Category: Matthew

For yours is the kingdom, and the power…(Matthew 6:13)

His strength is made perfect in your weakness.

Remember that one?

Good…because you’re weak.

Don’t get uptight, Beloved.  I’m weak, too. As a matter of fact, when it comes to spiritual matters I’m kind of pathetic.  I try to be strong, and on occasion I pull off a good imitation of strength, but in my heart I know the truth.  I just don’t have the power to be the man I know God has called me to be.

Sound familiar?  No? Oh, well…then I just feel silly.

Fortunately for me, God does not require me to supply the go-juice for my spiritual walk, any more than I had to redeem myself or find God on my own.  His is the power to get me where he wants me to go.

He has made us many promises, Beloved.

And he has the power to back them up.

Happy Wednesday

For the next few days, I will be looking at what some might consider a questionable part of Scripture.  The traditional ending of the Lord’s Prayer is not in the earliest copies of Matthew, so many people don’t consider it canon.  Look, Beloved, I’m not going heretic on you. It’s simply that I memorized this passage by learning the song, and the song includes the doxology at the end, and so it feels incomplete not to include it.  Besides, there is nothing in these lines that contradicts the rest of Scripture. I hope you’re cool with that.

For yours is the kingdom…(Matthew 6:13)

God’s in charge.

I think the theological response to that is, “No duh.”

And yet, this is the critical statement for every living being.  It is God’s kingdom, not mine. No matter how much I want to be the boss, no matter how desperately I feel the need to be in control of every situation, it is not my kingdom.  Recognizing and embracing that is the first step in relationship with Him, and it’s a step that I have to repeat daily.  It’s kind of a simple paradigm realignment:

You are God.

I am not.

That is good.

Now I can go on with my day.

So, Beloved…

He is God.

You are not.

That is good.

Happy Tuesday.  

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

The path never leads toward temptation.

The path leads away from temptation.

You just happen to be facing the wrong way.

Turn around, Beloved.

Happy Monday

Forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us (Matthew 6:12).

Your translation probably says “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” but I like this version, and it’s my blog, so…

I’m actually pretty good at forgiveness.  When someone asks my pardon, I generally give it readily and fully.  That’s not because I am Super Saint. It’s just that I remember this verse.

And I see that little word as.

See, the line reads, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive…”

In other words, we are asking that the Father forgive us in the same way that we forgive others.

Well, I want to be forgiven fully and freely and immediately and thoroughly.

So…

There you go.

Mercenary? Perhaps…but there you go.

Walk in forgiveness today, Beloved.

Happy Friday.

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

Just enough to get me through the day.  

Not too much, or I might get prideful.

Not too little, or I might not make it at all.

Just…enough.

How about a deal, Lord?

I’ll trust that you know how much I need, and you…

remind me that you know what “enough” looks like.  

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

…your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

I think the hardest part of the whole living for God thing can be found in this verse.  Because God doesn’t always listen to my design input as he formulates his will, and frankly that annoys me.  

But here’s something to chew on, Beloved: Heaven is all about God’s will.  So, if we can’t learn to say, “Your will be done” here, well…our first few weeks of eternity might get a little crunchy.

Of course, that may be part of why we’re here in the first place: to learn to say, “Your will be done” and mean it with our whole everything.

I can’t do it

Yet.

But someday…

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

…hallowed be your name…(Matthew 6:9)

Hallowed

You know, like holy.

The Jews were so intense when it came to the holiness of God that they wouldn’t even utter the name YAHWEH. They considered it blasphemy.  I remember as a kid being told not to “take the Lord’s name in vain.” I didn’t really get what “in vain” meant, but I figured that God’s name was special and only to be used in prayer.

These days, we seem to be past all that.  Our society uses God’s name all the time–and not always in prayer.

Not often in prayer.

Beloved, perhaps today is a good day to remind ourselves that God is not like us.  I mean, we are made in his image, and Jesus became flesh and lived among us, but ultimately…he is different.

His is separate.

He is holy.

There is a purity and a majesty and a power in God that caused everyone who ever came into his presence to fall on their faces. Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips!” God appears to people as an angel, or as fire, or as tempest, because God in his true glory would crisp them.

So, while God is our loving Father

He is also

Almighty God.

Walk in reverence today.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven…(Matthew 6:9)

Not Mighty God

Not Lord of the Universe

Not Holy One

Not Creator

Not Sustainer

Not Giver and Taker of Life

Not Commander of the Heavenly Host

Even though all those names are true

Father

When Jesus taught his followers to pray, he started with Father.

And so should we.

Happy Monday, Beloved

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matthew 6:7-8).

Shhhhh.

Talk less.

Listen more.

Happy Friday, Beloved

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.  I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen.  Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:5-6).

You know how the prayers you speak in public are different from the ones you say in private?

Yeah, uh, that’s a problem.  It’s not supposed to be that way.  

When we’re in public, too often we pray to impress.  We use our best theological words–sometimes incorrectly–and an impressively earnest tone of voice.  We don’t want God or anybody else to forget who we’re talking to, so we use His name in every sentence:

“Oh Lord, we just come to you Jesus to tell you God that we just, we just love you Lord Jesus, and we just thank you, Lord God, for your sanctimoniosity, Lord…”

We also say, “Just” a lot, though I’ve never figured out why.

The point is, you probably don’t pray that way when you’re alone with Jesus.  Then, you let it all spill out, raw and honest, not worried about how you sound because you know He understands.

That’s the prayer he’s looking for.

No, Beloved, I’m not saying that your public prayers should be rambling and random

just that they should be

real.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.