Parkwood Baptist Church

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”

As we continue our journey we have just been reminded that we are dependant upon our Father for all of our needs…our “daily bread” which comes when we experience His very presence.  Although His presence brings comfort it also brings a sense  of our own shortcomings.  When Isaiah saw the Lord he was overwhelmed with the holiness of God and with his own sinfulness.  He cried out,

“Woe is me, for I am undone!  Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a  people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5)

Like Isaiah we have come into the presence of our loving Father in heaven and we have asked for His Name to be lifted up.  We have prayed that His mighty Kingdom would come.  We asked that His will would be revealed and that it would prevail in our lives.  This focus on His holiness exposes our “trespasses”.   The Bible tells us that we are sinners and “all for short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), but when we come into His presence we are confronted with our imperfections.  Therefore, we must cry out,

“Forgive us our trespasses!”

John says, “But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Our Father is a forgiving and compassionate God.  He loves you unconditionally.  Before you came to Him, He was calling you into relationship.  He created you…He loves you…and He wants to take care of you.  This includes your sinfulness…you trespasses.  He rescued you from the bondage of your sin by coming to this world and making forgiveness possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  He did this because He loved you already…in the midst of your uncleanliness…scarred by your own sin of selfishness and pride.  He has loved you  since He thought to create you.  Yes, that’s right, you were His idea and He is the One who brought you into this world!

“Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16)

Today as you come before the throne, come with confidence that your Father in heaven loves you and confess your shortcomings to Him.  Ask for the forgiveness that He has made available to you.  Allow Him to cleanse you of all your unrighteousness.  And remember that He does not do this so that He can love you…He does it BECAUSE He loves you.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synogogues and on the street corners to be seen by men…but when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father…” – Jesus (Matthew 6:5, 6)

Whenever we study something we can sometimes lose sight of the wonder that it holds.  We look at the details and we miss the bigger picture.  Jesus tells us above that we should not make prayer simply a ritual…something we just do.  In this study of the Lord’s prayer there can be the tendancy to make it mechanical as we study its beautiful phrases.  It can become less personal and more ritual.  Instead of something that forms our intimate communication with Our Father, it becomes a formula that we use in formal religious practices.   Let me be clear, the use of the Lord’s prayer in formal ceremonies or worship services is beautiful and highly beneficial.  We probably do not do it enough. However, if that is our only use of this teaching of Jesus then we are missing out on the power that can transform how we pray in our private devotions…in the quiet place…our prayer closet…when we are wrestling with our deepest needs.  The Lord’s prayer is given to you to transform your prayer life and to transform your life as a child of God.  Paul said to the Romans,

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:1, 2)

This worship described by Paul…this transformation…this renewing of our minds takes place in prayer…personal, intimate prayer.  The Lord’s prayer is a pattern for that kind of spiritual growth in us.  Have you been allowing it to change you during this Lenten season?

Begin today by praying through the Lord’s prayer and pausing after each phrase.  Think about what it means to you and what you have learned on your journey.  Develop each phrase into a personal prayer from your heart.   Write it down.  Pray it out loud.  Let it sink in and refresh your heart and mind.

Our Father who art in heaven…

“Give us this day our daily bread”

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6, 7)

What are you worried about today?  Are there things that you are anxious about?  Today we want to notice that the model prayer Jesus has given us is a “daily” prayer.  You don’t pray for your daily bread weekly…or monthly…or occasionally.  I believe this is an important lesson that Jesus is teaching here.  The discipline of prayer is a regular communion with your heavenly Father.

You see we were not created for anxiety.  We were created to experience the “peace” of God each and every day.  When we neglect briinging our cares to the Lord we are inviting anxiety into our lives.   For many of us we reserve praying for the big things in our lives.  When there is a crisis or a problem we go to Him…and we should.  However, when it comes to the day to day routine we are, for some reason, content to handle things ourselves.  Unfortunately, this can often produce stress in our lives and have negative effects spiritually, emotionally, and physically.   We feel we should be able to handle the small stuff on our own and we forfeit the “peace of God” which has been made available to us.

Prayer is meant to be daily!  Give us this day our DAILY bread!  “But God doesn’t care about me and the little things in my life.”  Peter said,

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6, 7)

God cares for you and desires fellowship with you every day.   This is a relationship that is based on a love that is hard to comprehend.  He loves you and He wants you to depend upon Him for everything.  He does not want you to worry today.  He did not make you to do it on your own.  In the sermon on the mount Jesus gave this guidance,

“But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33, 34).

Today, as you pray through the Lord’s prayer trust Him to take care of the small stuff too.

How Do We Give?

• from David Plunkett, Stewardship Committee

As I noted in my last blog, Parkwood members give an average of $2,000 per member to Christian ministries and missions. I also asked, why do we give that money away instead of buying a lot of stuff for ourselves with it? Maybe the first thing to acknowledge is that if we are making a choice between buying stuff and giving to advance God’s Kingdom, then we are not thinking right about giving.

To get at why we give, we need to ask what distinguishes Christian giving from secular charitable giving. Said differently — how should we give? “How?” is the right question.

The Biblical evidence is overwhelming that Christian giving is supposed to be about an attitude. We are supposed to give out of love, not making choices among different options.

Human behavior studies reveal that giving is often less than heartfelt. At least three-quarters of the dollars given to causes are due to social pressure, according to economist John List. That means only 25 cents of every dollar given comes from truly charitable motives. As Christians we are called to be different from a world where giving is a response to pressure.  Ours should be an expression of love.

Returning an offering to God is supposed to be the first thing we do when money hits our hands. God looks with favor on offerings from our first fruits. (Genesis 4:4) God doesn’t want our second best or our leftovers. (Malachi 1:7-10)

In Exodus 25: 2, God instructs Moses to receive only those offerings from the Israelites whose hearts prompted them to give. That tells us two things. First, God wants our giving to come from the heart. Second, God doesn’t want our giving to come from compulsion. Neither a response to social pressure nor a legal commitment like a tax is an appropriate motive for Christian giving. It’s not supposed to be a mortgage payment – as if the tithe was principle and interest on the loan of God’s creation.

Jesus tells us to give from the heart. (Matt. 6:19-21) He honors faithful giving but demands that it come from the proper attitude. (Matt. 23:23) We are to prioritize giving. (Luke 18:18-29) Giving is a free-will response to God’s gift of salvation. (Luke 19:8-9)

The reaction to the woman who anointed Jesus in Matt. 26: 7-13 shows that it took time, but the apostles finally figured out what Jesus was telling them. (1 John 3: 17) Perhaps the clearest expression of how we are to give is in Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians: “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor. 8:7).

What distinguishes Christian giving from other giving? Non-believers give to causes. But giving to a cause is an afterthought, a choice among options, and quite possibly a begrudged reaction to social pressure. Christian giving is a first-thought, a reflexive expression of our heart. How we give is far more important than how much we give. Yet, we still must think about the question of how much?

“Give us this day our daily bread”

“Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.” (Ex. 25:30)

“I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true Bread from heaven.  For the Bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…I am the Bread of Life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” -Jesus (John 6:32, 33, 35)

In the Scriptures bread has always represented life, sustenance and God’s presence.  In the Gospel of John Jesus refers to God providing the manna to the people of Israel on the daily basis during their time with Moses in the wilderness.   We also see that bread was kept before the Lord at all times when the tabernacle was built and it was called the Bread of the Presence.   Then Jesus reveals that He is the Bread of Life.  He says in the Scripture above that the manna was foreshadowing Him.   He is the provision for our needs…He is our sustenance…He is the Presence of the Father!  Even at the last supper in the upper room Jesus took the bread and broke it and said, “This is my body broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

So, knowing all this, when Jesus instructs the disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” it becomes more than a simple request to meet our needs in the moment.  It is a request for the presence of Jesus…for the power of Jesus…for the provision of Jesus in our life today.   It is He Himself that quenches our thirst.  It is His love and care for us that satisfies the hunger in our souls

“Give us this day our daily Jesus”

This is not an instruction to pray through our list of needs and wants.  This is an instruction to pray for fellowship with the Bread of Life who is our strength and can and will meet all of our needs if we are with Him.

“I can’t make it for a moment without you, my Lord.   You know all that I will need today and I know that I need You.  You are all I need.”

Today, could this be your prayer.  Just put your “list” aside for a moment and simply spend time in His presence.  Let His Holy Spirit fill you and equip you and give you strength for the day’s events.

Give us this day our daily bread!

Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread

“When you pray do not keep on babbling like pagans, for the think they will be heard because of their may words.  Do not be like them for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” – Jesus before giving the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:7, 8)

“If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” The Apostle Paul (Romas 8:31, 32)

What do you need today?  Most of us could answer  that question with a rather lengthy list.  It may stat with our physical needs (food, protection, strength, etc) then work its way into our emotional needs (patience at work, happiness, etc).  Then into things we can’t control…more time in the day…less traffic…warmer weather.

If we are honest we cannot know what we are going to need today anymore than we can know the weather.  When was the last time you ad a day that went exactly as plannned or expected.  Life is unpredictable!!  The truth is we don’t know what we will need today because we don’t know what’s coming in the next 24 hours.  A snow storm (hope not)…a phone call about a crisis…blindsided by a loved one…an unexpected bill…all night in te emergency room.

So, if we do not know what we will need today what can we do?  How can we pray?  Good news!  The Bible tellls us that our Father in heaven knows what we will need today!  The One who created you and knows ALL things including what WILL happen today…even the things you cannot see coming.

Give us this day our daily bread

I don’t know what I will need today but God does.  The promise of Scripture is that He stands ready to provide all I need.  The strength to make it through that crisis.  The hope I need in times of despair.  The confidence I need when I am afraid.  He will not hold it back.  He did not hold back His own Son.  He will be there with you through this day…and, maybe…that’s all you need.

Give us this day our daily bread.

“Give us this day our daily bread”

“Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:8, 9)

The principle of “daily” provision is one that has been part of God’s rhythm since creation began.  It was illustrated most clearly when He provided manna for the people of Israel in the wilderness.  God sent the manna (bread of heaven) each day for the people to gather.  There were specific instructions to only gather enough for that day.  One day at a time.  There was always enough for everybody.  They were also told not to gather more than they needed for that day.  If they did it would spoil by the next day.  Israel was learning to depend upon God one day at a time.

In this part of the Lord’s Prayer Jesus calls for us to be of the same mind.  This phrase of the prayer may seem a little strange to us in our day and age.  We are more accustom to praying for more than the needs of the day.  We are thinking about the future and if we will have enough to last.  We ask for God to supply our needs for a week or a month.  It seems that people today are always wanting more than enough. They take what they can get and then some.  We have become really good at acquiring things.  We fill our pockets…we fill our garages…we fill our homes…and then we fill storage units with our stuff.  Somewhere along the way we have lost one of the blessings of our faith…the blessing of contentment.  Over the next few days we will take the opportunity to meditate on God’s great provision for us and how we can learn to pray more effectively about it.

Today, as you pray through the prayer, begin to think about what it means to trust your Father to give you just what you need for this day.  Not too much because you may forget that you need Him.  Not too little because you don’t want to dishonor Him.  But just enough to do the things He has called you to do.

“Give us this day our daily bread”

Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory forever
Amen

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'”  – Jesus (Mark 6:31)

So here we are on our third Sabbath rest.  It has been 16 days and 3 Sabbaths… 19 days into our Lenten journey.  The Sabbath is set aside for rest, reflection and refreshment.  We have already seen how important it was to Jesus.  He made an extra effort to get up before daylight to have a little time to Himself.  Today’s Scripture shows us that Jesus was also concerned for His disciples.  “Come with me…”  Jesus invites His followers to come away with Him.  The best Sabbath rest is time spent in the presence of our God.  It is not just a time to be alone.  It is a time to be alone with Jesus.   How are you doing?  Have you been getting quiet time with Jesus during this journey or has this 19 days been so busy that you feel you haven’t had time to eat?  Let’s pause this Sabbath day and take time to reflect on what we have been thinking about.

“Our Father who art in heaven” – Prayer begins with a personal relationship but God is also holy and worthy of worship.

“Hallowed be Thy name” – We are to pray that His name would be lifted up in us.  To bear God’s name is a privilege and our responsibility is to bring glory to that Name.

“Thy Kingdom come” – We are to pray for God’s Kingdom to be revealed in us.  As Christians we live in a Kingdom that is eternal and we are to bring God’s perspective into every situation.

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” – Our prayer is that God would have His way in our life at all times because we trust Him and know that He is with us.

Today, pray through the prayer but add your own lessons when you come to each phrase.  What have you experienced?  Today, rest…reflect…and be refreshed.

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Yahweh, my Rock and my Redeemer!” – David (Psalm 19:1-4, 14)

The last few days we have been thinking of the challenges of praying “Thy will be done”.  It is a mindset that invites God to not only be a part of our life but to have His way in our life.  This can involve suffering and testing, as well as, blessing and provision.  Also, when God has His way in our lives those who do not know Him can see how He cares for those who are His children.

Today I would like to pause on this phrase one more time on our journey through this prayer.  When God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven we are encouraged too.  It is not just for the benefit of those who do not know God but also for the benefit of those of us who do know Him.  God reveals Himself in His works!  We are blessed when God’s will in done around us.  To see His hand in the creation around us when the sun sets or the flowers bloom is marvelous!  David’s description above points out that God’s handiwork declares His glory and displays knowledge.  As he looked around at God’s mighty works his natural response was a prayer…may Your will be done in my words and in my heart!

Have you seen God working?  Isn’t it thrilling to see His power working to transform a friend’s life who is searching?  Isn’t it amazing when you see God’s peace come into a situation where chaos has a hold?  Have you been a witness to God’s comfort chasing fear from the eyes of a one who felt lost?  Most of us have been there.  Looking back over our walk with the Lord we can gain encouragement, strength and, even a smile as we remember when God’s will prevailed.

Today, as you pray the Lord’s prayer, spend some time remembering those times and ask God to open your eyes to His work afresh this day!

“Thy will be done”

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer…After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life…because He poured out His life unto death.”  –Prophesy of the Messiah (Isaiah 53:10-12)

“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.” (1 Peter 4:12, 13)

Yesterday we realized that God’s will involves occassional “testing”.   Our faith is meant to be used…lived out in our actions and it can be God’s will to put our faith to the test.

But, what about suffering?  What about pain?  Certainly that cannot be the will of God…can it?  Once again the answer must be yes.  During this time of Lent we are focusing specifically on the suffering of Jesus on our behalf.  So when it comes to the life of Jesus we know that He suffered greatly for us and, according to the Scriptures above, it was God’s will.

Why?

In Jesus’ case it was necessary for our salvation and for the Father to be glorified.  Sometimes suffering comes as a result of persecution but it always comes with a purpose.  The Scripture tells us that whenever we share the Gospel of Jesus with others we are put in danger and may suffer for it.  Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you…” for the sake of the Gospel.  The suffering of Jesus also models for us how we should deal with our enemies and those who persecute us…“Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing”.

Sometimes God uses suffering to help us to focus and depend on Him.  The Apostle Paul struggled with a “thorn in the flesh” that God used to “…keep me from becoming conceited” (2 Corinthians 12:7) and to focus on God’s grace being “sufficient”.

God can also use these challenging times in our lives as a witness to others of how God’s people go through sickness as well as health.  For us, it is not for us to question why, but to ask for strength and for God to be glorified.  In other words, it is God’s will that whenever we suffer we have a different attitude than those who do not know Him.  It should be our desire to bring glory to God in all circumstances.

So, let us pray with Jesus today,  “…not my will but Thy will be done.”