Thur/Feb 23, 2012 Prayer 4

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.  Amen.

Good Thursday Evening, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Thursday and the day we pray for Churches, and those who attend them, Schools and those who attend them, work for them, etc. And also families, being sure to pray for the family of God. We also have in the following new requests, and listen to this one. From Rob Campbell who is taking his sweet bride (his words, folks) to the Dennis Rainy Family Life Ministries retreat for couples held this weekend at Hershey. God is good, and they are expecting 1,000 couples, yes, that is a good number, ONE THOUSAND COUPLES. Also pray for these three people from one family. Donna, for grief, Beverly, for depression, and Michael, for financial problems. Please also pray for Carol Harris, and others who have been on our prayer list. Also pray for the "office building move." Our office building is being moved tomorrow, Friday afternoon. We are so excited about this. We are thankful to be getting it, and plan to use it 100% for the Lord. Praise God for those checks that are coming in to help cover the costs.

Also folks, while we appreciate all the support coming in from those on the line, please remember we are here to help you. IF YOU NEED HELP WITH FOOD, please contact us. YOU WILL BE HELPED. We have never turned anyone away. God is good. Amen.

Feb. 23, 2012 Prayer 4: Matthew 6:9 - "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name, 10 Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (King James Version)

The very first thing I want you to notice today is I am using the King James Version, and I want you to note that the words in dark print are not in my New International Version that I use most of the time. While the NIV is easy for me to understand, those who use it must be very, very careful that the translations do not change the meaning of the scriptures. In this our Lord's prayer one line was dropped from what we pray, and I do not like it when the Words of Jesus are changed to mean something different or are just plain left out!!!

Before I get started I must tell you why it is so important to me, that each year I go back over this wonderful prayer. A few years back, maybe 12 or so, I was leading the service at Hope United Methodist Church where I was one of the lay leaders. The pastor was away and I also had the order of service made up and I did not have the Lord's prayer printed in it as was for the norm. Well wouldn't you know it, I was leading and forgot where I was at or just plain could not think of the words. If it were not for "Miss Kim," our music director picking it up, it would have been a mess. (Love you Miss Kim.) After the service God planted on my heart, was I praying this prayer or saying the prayer, was it words or did I really think about what they mean? I confess, I never took a deep look at it till then, and there is so much "meat and potatoes" in this prayer, I must look at it often. I also want to be sure that all those who use it know what it means. Let's get started.

"Our Father" : Now this is the start, the opening and we are stating to whom we are praying to... Our Father, and it should always be spelled out with the Large "F" and not father. So who is our Father? He is God, the one who created the heavens and the earth, and He is also the one who made you and me (and He's still working on me).  Our Father is also who Jesus prayed to the night before He was put to death on the cross. Yes, our Heavenly Father is the same Heavenly Father as Jesus has... Scriptures also tell us that Our Father is a male, as some people try and say that God is a female, let me tell you folks, that is just not right. While God can be all things to you, He is our FATHER. Listen to these words from John 14:6. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to The Father but through me.

which art in heaven: This line talks about Heaven, where our Father resides. But careful on this one, for we also need to have Him reside in our hearts. Heaven is one of two places we can go after we pass from this earth. The other of course is hell. Jesus made the way for us to go, but the choice is ours. Heaven is also the place where Jesus tells us and it is recorded in John 14:2 "In my Father's house there are many rooms. I shall go and prepare a place for you."

Hallowed be Thy name: Hallowed means to devote to religious uses, and to reverence as sacred. And when put together with be Thy name, means that God The Father is Holy and we should be reverent to Him and even His Holy Name. We should also know that God has many names. We have studied that before.

Ok, this is the stopping point for today. Today let's pray together and while on this subject... well let's pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray.

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Now go forth and share those blessings, and yes, you do not want to miss tomorrow, we will finish the prayer... Love ya, Pastor Dan.