Luke 11
January 19, 2010 by: belovedofthelord
Bible Passage: Luke 11
In a world where packaging matters, people are frequently looking for new and fresh designs. This is especially so when it comes to things that we see or use daily.
Don’t we get new packaging for the familiar cookies we’ve been munching on for years? And doesn’t it happen once in a while that the new designs pop up on the familiar coffee maker and washing detergent bottle? Scratching below such ‘plastic’ effects of our consumerist culture, we find that the very essence of these products serve the same function in our daily lives, all the same.
In Luke 11:2-4, Jesus Christ presented the very essence that so many other prayers have been modelled upon. He taught the disciples the Lord’s Prayer. And being recorded down in the Bible, He has also taught us to pray in like manner. The same prayer is cross-referenced in Matthew 6:9-13.
Many of us True Jesus Church members know the Lord’s Prayer and the words roll off our tongue with habitual ease. We know how it starts. We know where the “Amen” comes in. We know that it is hymn number 530 in our hymnbook. We recite it at times to close a prayer. We teach it to our younger ones.
The Lord’s Prayer is an easy prayer. It neither hints of any loquacity nor of any redundant eloquence. It is the essence of true, sincere, all-encompassing prayers. Being so, a reverential attitude is required of us. If anyone should be in the habit of rushing through closing choruses at the end of the congregational prayer, or reciting the Lord’s Prayer for that matter, let us all revisit this once again with a godly heart - One that seeks to understand that congregational prayers are meant to be made as a single body, from the beginning to the “Amen”; and one that seeks to revere the Lord’s Prayer with a godly fear of what our tongue so easily speaks.
The Lord’s Prayer is a simple prayer yet every statement is packed with meaning that runs so deep and wide, so long and high. Each statement speaks of a timeless history (”Our Father in heaven” says that God is the Alpha and Omega), and a hopeful future (”Your kingdom comes” says that God is coming soon to receive us home). When we next recite the Lord’s Prayer, let’s do it with equal weight for every statement said.
“Amen.”
January 21st, 2010 at 12:30 am
Whenever my mind wonders in my prayer, i pray the Lord’s prayer bec it helps me to refocus quickly. Whenever i feel down, i pray the Lord’s prayer too. Why? i pray for “daily bread” only. God gives. Indeed He gives much much more.
“The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.”
” But when your eye is bad, your body is full of darknes.”
“Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.” (Luke 11:34-35)
When the light in us is darkness, our eye (like a light bulb) is dim ie bad.
At baptism, our heart is changed. The heart is continously cleansed, swept and put in order, by prayers, reading and keeping the word of God. Be powered from within by the true light.
“Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” (Luke 11:26) This is the verse i use to keep vigilance. This verse also tells me “once saved forever saved” is not true.