Prayer

Letters to My Father

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After my Dad passed away one of the most difficult and yet most rewarding things I had to do was going through his things. Though he was now gone it was as if I came to know my father better than I ever could on earth. Old postcards mixed with photos of family and friends I had never met. But among all the books and papers the most startling find was a stack of letters. The handwriting on the envelopes seemed familiar and as I looked closer it suddenly struck me that they were mine. Every thank you note, every Christmas and Fathers Day card were there. One by one I read through words I had forgotten about but Dad had kept them as a special treasure.

I believe it will be the same way in heaven. There God has prepared a place for each of us and lying open on a table will be our letters to God. Each and every word of every prayer God keeps as His special treasure. He has never forgotten a single time we praised or prayed. Then we will begin to uncover the astonishing love of our heavenly Father and begin to know Him so much better than we ever could on earth!

Prayer Lessons – Day 3

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Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Matthew 6:11 KJV

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Going for walks around the neighborhood with our grandchildren is one of the highlights of our visits with them. Whether we are examining leaves together or stopping at the corner store for ice cream; what matters is that we are doing it together.  Praying for daily bread and forgiveness is just the same. Though they appear to be totally unrelated items they are both part of our daily walk around the neighborhood with Jesus.  P1040060

When we are praying for daily bread we are simply showing our Heavenly Father that we are depending on Him even for the simplest of matters. Then when we stumble and fall down while we are with Him we can immediately turn and ask forgiveness. He is willing to freely give but He also reminds us that forgiveness given comes with His gracious expectation that we learn to be forgiving as well. Through each line of this prayer Jesus wants us to know that our relationship to Him is what matters most. Whether we need daily bread or forgiveness of sins He wants us to trust in His care and discover the joy of an childlike dependence on Him.

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Learning to Pray – Day 2

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

Our first step in learning how to pray room begins by becoming God’s child, but the second only happens as we yield our will to His. When we pray your kingdom come and will be done it isn’t about who will win the next election or what laws will be declared constitutional by the courts. God is most interested in His kingdom coming in our own hearts.

Consider the life of Jesus who never sinned, acted from selfish motivations or asked others to do so. He always walked in perfect fellowship with His Father and yet on the night before He was crucified He prayed alone in a garden. He told His disciples to pray with Him because of the weight of His sorrow as He faced the cross.

Then Jesus prayed an astonishing prayer. He asked God to find another way if it were possible for Him to finish His mission on earth. If Jesus had to pray this how much more the rest of us! Even if we did everything right, and avoided breaking even one of God’s rules we still come up short until we are ready to yield our will to His. The old Hymn we learned to sing when we were young declared, “I surrender all” but practically speaking we should have sung, “I surrender some!” Nobody knows this better than Jesus so He includes this part of our prayer: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done”. He wants us to remember that every day we will need His help. And every day He is willing to answer!

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