Monday 7/8/13 Prayer 1

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, forever.  Amen.

Pastor Dan's Safety Tip:  Garage doors have two positions, all the way up or all the way down.  Some folks put a garage door up just part way to vent the garage, then come out later, get in the car, and since the door is up part way, cannot see the door in the mirror, and back out.  By the way, using safety tips wisely can save you dollars on your insurance policies.

Hi, brothers and sisters.  Our picnic is over and it was good to see all of you who came, and I am so sorry more of you did not make it.  I am going to be eating soup each day for a year.  It really was nice along the creek, and folks really enjoyed that rich voice of Tim Beitzel.  Special thanks to Grand and Wanda Crockett and their daughter and son-in-law, LeaAnne and Brian for coming very early and then staying late in the day to help put things away.  Thanks also to the others who  helped to set up, serve, take food to tables, and then stay and clean up at the park.  If it were not for these folks, the picnic just would not happen.  Please pray for Scott Lenker and his family and also friends of Donna Lenker who went to be with the Lord last Friday.  Pray for me, please, as I will be doing the service for this long-time friend.

Prayer 1:  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, forever.  Amen."  (KJV)

Brothers and sisters, it is time again to take a good look at prayer and at the prayer our Lord Jesus taught us to pray.  We refer to it as The Lord's Prayer, but it is indeed our prayer.  Do you attend a church that uses The Lord's Prayer weekly or maybe on just special occasions?  Maybe your church does not use it much at all.  Folks, it is a wonderful prayer, but yeas ago I had to really take a look at it and at me, for I found out that I was really not praying the prayer, but just saying it.  I just got into a rut, you might say.  Where do you fit in on this?  If at church and you were all praying This Master's Peace (Piece) of a prayer and your leader dropped out, would the est go on or just drop the ball?  Folks, it happened tome as I was leading a service at Hope United Methodist Church years ago and I will never forget that day.  I did not have The Prayer in the bulletin, and I lost my place or forgot the prayer, you might say, and everyone stopped.  Then "Miss Kim," Kim Murphy, who was choir director, picked up on it, knowing I was in trouble, and started praying it.  Others joined in and this old man was bailed out.

So this got me thinking, do I say the prayer or pray the prayer?  So I looked into it and looked t the meaning of it and what all was in it and preached on it.  I also wrote on it several times, each time asking God to give it to me fresh.  Again, starting tomorrow I am going to write on it, and again I am asking God to give it to me fresh. Yes, we are going to study the prayer this week.  So please by all means use it this week.  What does it mean to you?  Say it and pray it, study it with me.  What does it mean?  We will dig in tomorrow.  Right now, let's go to prayer, and yes, you just know the prayer already for today.  I even opened with it.

"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, forever.  Amen."

Brothers and sisters, the Love of our Lord Jesus goes deep, and if we would just follow His teachings, oh how much better off we would be.  Now folks, go forth and please share your blessings.  Love ya.  Pass it on.

Pastor Dan