The Lord's Prayer - Deliver us from evil

Matthew 6:13 (ESV)
¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Here Jesus asks us to pray that our Father not lead us into temptation.  However, this is exactly what the Holy Spirit did to Jesus at the beginning of His ministry.

Matthew 4:1 (ESV)
¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

We also know that we are going to be tempted throughout the day.  Just turn on the TV, listen to the radio, walk out the front door and you are faced with temptation.  We live in a fallen world with temptation at every turn.  What does it mean to ask God not to lead us into temptation?  Even if we were to move into the desert we could never evade the temptations in our own minds.

There are avoidable temptations.  Maybe this prayer is for God to help keep us from walking down the slippery slope of temptations that we could and should avoid.

We don't have to watch those TV programs or movies that put impure thoughts in our heads, ready to pop out when we least expect it.  We don't have to let ourselves dwell on thoughts of envy, anger, or lust but we do.

The second half of this verse is a prayer for our Father to carry us through the temptations we do face.  These are temptations from the evil in our own hearts and temptations from Satan himself.

This part of the Lord's prayer is a great reminder that we cannot face the temptations of this world alone.  We are promised that we will not face any temptation that is beyond our ability.  However, we are are also taught that we must wear the full armor of God to resist the schemes of the devil.  We can never be so cavalier as to think we can resist the evil in this world on our own.

Jesus added this last verse because evil is real, Satan is real, and we need our Father's protection.

P.S. Are you protecting your own children?

Take This Road Lord? Really?

This is a guest post from my wonderful wife, Mandy.  She actually wrote it for her own blog but when I reviewed it I asked if I could post it on Seeking Things Above.  For those of you that have been following along on my journey, I think you'll see why I wanted it over here.

Proverbs 3:5 (ESV)
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Am I going to walk down this road?

I keep asking God this question.

He has told Tony and me that we are going to one day walk down this road. But, I have questions. My number one questions is...

Really?

I know - it's a pretty deep question.

This road is the road that leads from a hotel in Ethiopia to an orphanage called Hannah's Hope.

Really? Is that what you are calling us to do?

I keep questioning this because I have been positive in the past that God is telling me to do one thing, only to lead me in a different direction than I thought. Of course, it has always turned out better and I can see in hindsight what He was doing when I thought I was heading in the first direction. I am fully confident that if this is not what God has planned for us, He will use this to lead us where He really wants us to go. Until then I still ask -

Really?

You have a child that will not have any parents to take care of him and you want to place him in our family?

I don't feel worthy of God allowing our family to participate in this awesome plan. But - Yes, Lord. Please use our family and be glorified through the entire process.

I'm pretty sure there will be some people who question what we are doing. We already have four kids, there are lots of kids in America that needs homes, our family is white and Ethopian babies are black.

Somehow, I think I can handle the critical comments better than the complimentary. What I don't want is to be glorified for what our family has done for this child. This is what God laid on our hearts. He is clear in Scripture that we are to take care of the poor, and He put this adoption on our hearts at the same time. On all of our hearts. The kids started asking for a baby right when God started opening our eyes to this. They are so excited.

I am having a hard time getting excited over this. I just keep waiting for God to tell me this was just step one and He actually wants us to do something else. I want to be excited about adoption. I want to get frustrated with how long the paperwork takes because I just can't wait any longer.

I will trust that God has a sovereign plan and this step is part of it. I can know that if He is going to lead us in another direction before we go through the entire adoption process, then all of this is just part of where He needed to take us first. It will be okay because God is in control. Not me.

Until then, I think I'm ready to get excited about starting this adoption process. I'm getting excited about praying for a child that may not even be conceived right now, and praying for his parents, and for our family that will see that the orphans and the poor are real people that we need to love and take care of. I'm getting excited because I know this child will be a way bigger blessing to our family than we will be to him. And, I'm getting excited about walking down that road to meet a child that God knew long before now and planned to place in our family.

This journey will take us down new roads. I'm ready to see where God leads us.

Really.

- Mandy

The Lord's Prayer - Forgive us our debts

Matthew 6:12 (ESV)
¹² and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

My debts are already forgiven.  This is the message of the New Testament.  Good News!  The debt you owe has been paid.  So why is Jesus teaching me to ask for forgiveness of my debts when He has already covered these debts on the cross?

When Jesus died on the cross, he did pay the eternal price for my debts.  If I claim Jesus as my Lord and believe he rose from the dead for my justification, then I am saved from eternal death into eternal life.  However, I still manage to sin everyday.  I still manage to choose my way over God's ways in my thoughts and actions.  My eternal destiny is secure, but my fellowship with my Lord and my fellowship with my brother and sisters in Christ is hindered.

1 John 1:5-10 (ESV)
⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

I think where I often fail in this part of my prayer life is meditating long enough for God to reveal to me where I am missing the mark.  When I do take the time to listen to God's Spirit in me, He does remind me were I fall short of the glory of God.  For me, these usually fall into the categories of pride and selfishness.

Psalms 139:23-24 (ESV)
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! ²⁴ And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Prior to thinking about this post and thinking about what to write, I probably would have told you that I don't have a hard time with forgiving others.  I don't lay awake at night harboring ill will towards anyone for a wrong that's been done to me.  I'm an extremely easy going guy and I let most things run off my back.  If I do get upset, I get over it quickly.

However, this word "debt" is interesting.  If I truly forgive someone of a debt (a wrong done to me) then the next time they offend me, shouldn't my reaction be the same as if it is the first time they've offended me?  My problem is, if someone does me wrong a second time, I still remember the first time and I am doubly offended.  Did I really forgive that first debt?

For example, a co-worker upsets me by saying something brash and condescending.  I'm upset but because it's my nature, I get over it and I don't dwell on it.  However, a month later this person says or does something again that irritates me.  It's not just the latest incident that gets under my skin.  It's that incident and all the previous incidents.  It's not one debt but an accumulation of debt.  I've never really wiped clean the previous debt.

I don't know about you, but I don't think under my own power I can really give someone a clean slate over and over, whether I tell myself I forgive them or not.  Each wrong is still accumulated in my thought process.  The debt increases, it never really returns to zero.

Just as the clearing of my debt to God is only possible by the grace of God, my ability to erase the debt caused when others hurt me is also only available by the grace of God.

The Lord's Prayer - Daily Bread

Matthew 6:11 (ESV)
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,

This part of the prayer lesson is often difficult for me.  We're not taught by this world to just ask for what we need today.  What about all my inevitable future needs, like medical expenses, retirement savings, and college tuition for my four children?  How can I only be concerned about just today with all of tomorrow crashing down on me?

Clearly, one of the principles Jesus is teaching His disciples is to focus on today and not to worry about tomorrow.  He makes this point more directly just a few verses further down.

Matthew 6:34 (ESV)
³⁴ "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

The other difficulty I have with this lesson however, is the principle of total dependency on God.  I'm often not too concerned about my basic needs today.  Today I have a full pantry and refrigerator, I have a job, and I know I have a safe place to sleep tonight.  As I come to the Father with my needs, what I need just to survive is not on my mind.

Sure, there may be times where that day is in crisis.  However, once the crises passes, I quickly fall into a self-sufficient mind set.  It's this self-sufficient mind set that causes a majority of my prayer life problems.  In fact, it not only hinders my prayers when I pray, it often leads me to not pray at all.

I know that the very air I breathe each day is a gift from God.  I know that anything but total dependency on Him for my daily spiritual, mental,  and physical needs is idolatry.  I know that depending on myself and the circumstances around me is building my house on sand.  I just need to get that knowledge from my brain to be ingrained in my heart.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 (ESV)
⁴ "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

I can't get this knowledge from my head to my heart on my own.   This is why we need to pray for our daily bread.  Not only for our daily physical needs, but for our daily  Bread of Life.

John 6:35 (ESV)
³⁵ Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

We have the promise, that if we pray for this Bread, our Father will move His word from our head to our heart.

Luke 11:13 (ESV)
¹³ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

The Lord's Prayer - Your Kingdom Come

Matthew 6:10 (ESV)
¹⁰ Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus gives the disciples a very interesting instruction in His lesson on prayer.  He tells them to pray for God's kingdom to come and God's will to be done on earth just like it is in heaven. What does it mean to pray for God's kingdom to come?

The Pharisees in Jesus day were also looking for God's kingdom to come but they did not recognize it when it arrived.  They were looking for an earthly kingdom and a king to throw out the evil gentiles.  I think we Christians today often fail to see the kingdom in our midst as well.  We can be just as wrapped up in our "religion" as the Pharisees in Jesus' day.

Luke 17:20-21 (ESV)
²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, ²¹ nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."

When we pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, we're not asking for God's kingdom to come down to earth, as it is already here.  Maybe this prayer is asking God to open our spiritual eyes and see His kingdom in our midst. How would my prayer life be affected if I really believed and lived like the kingdom of God was here and now?

The Lord's Prayer - Our Father

Matthew 6:9 (ESV)
⁹ Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

We all have different people we communicate with during the day.  We have our boss, co-workers, friends, spouses, children and our own parents to name just a few.  The way we communicate with each person depends on our relationship with that person.  When I talk to my boss I'm more reserved and professional than when I talk to my wife (hopefully).

I think for prayer to work right, we have to understand our relationship to God, or at least what that relationship should be.  Jesus' first lesson in this prayer he is teaching His disciples, is that God is our Father and God is to be reverenced as holy.

This seems simple enough.  However, "father" can have many different meanings depending on your own experiences.  We all have our own earthly father and part of our perception of a "father" is based on this experience.  You could have a great father or you could have a father that only brought you pain. 

Whatever type of father you have, he's not God.  He's failed you at some point.  If your a dad like me, you've failed your own children at some point, like me.  So what is a perfect heavenly father like?

Our heavenly Father is a Father that waits for us to turn to Him from our worldly pursuits, and we when we do, He rushes to us to pour out His love and grace.

Luke 15:20-24 (ESV)
²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' ²² But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.

In this parable, the wayward son finally realizes that the life he has chosen has left him feeding slop to pigs and he would be better off as a servant in his father's house.  What he finds is a father that runs to embrace and kiss him when he sees his son coming in the distance.  He does not find a father that says "I told you so."  He does not find a father that is holding a grudge for ruining his good family name.  He does not get accepted back on probationary terms.  He is received back unconditionally and even has a party thrown in his name.

When I come to my heavenly Father to pray, who am I coming to?  Am I coming as a spoiled child that just wants Dad to fix all of my problems?  Am I afraid to come to Him at all because I know I have disappointed Him?  Am I coming to Him because I'm a rule follower and that's what I'm supposed to do (see big brother in passage above)?  Or, am I coming humbly back to my Father, because I know I cannot do this life on my own?

While it is important to know the mercy and grace of my Father, it is just as important not to forget that He is holy.  How often have I taken my parents for granted?  How often have I thought I was smarter than my old man.  Yes, God is a merciful and gracious Father that His Spirit within me calls "Daddy".  However, He is a holy and righteous God that I should come to with exaltation and praise.

Psalms 99:5 (ESV)
⁵ Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!

If I want my prayers to move from superficial to real, I have to know with whom I am talking.

The Lord's Prayer - Teach Us to Pray

There are quite a few spiritual disciplines where I struggle.  One of them, a rather important one, is prayer.  I don't struggle all the time and I don't struggle in all kinds of prayer.  But overall I have to rate my prayer life a C- at best.

I have no problems praying out loud in a group.  However, I can always find an excuse to not pray out loud when it's just me and my wife.  It makes no sense.

I am terrible when it comes to prayer lists.  Often as I read the requests it feels like I'm just reading a list off to God and it's not coming from my heart.  Sometimes, a certain request will resonate with me and it will feel more personal.  However, it's inconsistent and the next time I read through the list I may feel nothing.  This leads to not bothering to read through the list at all.

At night as I lay down to sleep, if I'm having trouble getting to sleep all I have to do is start praying.  The next thing you know, I'm out like a light.  I sometimes do the same thing with my wife at night.  I don't know if either my wife or God appreciate my dozing off in the middle of our conversations.  The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

So what do I do about this spiritual weakness? 

I'm going to try to go back to the basics.  What better place to start than the prayer given by Jesus to his disciples when they too may have been struggling with prayer.

Luke 11:1 (ESV)
¹ Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

Jesus' disciples came to Him and asked that He teach them to pray.  Did they want Jesus to teach them because they wanted to be more like the disciples of John the Baptist?  Or, did they see Jesus often go off by himself and pray for hours to the Father and did they desire that kind of relationship with God that Jesus modeled for them everyday.

Why do I want learn to pray?  Is it so I can become a prayer warrior?  Or am I really craving a closer relationship with my Father?

I hope it's the latter.

Join me on this series of posts as I search my own heart and look at the prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples when they asked Him, "Lord, teach us to pray."