Tuesday July 9, 2013, The Lord's Prayer

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.

Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for a great, big, wonderful day, that only You could work out.  Thanks for all that You did for us this day, Lord, I am so excited about the blessings of this day.  Please continue to be with those on our prodigal sons and daughters list, as we pray for those who have walked away from You to come back home to You.  Lord, be with Burt and Patsy, and Lord, be with Barbara and heal that broken wrist.  Lord Jesus, please help me tomorrow as I pastor the funeral of a dear friend.  Lord, forgive us, please, of our sins, and Lord, help us all to remember we cannot do one step right, unless we do it with You.  Now Lord, please help me with the message of today and then dispatch it, please.  In Jesus' Name, I pray.  Amen.

Pastor Dan's Safety Tip:  As simple as it sounds, please tie your shoe laces when you put on your shoes.  Those who tend to let their shoes untied, and lots of people do, could have bad falls, also when you apply for a job, please tie your shoes.  To me, a person who does not tie his shoes is LAZY.

Good evening, my dear brothers and sisters.  Are you ready to go to work on the Lord's prayer with me?  Before we do, let me tell you that today, after our sing-along at The Bridges, Grant and I took our ministry trailer and headed out to pick up a canned  veggie order.  We got a great buy on canned veggies and picked up 200 (12 per case) cases of veggies.  Fifty each of green beans, corn, peas, and mixed veggies.  The cost was 50 cents per can.  GOD IS SO GOOD.  Yes, if you do the math, that is $1,200.00, but think of it, our shelves are in good shape.  Why, because we are not afraid to walk out in faith and when you give in faith, blessings come back and more than you give.  According to the Bible you are welcome to test God on that one.  You just cannot out-give our Lord.  AMEN.

Please pray today for the family of Richard "Dick" Mowery who went to be with the Lord today.  Dick is the brother of our ministry team partner, Pamela Bower.  Pray for Nicki (Dick's wife), Pamela, Patricia, and Alan.

The Lord's Prayer, July 9, 2013, Day Two.

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)

Let me just go back in our Bible to

Matthew 6:5 - "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.  I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.  6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.  Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him."  (NIV)

This scripture will give you some background as to why our Lord Jesus gave us the prayer, the prayer we refer to as "The Lord's Prayer."  Jesus is giving us not just instructions on what we should pray, and tomorrow we are going to start looking into what each part means, but Jesus is telling us why we should do this.  We are not to be standing in public prayer just to get attention.  While we who pastor and others do offer up prayers in churches, and trust me when I say I have prayed for people even in food stores, but not to call attention to myself.  Jesus is also telling us to go into our room and close the door and pray.  Folks, let's face it for the most part, for the most part, prayer, like our salvation, is a one-on-one thing.  Yes, we pray for others as part of our prayers, but we need to just be talking to God.  Again, when in churches we pray together, we pray for prayer requests, but we are also told by Jesus to "keep it short."  The Bible is clear we are not to be babbling on and on and on.  I have been told over the years not to pray a sermon.  God already knows what we are going to ask before we ask it.  For example, the other day when we were at our picnic, there was no need for me to say in my prayer to open the day something like this:  Dear Father in Heaven, here we are along the creek, sitting in the heat, etc.  Our Father in Heaven knew where we were and He sent the heat.  We do need, however, to call on Him and invite Him in so He knows, that our Lord knows full well He is welcome where we are, be it at the picnic, or in church, or in a hospital room.  We need to invite Him in and to anoint us and dwell among us.  Then we need to get on with our service.

Now, brothers and sisters, go forth and share your blessings, and please go over the Lord's Prayer awhile, and also know it will be before you each day.  Got to go.  Love ya.  Pass it on.

Pastor Dan