BobHunt
8th June 2008, 12:17 PM (12:17)
As I read the report of the "generals", it came to me that the Lord's Prayer is not only a model prayer for us, but a model of living. It is truely the actions and reactions of someone who has been genuinely sanctified and filled with the love of God. I say this because if you read and digest the prayer it exhibits all the fine graces of the Spirit filled life.
In the prayer we recognize our Father, we see the forgiving and loving spirit we are to have towards not only our friends but our enemies, we bow and ask for His will to be done, losing our will in His, we implore Him for our daily bread, trusting Him and knowing He will supply for tomorrow as well. Go through each sentence and you will find salvation,sanctification, love, faith and trust, forgiveness, humility, and a strong dependence on the mercies of God.
We would do well as Christians, to sit at Jesus' feet once again and listen as He says "After this manner pray thee." It would forever change our lives, give is a whole new insight to what this journey should look like, change our attitudes and actions to be more Christlike and inspiring to others, and allow us to grow and mature as Christians.
Jesus did not only give us a lesson on prayer and real living, He also lived what He taught. He not only spoke words of great wisdom but He lived these words daily, showing us how practical they are and that with God's Grace it can be done!
Jesus was ridiculed, He was criticized, He was spat upon, He was degraded, whipped, thrust through with a sword, nails in His hands and feet, thorns pushed into His brow, He was bruised, He suffered unjustly, He was in pain inside and outside....but He said, "forgive them for they know not what they do."
So many times I'm afraid our actions and reactions are aligned with this old sinful world's. We always seek our own wants, even to the point of trampling others who are in the way. We are selfish, we think we deserve comfort and everything on a silver platter, we must have the best and most expensive, the highest technology, the smoothest, the brightest, the best material, the largest. We get even with those who misuse us, we stab back at those who cut us. How are we different, then, from the world?
Real Christianity, then, must have its source in our heart. Out of it flow all the issues of life. Doesnt a New Testament writer ask a question: How can sweet and bitter water flow from the same fountain?
In the prayer we recognize our Father, we see the forgiving and loving spirit we are to have towards not only our friends but our enemies, we bow and ask for His will to be done, losing our will in His, we implore Him for our daily bread, trusting Him and knowing He will supply for tomorrow as well. Go through each sentence and you will find salvation,sanctification, love, faith and trust, forgiveness, humility, and a strong dependence on the mercies of God.
We would do well as Christians, to sit at Jesus' feet once again and listen as He says "After this manner pray thee." It would forever change our lives, give is a whole new insight to what this journey should look like, change our attitudes and actions to be more Christlike and inspiring to others, and allow us to grow and mature as Christians.
Jesus did not only give us a lesson on prayer and real living, He also lived what He taught. He not only spoke words of great wisdom but He lived these words daily, showing us how practical they are and that with God's Grace it can be done!
Jesus was ridiculed, He was criticized, He was spat upon, He was degraded, whipped, thrust through with a sword, nails in His hands and feet, thorns pushed into His brow, He was bruised, He suffered unjustly, He was in pain inside and outside....but He said, "forgive them for they know not what they do."
So many times I'm afraid our actions and reactions are aligned with this old sinful world's. We always seek our own wants, even to the point of trampling others who are in the way. We are selfish, we think we deserve comfort and everything on a silver platter, we must have the best and most expensive, the highest technology, the smoothest, the brightest, the best material, the largest. We get even with those who misuse us, we stab back at those who cut us. How are we different, then, from the world?
Real Christianity, then, must have its source in our heart. Out of it flow all the issues of life. Doesnt a New Testament writer ask a question: How can sweet and bitter water flow from the same fountain?