Thursday: Talking to God 4

And He said unto them when ye pray, say our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come Thy will be done as in Heaven so in earth, give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. What a great morning, for as I am typing the message I am watching local news that is showing people praying for their jobs and the jobs of others. Yes, really praying is making the news in Harrisburg Pa. this morning. PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD.

Today is Thursday, and it is families days on this line, the day we pray for families. Yes, today I am asking that each of you pray for your own family, also your neighbors' family. And as always please pray for the family of God. That would be all who are born again, and remember we are to go forth and multiply, so let's go forth spreading the word of God.

Talking to God 4: Yes, we have been talking all week about talking to God and different ways we can do just that. Today and tomorrow, I want to look into the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, the prayer we call the Lord's prayer and what it really means to me. Let me start by asking you this question. Have you ever stopped to think about just what this prayer means? Lets get to work!

Luke 11: 2/4
2 And He said unto them "when ye pray, say our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come Thy will be done as in Heaven so in earth.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." (King James Version)

OUR FATHER === It means that we all have God as our Heavenly Father. Please note right now how Jesus told us to address our Father in Heaven. Jesus said "our Father". While God can be all things to us, God the Father is indeed just that. He is not a woman, not a child, male or female, He is not a large tree, or some hunk of iron we call cars. God the Father in Heaven is Father to each of us, each and every one of us. Even those who hate Him! Also let me point this out here and now. Jesus also said as recorded in John 14: 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to The Father except through me." In John 16: 32, Jesus said "But a time is coming and has come when you will be scattered each to his own home, you will leave me all alone, yet I am not alone, for My Father is with Me." There are other places in the Bible where God is referred to as The Father. We who are Born Again believers all have the same Father in Heaven. Now with all that said, does God The Father ever appear to us, or do we see Him in things? I do, and I am sure if you really think about it, you would also agree that God does indeed appear to us. No better time to think about it than in the spring as we see new growth coming up through the ground.

WHO ART IN HEAVEN. === This is telling me where our Father lives, where His home is, and where if we all love and honor Jesus and are Born Again in the Spirit of the Lord, and we believe that Jesus died for our sins and was risen from the dead, this is where we will reside. Meaning we are going to dwell in Our Fathers House. Wow, what a homecoming that will be. Listen to this also in the Bible and in the words of Jesus. John 14: 2: "In My Fathers house there many rooms, I shall go and prepare a place for you." We are also told that in Heaven there is a "Pearly Gate, and streets of Gold". And brothers and sisters, Heaven, where our Father is, is one of two places we can spend our hereafter ... Heaven or Hell, and it is our choice. Yes, it is our choice. Jesus paved the way, it is now up to us.

HALLOWED === This means to devote to holy or religious uses, to reverence as sacred. This by the way is a "Praise prayer". Remember I talked yesterday about the five types of prayer, this word when used in this prayer is Praise.

BE THY NAME === When this is put together with "Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed, be Thy Name, it is telling us that we always need to reverence His name. And we should reverence all of His names as He does have more than one. That message which I have written before will come again someday. It also tells us that His name, being Hallowed or Sacred, should never be used as a curse word or any part of cursing. Caution, we are to praise the Name of our Father, and not curse it.

THY KINGDOM COME === Listen to me on this, when we pray this prayer, when we pray this part of this prayer, we are asking God The Father to send our Lord Jesus back for us. Think about it as you pray this prayer. I am ready for Jesus to come back, are you? When you pray this prayer, have you ever given much thought that you are asking God to send Jesus back? Remember these words from John 14: 3: Where Jesus said: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am". We really need to be thinking about what we pray about, and that is no different when it comes to our Lord's prayer.

Ok, that is enough for today, please pray with me now, once again, and this time really think about what you are praying about. Today we are going to be a tad different as we pray it as record in Luke ... still the same prayer.

Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come Thy will be done as in Heaven so in earth, give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

And Lord, please bless families this day, and may the family of God grow and grow, and please use us to help in the growth. In the name of Jesus, the Son, I am praying through today to You dear Father. So be it.

Now go forth sharing and sharing and sharing those blessings. Folks, I really want to tell you how important it is to share your blessings, even what others share with you. Yesterday, and I am not going to use names here, but yesterday I cooked and those of you who know me, know I love to cook. I made ham, potatoes, and green beans. When finished, I put some in containers for our freezer and also took some to some very, very dear friends of ours. Dolores had called them and told them I was coming. When I arrived, this family had invited their neighbor, a senior who lives alone, to come and eat. Folks, that is what I am talking about when I say share your blessings. You see how it works. First of all, God gave the blessings of the food to us, through our dollars earned and saved for retirement. I just cooked it up, and shared it with others, who then shared some of it on down the line. Folks, I hate to use myself as an example on this, I am not bragging, but trying to just show you how we should do this. In the words of Pastor Dr. Richard Denison, "We are blessed to be a blessing". Go forth now and share them ... love ya, dan.

PS. This Friday evening, tomorrow evening, 7.00 PM, Dave, Duane and Neil (former Couriers) will be singing at Glenvale Church of God on Route 850 Marysville Pa. These old boys still got it for the Lord and still sing like never before. As good as they always were, they are getting better and better... Directions 717 957 4573

Also Saturday, at Chapel Point in Carlisle, 2.00 PM, Carry The Light will be in concert. For more information, call me -- 717 991 0754 (cell phone).