#004: The Lord's Prayer Part 2

Father AND King

Last week I introduced a short series of blog posts on the Lord's Prayer.  I mentioned that I was especially convicted that over the years I have asked for and received lots of advice about prayer from godly people but that I really had never spent significant time implementing the Lord's prayer into my everyday prayer life.  One reason is that I have seen a lot of people and church traditions use the Lord's prayer as some kind of magical formula or just vain repetitions.  I have strong distrust of religious traditions in general but that's a conversation another time. My main point here is that if Jesus instructed us how to pray, shouldn't we listen to (and obey) the greatest teacher of all time"

This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10) 

There is so much we could wrestle with here but I want you to notice just one big idea today - God is both your Heavenly Father AND your King.  This may not grab you like it did me but I have to confess that this idea has been life-changing for me over the last couple of years.  Another way of saying this is that I am to approach God FIRST as his child BEFORE I approach him as his soldier.

For whatever reason, I grew up viewing God as almost SOLELY an authoritarian figure.  He's in charge.  He's powerful.  He's got a job for me to do.  He's a sovereign king.  Therefore, I viewed myself more as a soldier.  In turn, a soldier never asks questions.  A soldier is strong and never weak.  A soldier is focused on his mission.  

You can see where I'm going with this.  If we see God ONLY as our King then I believe we will have an incomplete or even screwed up view of God, ourselves, and our outlook on life.  

Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't view God as King or us as soldiers (both are very true) but I think that the Lord's Prayer teaches us something very important: we are children of a Heavenly Father BEFORE we become soldiers of a king.  

Yes, he's the same God but knowing that he is our "daddy" should encourage us to crawl up into his lap, ask questions, and let him put his arms around us to make us feel secure.  There is so much in life that I don't understand that frankly, makes me very angry because I simply have no control of those situations.  Jesus is teaching us that we can view God as a Father who deeply cares about His children.  Yes, he has a mission for us but he wants us to know that we are secure in his love BEFORE we embark on his mission.

Here's how this impacts my life practically on a daily basis.  I try to get up early every day, which in my house with five kids has to be early.  I fix a cup of coffee and sit down to spend some time with God.  The first word I say (or write) is "Father."  And then I pause.  I try to let that sink in to my spirit.  It brings a tremendous security that I can then share whatever is on my mind.  I'm not approaching my boss or my king first, I'm approaching my Dad.  I humbly thank him that I can talk to him directly instead of going through another man.  I I begin with a child like spirit.  There are times I will stay in the mindset for a good while but most often I quickly transition to responding to the truth that he is also almighty, sovereign, and in charge.  It leads to worship, awe, fear, confession, and reverence.  But the starting point is our Father/Child relationship.  

One final thought.  My guess is that most of us need to be reminded that God is our Father but certainly some of you need to be reminded that he is your King.  If you don't have those moments of awe and even fear or if you don't see yourself as being on mission for God, then you must better understand God's authority on your life.  

God is both your Father AND your King.  Are you living as both his child AND as his soldier? 

#003: The Lord's Prayer Intro

At Gateway West, we are in the middle of a short 3 part teaching series called Reminders.  I'm "reminding" our congregation about our need to Love God, Live in Community, and Serve the City.  We use these three statements to describe what God has called us to do.  Other churches might use different phrases but many churches emphasize the three directions of UP - our relationship with the Father, IN - our relationship with other believers, and OUT - our relationship with a broken world.

I'm generally a practical kind of teacher but for this series, I'm taking it a step further and emphasizing "doing" more so than "knowing."  I'm reminding our folks of information they already know but strongly encouraging them to be putting it into practice.

Last week, I simply asked, "Are you loving God?"  I challenged all of us to prioritize time in our busy schedules to simply spend time with God in prayer and in His Word.  We all know this to be the basics of our relationship with God but we struggle to make this a consistent part of our every day lives.  Thus, we need the reminders.

Prayer is a core practice and discipline in our communion with God.  I've been wrestling with the Lord's Prayer lately because I've been challenged with the thought that this is how Jesus said to pray.  I have sought out advice on prayer over the years from friends and even well known teachers and authors but I was convicted that I ought to be learning from the best teacher of all and see he says to pray.  I need to be obedient to him.

Jesus never meant for the Lord's prayer to be trite words but to be a model of prayer.  He gives us sort of an outline for praying.  So, I figured that I'd spend the next few posts talking about the Lord's prayer as a way of reminding, challenging, and encouraging you to pray the way that Jesus wants you to pray.

So, here's your homework assignment.  Go back to the Lord's prayer and pray it.  You'll find it in the gospels in several places.  I'm not going to tell you where it's at.  Go find it.  And then pray it everyday for a few days.  Think about it.  Meditate on it.

Over the next week or so, I'll walk you through the prayer and how you might use it in your walk with God.  I fully recognize that most of this information will not be new to most of you but I am praying it will be helpful in your spiritual journey.

#002: Time vs. Task

Friday nights are fairly sacred around the Ghramm home.  It's either family night or date night.  Each month, the schedule changes a bit but it's rare that we do anything but family stuff or a date night with just Amanda and me (and the baby for now).

Imagine if I scheduled a Friday night date with Amanda, got a sitter, made myself presentable, got in the car, and drove to the Wendy's at the end of the street.  Once we got there, I drove us through the drive through, ordered our food, and then ate it in the van in the parking lot.  While we were eating our food, I responded to a few texts and checked the score of a few different games.  After we were done eating, we then drove home to let the sitter go for the night.

For the record, I have never done that!  Close but not quite.  Here's my question.  Was that a date?  Officially, yes.  Can I call that a date night?  Maybe.  Was the food good?  Technically, yes.  Were Amanda and I together?  I hope so.  

But did Amanda and I connect with each other in a meaningful way?  No!  Did we give enough time for me to share what was on my heart and for her to share what was on hers?  No!  Did we grow closer to each other through the experience.  Most likely not!

Many of us approach our daily quiet time/devotions/time with God (whatever you call it) like this.  It is simply a task.  It's a duty.  It's something we can check off of our to do list.  Now, before some of you tune me out, I fully recognize that we don't always feel like having our daily time with God but we do it anyway.  There have been times I don't feel like going on a date with Amanda but I do it anyway.  But that's not my point.

Instead, I have a simple action step I'm encouraging you to think about.  Instead of viewing your relationship with God as a TASK, commit to spending a minimum amount of TIME with your Heavenly Father every day.  

Don't commit just to reading x number of chapters in the Bible or to praying for x number of minutes.  Instead, block out a significant chunk of time that is a "date" with God.  Sure, you can have some specific actions you have committed to do in that time but make the time about connecting with God.  Be fully present.  Make it a time when there are no distractions.  I have to get up early every morning in my home to make this happen.  You might have to do that as well.  Set aside everything else going on around you.  

Begin your time by taking a big deep breath and saying, "God, I want to be with you and nobody else for the next half hour (or hour or more).  I desperately need you...   I desire to fellowship with you and be close to you...  Here are some things on my heart...  I am so messed up in so many ways.  Here are some ways that I have sinned against you and others...  I'm going to be quiet now and let you talk to me...  As I read your Word, show me more about you and how I am to live with you...  I am asking that you work powerfully in these situations..."  I'm not trying to put words in your mouth but show you what it might sound like for you to commune with your Savior.  By the way, the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 7 is a great model to follow.  Don't just recite it.  Put it into your own words.  Add to it.  Make it yours. 

Our goal is fellowship and communion with our Heavenly Father.  It's not to check off our first "to do" of the day.  This is going to look differently for all of us but the common denominator is TIME.  This will not happen if you are not intentional about setting aside that time on a daily basis.  Put it in your calendar first and then make it a priority.  

A quick warning as a I finish - you may have to give up something else in order to make this a priority. I'll let you and the Holy Spirit figure that out.

Let me know how I can encourage your challenge you.  I'd be happy to hold you accountable to your TIME with God.  If not me, find somebody to do that!