Wednesday 1/30/13 When You Pray 3

Good Wednesday morning, my dear brothers and sisters.  Wow, another spring-like day here at the Southern Location of the North Pole, and we are expecting rain to wash the salt off the roads.  Again today we are will be working on the Lord's Prayer along with some other things.  Please add to your prayers ... For Marcia who has an inoperable malignant tumor on her spine.  Also for Maxine who is on the operating table as I am typing  having gallbladder surgery.  We give praise to God today as Burt has returned home from the hospital.  Yes, by praying the Lord's Prayer.

When We Pray 1/30/13 Day Three.

Matthew 6:9 - This, then is how you should 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 bred.  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."  (KJV)

Today as we start looking into the Lord's Prayer as we respectfully call the prayer that our Lord Jesus first taught us, we take a look at "Hallowed be Thy Name."  The word "Hallowed" means this, according to a book I rarely look at, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, I find that "Hallowed means "make or set apart as being Holy,", "sanctified,", "consecrated."

So let me break that down a little for you.  Holy Father, a term that should be used for God.  God our Father who resides in heaven and His name, The Name Father is Sanctified.  It is a name above all names, one we should hold as Holy and it should, since it is a name above all names, be made and kept Holy.  Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God our Father.  While we all have or had an earthly father, please note the small "f" used in that.  There are a lot of differences between our Heavenly Father and our earthly fathers.  Of course the term father is used by a lot of churches when referring to their pastor.  One who leads a family is called a father and surely those churches that refer to their pastors as father are doing so out of respect for the one who leads their "church family."  George Washington has many times been referred to as the "father of our country" but he has never been the father of our country, God was and always will be the father of our country.

God, our Heavenly Father, is the Father of all of us, be we believers in Christ Jesus or ones who have turned their backs on Him.  Now the big difference here as I see it, those of us who believe and are "born again" will see our Father in Heaven, face to face in Heaven and get to live with Him there, while those who do not believe will be turned away on Judgment Day and will live forever in Hell.  As for what my kids call me, well, it goes from dad, daddy or daddyeo.  I called my dad "Pop" and I really like that name.  I can remember just calling to him like it was yesterday.  Hey, Pop, or Hi, Pop.  My grandkids call me Pappy.  I love it.  Our flock at The Bridges calls me "Pastor" and that is one big, big name to hold up to.  Pastor is one who takes care of his flock, like shepherd takes care of his.

Our Father who are in Heaven, Hallowed (HOLY) is Thy Name ...

Let's look at part of the next line now.  "Thy Kingdom come."  Here, folks, like it or not, we are praying for the return of our Lord Jesus.  I would say a lot of people as they pray The Lord's Prayer never gave it much thought that they were praying for Jesus to return.  This is why it is so important to get the word out to others.

John The Baptist said it, "REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR."  (Matthew 3:1/2)

Jesus said it, "REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR."  (Matthew 4:17)  And folks, now we need to be really telling others this, all of us who are "born again" need to be telling others this.  If we are not telling others this we are not doing our job.  WE are to be telling the Good, GOOD news of Jesus Christ and what is the good news and how do they get it?  The good news is of course the return of Jesus and they need to get it from us and from the pastors of GOOD CHURCHES WHERE THE REAL TRUTH IS PREACHED.  What should we be telling others?  "REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR."  Then we should be teaching and showing them about the good news and what they can enjoy with Jesus even before His return to us.  And remember as we pray, when we pray this prayer our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, we are praying for His return when we pray "Thy Kingdom Come."  Let's go to prayer now and yes, we are going to pray The Lord's Prayer again today.  Everything we need to pray is in this prayer, you can find it all.  Let's 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 bred.  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, my dear brothers and sisters, my online flock, let me part with you this day by saying ... go forth, loving others, loving Jesus and sharing those blessings that He has laid upon you.

Love ya, Pastor Dan.  And yes, folks, I really do love all of you, I do not just say it ...