradict what He has said in the past.
One of the names for the Bible is the “canon” of Scripture. “Canon” means a plumb line, a weight on a string used to test whether a building is truly perpendicular. The words of the Bible give us a measure of whether or not we have heard correctly.
As we begin to listen, it is vitally important that we read the whole Bible in a systematic fashion. If we only read portions of it, who knows what we might be missing.
We need to have humility while we read. There are many things in the Bible that a casual reader may not comprehend. That is why commentaries and other Bible helps are so important. Those who know the Bible can help us interpret it correctly.
Throughout church history, whenever God wanted to change His people’s direction, he usually did it through someone reading the Bible, and discovering something they had missed. When the church of the Middle Ages was going in the wrong direction, God showed Martin Luther a single verse in Romans “The just shall live by faith.” This revelation from the Scriptures changed the course of world history.
God may not change history through what He shows you in the Bible, but He will certainly change your life and direction.
God has a message for you. You must seek that message through faith, calmness, and discipline.
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
There are two kinds of people in this world—those who hear God speaking, and those who do not. Most of us fall in this latter category. We hear God only rarely, if at all. When we do, it is usually through some indirect means such as the Bible or a sermon. We do not expect that God will speak directly to us, because we live in a world that is rational and pragmatic. To us, a thunderstorm is just a thunderstorm, and an earthquake is jus an earthquake. We don’t listen for the voice of God in them as Elijah did.
We don’t hear directly from God very often, and truthfully we like it that way. Divine revelation comes from a world we cannot control or understand. It upsets our feeling of being in control of our own existence. That is why we neither seek nor do we expect to hear God’s voice. We wake in the morning and go to bed at night with no expectation of dreams, visions, or omens.
Even so, there are a few people who fit into the former category. They hear from God all the time. They hear from God in the same way others hear from their wives or husbands. Everything that happens to them is a sign of God’s presence.
Most of my life has been spent among people who did not regularly hear from God. Even as a believer, I had no expectation that I would regularly hear from Him. Outside of some vague feelings of peace, I really could not say there was much actual communication from Him—neither did anyone I knew claim to have direct contact with the Almighty.
Then in the summer between high school and college I worked at a Christian summer camp in the mountains of Tennessee. There were church services twice a day at the camp, and all kinds of pastors and evangelists came and went from the camp. One of them was a man who claimed to have seen angels. I asked him if he had really ever seen an angel. He replied “Yes, there’s one standing over there in the corner.” Was he crazy? Or was he a man who actually was able to see angels.
In the Bible, some people had the ability to peer into the spiritual realms. Jacob had dreams of angels. Joseph was an interpreter of dreams. God spoke regularly with Adam and Eve. Noah heard from God and built the ark. Abraham heard from God and left his country. Moses heard the Ten Commandments and the Law. During the Exodus, God went before his people in a pillar of fire. The Prophets were all called by God, and spoke the oracles of God. John heard from God and wrote about the end of the world. Throughout the Bible people communicated directly with God.
The great men and women of the Bible all had this in common—they heard God. Think about the wisest man in the Bible (Solomon). His intelligence did not make him wise. Whatever wisdom he had came from his communication with God. Think about the most foolish hero in the Bible (Samson). He became great in spite of being foolish, because he knew how to draw on the power of God. Listening to God is made both of them great. Neither were paragons of virtue, but when they listened and obeyed, they were great.
Yet most Christians do not expect to hear from God. Why?
We have been told that God speaks to man only infrequently--and there is some justification for this. In the Bible, there are often hundreds of years between divine visitations. When God speaks, not everyone hears Him. Even if He is speaking, we may not listen.
Why God chooses to speak clearly only infrequently I do not know. But God has caused a veil to fall between us and the full extent of His majesty and presence. In the Bible, we sometimes see examples of people who encounter God, and anyone who did was permanently changed. The direct sight of God in our bodies of flesh strikes us with fear and terror. God usually appears veiled to us in the natural, so that we may stand His presence.
But God does reveal Himself in indirect ways. God shows Himself in the creation of the World. He has also revealed him in the written record of His acts on earth—the Bible. God handles us with the gloves of this rational world. But if we are discerning, and recognize His presence behind all things, we encounter him every day.
Prayer is part talking, but mainly listening. So why don’t we hear His voice more often? Why don’t we see angels, or have visions? Why do we not hear the quiet whisper?
Hearing God requires three things—faith, calmness, and discipline.
Faith is the assurance that God still speaks to people today. In the Bible, God sometimes spoke in an audible voice--through dreams, visions and signs. The way God speaks is through impressions in the heart. We feel His voice more than hear it. This is where faith comes in. We learn to trust the inner voice of the Father.
Those who hear God’s voice often believe that they will. They are looking for it. Everything that happens might be an omen. Every dream might be a message. Every impression of the heart must be paid attention to. God can speak through anything and anywhere.
I do not mean to say that every impression is of God. But some impressions of the heart are from God, so we had better listen to them.
In regard to divine impressions, it is a good rule to keep four harbor lights in sight when we navigate those waters. First--the written Word of God. Second--the witness of the Spirit in our heart. Third--circumstances that God arranges. Last--the witness of others. Before we make a serious decision based on an impression, we should wait until the lights line up.
Here’s a rule of thumb on divine impressions. If it involves no risk or inconvenience, then we should do it immediately. But if God is telling us to do something that is life-changing, we should seek careful confirmation before we act upon it. That confirmation should come from circumstances, other believers, the Bible, as well as the inner voice of the heart. If God wants us to move in a certain direction, He will make it abundantly clear before we go.
Calmness is a second prerequisite to hearing listening to God. We must stop what we are doing and listen. To hear the voice of God, we must learn to be calm. Psalm 131 says I have calmed and quieted my soul. Until we learn to be calm, we cannot hear that still small voice.
How do we get calm? First of all, we need to turn off the noise and distractions. We who live in a technological age are seldom calm and quiet. We are bombarded with sensory overload. If we are to hear God clearly, then we must break free of all this. We must get away and listen.
This cannot happen overnight. But it can be done, even in the busiest of lives. Remember that God wants time alone with you, even if you don’t want time with Him. He desires to speak with you more than you desire to listen.
We are not likely to hear God’s voice over the television or radio noise. We have to get alone in a quiet place. If you are still trying to have devotions between commercials or driving down the road, you will probably miss much of what God is saying. So lay aside your outward distractions, and concentrate on that “still small voice” within.
There are many techniques. One is to take a single verse each day, repeat it to yourself, over and over until you have memorized it. Concentrating on one verse or phrase can help you focus on Him. Clear your mind of everything but thoughts of Him, and then look at the world around you.
Have you ever seen a “magic eye” picture? When you first see it, it looks like a meaningless pattern. But usually there are two dots at the bottom.
If you look at the two dots, then cross your eyes until the two dots seem to come together. Then when you look at the picture and be still, a picture seems to emerge from the mess, and hover above the page. By focusing on the dots and looking away, you see the message in the mess. The same is true with hearing from God. Once we focus on Him, we can see the method in the mess around us.
The third prerequisite is discipline. Discipline is denying those feelings which we think of as natural instincts for a higher purpose.
Listening to God also must become a habit. God speaks to us primarily in two ways—through the Word of God, and the Spirit of God. If we are to hear God, we must discipline ourselves to constantly seek the Word of God. The Word of God to us is the Bible.
One thing we can know about God is that He will never contradict the truth that He has already said. Our God is a God of consistency and order. That is why we need to make a constant, lifetime study of the Bible. The Bible is a record of what He said to the people of God in the past. Nothing that God says to us today will contradict what He has said in the past.
One of the names for the Bible is the “canon” of Scripture. “Canon” means a plumb line, a weight on a string used to test whether a building is truly perpendicular. The words of the Bible give us a measure of whether or not we have heard correctly.
As we begin to listen, it is vitally important that we read the whole Bible in a systematic fashion. If we only read portions of it, who knows what we might be missing.
We need to have humility while we read. There are many things in the Bible that a casual reader may not comprehend. That is why commentaries and other Bible helps are so important. Those who know the Bible can help us interpret it correctly.
Throughout church history, whenever God wanted to change His people’s direction, he usually did it through someone reading the Bible, and discovering something they had missed. When the church of the Middle Ages was going in the wrong direction, God showed Martin Luther a single verse in Romans “The just shall live by faith.” This revelation from the Scriptures changed the course of world history.
God may not change history through what He shows you in the Bible, but He will certainly change your life and direction.
God has a message for you. You must seek that message through faith, calmness, and discipline.
The Prayer of Asking
We have been learning about the various skills that go into effective prayer.
The meaning of the word "pray" means “to ask.” This aspect of prayer is also called petition.
Jesus said this.
Matt 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 for everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke 18:6-8 and will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
John 14:13-14 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Jesus wants us to ask, so he can give. Yet we act as if it is an imposition!
re are dangers in petition, of course. Here are a few examples of prayer that God will not answer.
“God, I want to die!”
“God, punish him!”
“God, help me win this game!”
“God, let me win the lottery!”
“God, let me live forever!”
“God, take away this test!”
I confess that there is much about prier I do not understand. But one thing I do not, God desires us to be utterly dependent upon Him in all things. He wants us to uphold us, because He loves us. There is no good logical reason for this. It is an emotional desire of God to be loved. Just as worldly parents desire to care for their children, so our heavenly father desires to take care of His.
But how do we petition God? What do we ask for? How do we know what He wants us to ask? God has given us a pattern for effective petition in the Lord’s Prayer.
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to prayer. Other rabbis often gave his disciples prayers to pray. But there is nothing in the passage to suggest that Jesus was giving them the Lord’s Prayer simply to repeat. This was a pattern prayer—an example that still applies today.
The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6: 9-13.
The Lord’s Prayer is not some kind of mantra to be repeated by rote. It is a pattern for our prayer life, and a revealer of God’s desire. It shows us both in what order we should pray for things, and how we should pray or hem. It is a brilliant piece of work.
Let’s see it piece by piece.
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed is Thy Name.”
The first lesson we learn from the Lord’s Prayer is that God cares more about the “who” in our relationship than the “what.” God doesn’t care what your prayers sound like, or if you get the words right. All he cares about is that first and foremost we acknowledge Him to be our holy Lord as well as our divine Father. Our relationship matters to Him.
In New York they have automats. It is a mechanical restaurant, without waitresses or cooks. Everything is prepackaged. You just stick your coins in the appropriate slots and out comes fruit, apple pies, sandwiches, and soups, whatever. You never have to talk to a real person at all.
This might be an efficient way of distributing food, but it is not very appealing. People like to receive their meals from people, not from slots. We like to have waitresses take our order. We enjoy the touch of a human hand. It’s nice to know the person giving us the food.
God is not an automat. Our spiritual nourishment comes from a relationship with Him. Prayer begins with an acknowledgement of that relationship. If we cannot say that God is our Father and our Lord, then don’t ask for anything until we get our relationship straight. He is our Father, and He is holy. This is praise—the acknowledgement of who God is and what He has done for us.
“Our Father” he says--not just “My Father“ but ours. There is a second relationship at play here. We are not just related to God, but to all who stand praying beside us. Our prayers are not just something we do as individuals, but we also are part of a praying and loving group of people. We are first part of an “our” and secondarily a “my.” God wants us to pray for our group needs first before e pray for our personal ones.
“Thy Kingdom Come.” This is a call to join in God’s battle against global darkness. Darkness. Before we pray for anything else, remember that the needs of the world are greater than our own little circle. It is a desire to see God’s kingdom grow.
Imagine we were praying for our country. “Lord, let America grow.” What would that prayer imply? It would imply that America was to perfect, that it was not yet big enough. We would be saying that we want America to encompass more land and more people. We would be praying that the government we enjoy would be expanded to include others.
That’s the problem with most of our prayers. We really don’t want God’s kingdom to grow. Can we truthfully say we want the people around us in the church? Do we want all races, all classes to be represented in the church? Or would we rather see only our faithful few people our own race, our own culture, our own music.
Culture is defined by the externals—language, clothing, music, customs. When we want the church to look like it always did and sound like it always did, and when we resent others who might make it different, then we are saying essentially that we are only interested in the Kingdom of God coming to those who are already much like ourselves. We would rather see the kingdom isolated. Therefore, we cannot pray with all sincerity “Thy kingdom come.” We only want the kingdom to come to our own little place and group.
When we pray “Thy Kingdom come,” We need to get down to specifics. What part of the world do you want Jesus to come to? Where are the greatest needs? Who needs to be overcome by the Kingdom of God? When do you want to see it? How can we best help in the bringing in of the Kingdom? These specifics make it more real to us.
“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Do we pray for social improvement? Are there places in our world that do not conform to God’s will?
Often this petition is misunderstood. It is prayed as a kind of fatalistic acquiescence to the will of God, a kind of excuse for our prayers not being answered. If all “thy will be done” meant was, “God do whatever you wish,” then why pray it at all. Do you think that a sovereign, almighty God needs our approval or encouragement to do His will? This is not necessary, and may even be hindrance to effective prayer. God already knows His will.
This is a call to action, not passivity. We should be praying that His Will be true in all the earth.
Before we pray for ourselves, lift up the needs of others. Pray “God, let Your Will come in my neighbor’s life” before we ask that it come in our own.
Again, this calls us to ask for specifics. What specific circumstances in the world need to change? Where is the world tour of God’s will? Where does it need to be more like heaven?
Think about the Christians who behind the Iron Curtain. They prayed for the Berlin Wall to come down. Then one day it did. Think about the Christians during World War II. They prayed that Hitler would be defeated, and one day he was. Think about the many slaves who prayed for their freedom and then were free. They were praying for the Will of God to come. Prayer was an effective a weapon as tanks, planes, or the atomic bomb.
When you pray for the will of God, pray for specifics. Where in your community, in your world, in your neighborhood does the will of God need to be realized? When we ask specifically we get specific answers.
“Give us this day, our daily bread.”
Pray for our own needs—after we have prayed for others. When we do, we should boldly state them.
“Daily” is a key word. Most of us desire a safe, regular, and predictable life. But a safe, predictable life does not force us to pray. God wants us to seek safety in Him, not in careful planning or worldly security. He is our refuge for the future. Anything else that appears to guarantee us safety forever eventually becomes an idol.
There are three reasons for this. First, because He loves us and wants us to be happy. Second, because he wants us to be effective in our service of Him. Third, because it builds our faith.
Faith is like exercise. The more you stretch, the stronger you become. Start of by asking for little things. Then you can believe for big things.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Near the end, the Lord’s Prayer includes a petition of confession and forgiveness. Notice that this confession comes after our daily bread. God’s provision for us is not based on our confession or our forgiveness, but upon His love for us, which has no conditions. He gives to us because He wants to give.
Because of His love to us, we owe a debt to him. This is not a legal obligation, but an obligation of love. When we fail God, we need to ask his forgiveness. First, we acknowledge that we have sinned. Then we acknowledge that we have been saved. It is a process that Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ called “spiritual breathing.” We exhale our sins and inhale forgiveness.
Then Jesus connects our forgiveness with the forgiveness of others. God is very serious about us forgiving those who have wronged us, just as He is serious about forgiving us. Our unforgiveness of others is the single greatest sin we commit that comes between us and Him.
Again bring this down to specifics. Who has wronged you that you have not forgiven? What specific thing sod you need forgiveness for? It is up to God to show us what forgiveness really means.
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from The Evil One.” Temptation is inevitable, but yielding is not. We can resist. There is an Evil One. We pray not only for deliverance from temptation but also for deliverance from the Devil.
Anyone who thinks he can defeat Satan by his own power is a fool. Any one of us can defeat Satan, and resist temptation, but only by relying on the power of God.
There is one more portion of the Lord’s Prayer, as we are used to say it. “For Thine are the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.” There is a textual problem in this passage. Some ancient manuscripts include it that others do not. It is possible that these words may have been authentically Jesus’ words, and it was only recorded in some manuscripts. It is also possible that it was a translator’s note that got included later by copying. Whether or not it is authentic, it is true. It is His Kingdom, His Power, and His Glory. He is glorified by giving us what w asks and we ask to glorify Him. Anyone who asks Him will not be ashamed. God will give us what we ask, when we take the time to ask.
The meaning of the word "pray" means “to ask.” This aspect of prayer is also called petition.
Jesus said this.
Matt 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 for everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke 18:6-8 and will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
John 14:13-14 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Jesus wants us to ask, so he can give. Yet we act as if it is an imposition!
re are dangers in petition, of course. Here are a few examples of prayer that God will not answer.
“God, I want to die!”
“God, punish him!”
“God, help me win this game!”
“God, let me win the lottery!”
“God, let me live forever!”
“God, take away this test!”
I confess that there is much about prier I do not understand. But one thing I do not, God desires us to be utterly dependent upon Him in all things. He wants us to uphold us, because He loves us. There is no good logical reason for this. It is an emotional desire of God to be loved. Just as worldly parents desire to care for their children, so our heavenly father desires to take care of His.
But how do we petition God? What do we ask for? How do we know what He wants us to ask? God has given us a pattern for effective petition in the Lord’s Prayer.
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to prayer. Other rabbis often gave his disciples prayers to pray. But there is nothing in the passage to suggest that Jesus was giving them the Lord’s Prayer simply to repeat. This was a pattern prayer—an example that still applies today.
The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6: 9-13.
The Lord’s Prayer is not some kind of mantra to be repeated by rote. It is a pattern for our prayer life, and a revealer of God’s desire. It shows us both in what order we should pray for things, and how we should pray or hem. It is a brilliant piece of work.
Let’s see it piece by piece.
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed is Thy Name.”
The first lesson we learn from the Lord’s Prayer is that God cares more about the “who” in our relationship than the “what.” God doesn’t care what your prayers sound like, or if you get the words right. All he cares about is that first and foremost we acknowledge Him to be our holy Lord as well as our divine Father. Our relationship matters to Him.
In New York they have automats. It is a mechanical restaurant, without waitresses or cooks. Everything is prepackaged. You just stick your coins in the appropriate slots and out comes fruit, apple pies, sandwiches, and soups, whatever. You never have to talk to a real person at all.
This might be an efficient way of distributing food, but it is not very appealing. People like to receive their meals from people, not from slots. We like to have waitresses take our order. We enjoy the touch of a human hand. It’s nice to know the person giving us the food.
God is not an automat. Our spiritual nourishment comes from a relationship with Him. Prayer begins with an acknowledgement of that relationship. If we cannot say that God is our Father and our Lord, then don’t ask for anything until we get our relationship straight. He is our Father, and He is holy. This is praise—the acknowledgement of who God is and what He has done for us.
“Our Father” he says--not just “My Father“ but ours. There is a second relationship at play here. We are not just related to God, but to all who stand praying beside us. Our prayers are not just something we do as individuals, but we also are part of a praying and loving group of people. We are first part of an “our” and secondarily a “my.” God wants us to pray for our group needs first before e pray for our personal ones.
“Thy Kingdom Come.” This is a call to join in God’s battle against global darkness. Darkness. Before we pray for anything else, remember that the needs of the world are greater than our own little circle. It is a desire to see God’s kingdom grow.
Imagine we were praying for our country. “Lord, let America grow.” What would that prayer imply? It would imply that America was to perfect, that it was not yet big enough. We would be saying that we want America to encompass more land and more people. We would be praying that the government we enjoy would be expanded to include others.
That’s the problem with most of our prayers. We really don’t want God’s kingdom to grow. Can we truthfully say we want the people around us in the church? Do we want all races, all classes to be represented in the church? Or would we rather see only our faithful few people our own race, our own culture, our own music.
Culture is defined by the externals—language, clothing, music, customs. When we want the church to look like it always did and sound like it always did, and when we resent others who might make it different, then we are saying essentially that we are only interested in the Kingdom of God coming to those who are already much like ourselves. We would rather see the kingdom isolated. Therefore, we cannot pray with all sincerity “Thy kingdom come.” We only want the kingdom to come to our own little place and group.
When we pray “Thy Kingdom come,” We need to get down to specifics. What part of the world do you want Jesus to come to? Where are the greatest needs? Who needs to be overcome by the Kingdom of God? When do you want to see it? How can we best help in the bringing in of the Kingdom? These specifics make it more real to us.
“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Do we pray for social improvement? Are there places in our world that do not conform to God’s will?
Often this petition is misunderstood. It is prayed as a kind of fatalistic acquiescence to the will of God, a kind of excuse for our prayers not being answered. If all “thy will be done” meant was, “God do whatever you wish,” then why pray it at all. Do you think that a sovereign, almighty God needs our approval or encouragement to do His will? This is not necessary, and may even be hindrance to effective prayer. God already knows His will.
This is a call to action, not passivity. We should be praying that His Will be true in all the earth.
Before we pray for ourselves, lift up the needs of others. Pray “God, let Your Will come in my neighbor’s life” before we ask that it come in our own.
Again, this calls us to ask for specifics. What specific circumstances in the world need to change? Where is the world tour of God’s will? Where does it need to be more like heaven?
Think about the Christians who behind the Iron Curtain. They prayed for the Berlin Wall to come down. Then one day it did. Think about the Christians during World War II. They prayed that Hitler would be defeated, and one day he was. Think about the many slaves who prayed for their freedom and then were free. They were praying for the Will of God to come. Prayer was an effective a weapon as tanks, planes, or the atomic bomb.
When you pray for the will of God, pray for specifics. Where in your community, in your world, in your neighborhood does the will of God need to be realized? When we ask specifically we get specific answers.
“Give us this day, our daily bread.”
Pray for our own needs—after we have prayed for others. When we do, we should boldly state them.
“Daily” is a key word. Most of us desire a safe, regular, and predictable life. But a safe, predictable life does not force us to pray. God wants us to seek safety in Him, not in careful planning or worldly security. He is our refuge for the future. Anything else that appears to guarantee us safety forever eventually becomes an idol.
There are three reasons for this. First, because He loves us and wants us to be happy. Second, because he wants us to be effective in our service of Him. Third, because it builds our faith.
Faith is like exercise. The more you stretch, the stronger you become. Start of by asking for little things. Then you can believe for big things.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Near the end, the Lord’s Prayer includes a petition of confession and forgiveness. Notice that this confession comes after our daily bread. God’s provision for us is not based on our confession or our forgiveness, but upon His love for us, which has no conditions. He gives to us because He wants to give.
Because of His love to us, we owe a debt to him. This is not a legal obligation, but an obligation of love. When we fail God, we need to ask his forgiveness. First, we acknowledge that we have sinned. Then we acknowledge that we have been saved. It is a process that Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ called “spiritual breathing.” We exhale our sins and inhale forgiveness.
Then Jesus connects our forgiveness with the forgiveness of others. God is very serious about us forgiving those who have wronged us, just as He is serious about forgiving us. Our unforgiveness of others is the single greatest sin we commit that comes between us and Him.
Again bring this down to specifics. Who has wronged you that you have not forgiven? What specific thing sod you need forgiveness for? It is up to God to show us what forgiveness really means.
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from The Evil One.” Temptation is inevitable, but yielding is not. We can resist. There is an Evil One. We pray not only for deliverance from temptation but also for deliverance from the Devil.
Anyone who thinks he can defeat Satan by his own power is a fool. Any one of us can defeat Satan, and resist temptation, but only by relying on the power of God.
There is one more portion of the Lord’s Prayer, as we are used to say it. “For Thine are the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.” There is a textual problem in this passage. Some ancient manuscripts include it that others do not. It is possible that these words may have been authentically Jesus’ words, and it was only recorded in some manuscripts. It is also possible that it was a translator’s note that got included later by copying. Whether or not it is authentic, it is true. It is His Kingdom, His Power, and His Glory. He is glorified by giving us what w asks and we ask to glorify Him. Anyone who asks Him will not be ashamed. God will give us what we ask, when we take the time to ask.
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