A few weeks ago Dr. Mark Rutland preached at church. He's been one of my favorites since my Liberty Mutual days when I would listen to his sermons on the radio during my lunch break. To say that I was excited when he joined the preaching staff at church is a slight understatement.
On this particular night he preached on The Lord's Prayer. When he announced the title of his sermon I kind of got ready to be bored. I mean, really... I've been saying The Lord's Prayer since I can remember. I said it so much as a child that it turned into
"OurfatherwhichartinHeaven
Hallowedbethyname
Thykindgomcome
Thywillbedone
OnEarthasitisinHeaven
Giveusthisday
Ourdailybread
Andforgiveusourdebts
Asweforgiveourdebtors
Andleadusnotintotemptation
Butdeliverusfromevil
Forthineisthekindgomandthepowerandthegloryforeveramen.
It wasn't until I was older that I realized that The Lord's Prayer is actually Jesus giving us a literal example of how we need to pray. I had that little discovery and then somehow it was pushed to the back of my brain and has stayed there for years. I hadn't given it much thought for a long time. So, when Dr. Rutland began his sermon I settled back down in my seat and my eyes even glazed over a little bit.
For about three minutes. Ha!
For the first time in a LONG time, I actually listened to the words and pondered them. That night when I got home I pondered them some more because we were challenged to pray The Lord's Prayer every day. We were challenged to pray the prayer, not just recite it. As it turns out, there's a big difference.
I read The Lord's Prayer in The Message version of the Bible that night.
"Our Father in Heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best-
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven by you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes."
I absolutely love this version. How simple. When times are tough and our problems seem too overwhelming for us to form our own words, Jesus gives us the words we need to say.
I've been doing my own private study of The Lord's prayer for the past few days. Breaking down line by line, putting it my own words, and I've been surprised at how I've been led to pray.
I got a kick out of "Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil". I laughed out loud. The Devil's bad, but sometimes I am my worst enemy.
This whole little journey has made me think of my Mamaw more than usual. When I went through my infamous "rebellious period" she would always tell me that God and His word never go out of style. She was so right!
On this particular night he preached on The Lord's Prayer. When he announced the title of his sermon I kind of got ready to be bored. I mean, really... I've been saying The Lord's Prayer since I can remember. I said it so much as a child that it turned into
"OurfatherwhichartinHeaven
Hallowedbethyname
Thykindgomcome
Thywillbedone
OnEarthasitisinHeaven
Giveusthisday
Ourdailybread
Andforgiveusourdebts
Asweforgiveourdebtors
Andleadusnotintotemptation
Butdeliverusfromevil
Forthineisthekindgomandthepowerandthegloryforeveramen.
It wasn't until I was older that I realized that The Lord's Prayer is actually Jesus giving us a literal example of how we need to pray. I had that little discovery and then somehow it was pushed to the back of my brain and has stayed there for years. I hadn't given it much thought for a long time. So, when Dr. Rutland began his sermon I settled back down in my seat and my eyes even glazed over a little bit.
For about three minutes. Ha!
For the first time in a LONG time, I actually listened to the words and pondered them. That night when I got home I pondered them some more because we were challenged to pray The Lord's Prayer every day. We were challenged to pray the prayer, not just recite it. As it turns out, there's a big difference.
I read The Lord's Prayer in The Message version of the Bible that night.
"Our Father in Heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best-
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven by you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes."
I absolutely love this version. How simple. When times are tough and our problems seem too overwhelming for us to form our own words, Jesus gives us the words we need to say.
I've been doing my own private study of The Lord's prayer for the past few days. Breaking down line by line, putting it my own words, and I've been surprised at how I've been led to pray.
I got a kick out of "Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil". I laughed out loud. The Devil's bad, but sometimes I am my worst enemy.
This whole little journey has made me think of my Mamaw more than usual. When I went through my infamous "rebellious period" she would always tell me that God and His word never go out of style. She was so right!
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