Q. 106. What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A. In the sixth petition, which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, we pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.
This one is big. I know I often want to avoid sin throughout the day but then an angry thought will go past my mind or I will say something without thinking and I've sinned. How do I prevent this?
I must pray to God to keep me from sin and to deliver me from me when I'm faced with a decision to sin. Most of the sins we commit are unintentional, but they are still sins and they are still worth of God's judgment. These are mentioned in Leviticus 5:17 and under the Old Covenant community of Israel there was a whole protection and sacrificial system for it.
Jeremy Pierre wrote about "Involuntary Sins" in last month's Tabletalk magazine. He talked about trained instincts and fighter pilots. They are trained to make quick automatic decisions that come from a long time of mental preparation and practice. "The countless little decisions they make in the cockpit are automatic, but that doesn't mean they're involuntary."
In the same way the sins that we "accidentally" do are also voluntary no matter how automatic. Since Jesus has died for the sins of every believer, in the New Covenant Church, we retrain our brains through praying that the Lord keeps us from sin and also to read from his Bible every day. We must remember 2 Timothy 3:16 about Scripture rebuking us, training us, and renewing us. You will know what he wants and how to ask for it if you do not neglect this vital practice of exploring the Scriptures every day. Without this, your soul will suffer and perhaps even die. This is how you put your trained instincts under a new regimen.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Petition 5: debts and debtors
Q. 105. What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
A. In the fifth petition, which is, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, we pray that God, for Christ’s sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.
What a mercy that the first thing in a proper prayer that the Lord Jesus taught us is not to confess our sins right out. We get to start by praising our God, praying for his name to be honored, for his kingdom to come and that we bring about his will, and we even get to ask God to provide for our needs that he already knows we have. And then, we must remember that we are sinners and deserve nothing from the Father who we have wronged so grievously. We don't even deserve for him to give us an audience.
But he allows us to confess our sins and to ask them to be forgiven. He has provided his only Son whom he loves more than anything to die for our sins and take on our just punishment and to give us his life. He is glad to forgive our sins because he knows that Jesus has brought them to justice.
At the same time, we need to forgive those who have sinned against us. It is good to mention this in the prayer because often times we cannot in our own strength forgive people who have harmed us. But we must and so we must rely on the Holy Spirit's power to carry us along through completing our Lord's command to forgive.
What a joy to a recovering sinner that God will not only forgive our sins but help us to forgive people we have wronged or even have gone to far in trying to help. He will help us forgive ourselves. How dare we not take advantage of this grace! In fact, if we don't, then we will suffer for eternity. Take this offer, please! There is no other.
A. In the fifth petition, which is, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, we pray that God, for Christ’s sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.
What a mercy that the first thing in a proper prayer that the Lord Jesus taught us is not to confess our sins right out. We get to start by praising our God, praying for his name to be honored, for his kingdom to come and that we bring about his will, and we even get to ask God to provide for our needs that he already knows we have. And then, we must remember that we are sinners and deserve nothing from the Father who we have wronged so grievously. We don't even deserve for him to give us an audience.
But he allows us to confess our sins and to ask them to be forgiven. He has provided his only Son whom he loves more than anything to die for our sins and take on our just punishment and to give us his life. He is glad to forgive our sins because he knows that Jesus has brought them to justice.
At the same time, we need to forgive those who have sinned against us. It is good to mention this in the prayer because often times we cannot in our own strength forgive people who have harmed us. But we must and so we must rely on the Holy Spirit's power to carry us along through completing our Lord's command to forgive.
What a joy to a recovering sinner that God will not only forgive our sins but help us to forgive people we have wronged or even have gone to far in trying to help. He will help us forgive ourselves. How dare we not take advantage of this grace! In fact, if we don't, then we will suffer for eternity. Take this offer, please! There is no other.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Petition Four: Daily Bread + more reflections on the first petition
WSC Q. 104. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A. In the fourth petition, which is, Give us this day our daily bread, we pray that of God’s free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them.
A. In the fourth petition, which is, Give us this day our daily bread, we pray that of God’s free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them.
I said this in the first week that I started the petitions of the Lord's Prayer: When I pray, I normally dive right into the things I want for myself and for people that I love. I certainly start with praise and thanksgiving, but that is quite brief compared to what Jesus teaches.
When we pray, he wants us to put our wants and needs in fourth place. This is just behind our prayers to God to help us do his will on earth which is ahead of asking for his Kingdom to come on earth whether immediately or in progressive increments. All of this is less important than our desiring that we keep God's name holy and that others do the same.
But in all of this, God does want us to come to him for things that we want and need. We don't have to be completely selfless when we pray. I am just so floored at God's generosity to us in granting this privilege. We can ask for things for ourselves and for those that we love.
I'm going to mention something about the first petition that just now dawned on me. You know how Christians like myself offend people by commenting that things they post on facebook are offensive? What if it's a dirty joke with crude words? What if it's that overplayed "if you don't like x then don't do x" meme? What if it's some liberal dribble about loving people and not judging (which I believe in, btw, but not in a way that excuses their sins or acts like everyone will go to heaven)? What if I want people to stop posting such stuff not because I'm some prudish flat-earther who thinks all people should think like me, but because I'm genuinely concerned that they are dishonoring God's name? You know that if Johnny constantly dishonors God's name by his words and actions that he is calling curses upon himself. What more loving thing could I do than to simply ask that he examine himself and his beliefs to see if he is truly following God or if he is just trying to impress his friends as more important than God? God could be using me to answer my own prayer that his name be hallowed. God could be using me to save him from hell.
Please, people, always keep in mind Ephesians 4 which exhorts us to live worthy of our calling and professions as believers in Jesus and to not live as the nonbelievers do.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Petition Three: Will Be Done
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." "we pray that God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels do in heaven." Thus says WSC Q103.
To me, this is a continuation of the second petition: to pray that God's kingdom will come. We bring about God's kingdom by knowing, obeying, and submitting to his will.
We certainly don't do it perfectly and cannot do it without the Holy Spirit's guidance, which is why we must pray every day for God to help us to obey him, to love our Lord by obeying him.
This is such an encouragement when you are seeking to be healed from sin and codependency. While you want to help fix things, you know that you can't and have to rest on what Christ has done and what he will continue to do as he guides you with his Spirit.
To me, this is a continuation of the second petition: to pray that God's kingdom will come. We bring about God's kingdom by knowing, obeying, and submitting to his will.
We certainly don't do it perfectly and cannot do it without the Holy Spirit's guidance, which is why we must pray every day for God to help us to obey him, to love our Lord by obeying him.
This is such an encouragement when you are seeking to be healed from sin and codependency. While you want to help fix things, you know that you can't and have to rest on what Christ has done and what he will continue to do as he guides you with his Spirit.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Petition Two: Your Kingdom Come
Q. 102. What do we pray for in the second petition?
A. In the second petition, which is, Thy kingdom come, we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.
When we pray for God's kingdom to come, it gives us hope that the ugly death and hatred going on all around us is not how it will always be. Jesus will come back and establish his Kingdom on earth for all eternity. Evil will be no more, and there will be no more dying or disobeying God.
At the same time, as we pray for God to send his Kingdom and send it soon, we also should be working to make it as much possible now before he returns. We should fight abortion, prevent the government from destroying innocent lives, encourage young people to not follow their hearts but to follow the Lord when it come to sexuality, and comfort people who grieve and are questioning God. And we must make disciples of the Lord who follow his commands. Help save people from damnation by warning them of their errors while at the same time knowing God ultimately saves and not me.
Also, we simply must not despair as another major shooting happened and evil seems to be triumphing. In the end, it will not win, and indeed, it has already been lost. Along with the first petition of the Lord's prayer, we must seek to hallow God's name and bring about his Kingdom and Glory.
A. In the second petition, which is, Thy kingdom come, we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.
When we pray for God's kingdom to come, it gives us hope that the ugly death and hatred going on all around us is not how it will always be. Jesus will come back and establish his Kingdom on earth for all eternity. Evil will be no more, and there will be no more dying or disobeying God.
At the same time, as we pray for God to send his Kingdom and send it soon, we also should be working to make it as much possible now before he returns. We should fight abortion, prevent the government from destroying innocent lives, encourage young people to not follow their hearts but to follow the Lord when it come to sexuality, and comfort people who grieve and are questioning God. And we must make disciples of the Lord who follow his commands. Help save people from damnation by warning them of their errors while at the same time knowing God ultimately saves and not me.
Also, we simply must not despair as another major shooting happened and evil seems to be triumphing. In the end, it will not win, and indeed, it has already been lost. Along with the first petition of the Lord's prayer, we must seek to hallow God's name and bring about his Kingdom and Glory.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Petition One: Hallowed be Thy Name
The Lord's Prayer is divided into six petitions. The very first part, "Our Father, who art in heaven," is actually just the opening. Just the same, it is important to know that Christianity is really the only religion where we can call God our Father. Judaism, Islam, and other religions know about God, but he is not personal, and he certainly has not adopted them into his family. As Christians, we truly take for granted the privilege that God has allowed to us.
WSC Q. 101. What do we pray for in the first petition?
A. In the first petition, which is, Hallowed be thy name, we pray that God would enable us, and others, to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known; and that he would dispose all things to his own glory.
When I normally pray, the first thing I think of is my own needs. I also think of people who are sick and to remember both my and Tim's immediate family. I'll even ask for prayer for the election, our "President" and for God to have mercy on our country.
It is not natural for myself as a human to first think that since I am approaching an infinitely holy God as a sinful human being that I don't even deserve to live, but he has graciously forgiven me and invited me to come to him in his mercy. What he wants more than anything is to be regarded as holy and for me to live worthy of his Name.
In fact, when I post this blog and go to pray again, I still will not remember the think about caring that I treat God's as holy and pray that the world would begin to do so. I will praise him and thank him, but I always forget to ask that he help me to honor him and not tarnish his name with what I say or do as someone who walks around using the name, "Christian."
Maybe if I did, I would hear less people using God's name in vain or saying, "Jesus" as if he was merely a curse word or a good luck charm.
Remember the third commandment and the first petition that Jesus taught us to pray when you pray!
WSC Q. 101. What do we pray for in the first petition?
A. In the first petition, which is, Hallowed be thy name, we pray that God would enable us, and others, to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known; and that he would dispose all things to his own glory.
When I normally pray, the first thing I think of is my own needs. I also think of people who are sick and to remember both my and Tim's immediate family. I'll even ask for prayer for the election, our "President" and for God to have mercy on our country.
It is not natural for myself as a human to first think that since I am approaching an infinitely holy God as a sinful human being that I don't even deserve to live, but he has graciously forgiven me and invited me to come to him in his mercy. What he wants more than anything is to be regarded as holy and for me to live worthy of his Name.
In fact, when I post this blog and go to pray again, I still will not remember the think about caring that I treat God's as holy and pray that the world would begin to do so. I will praise him and thank him, but I always forget to ask that he help me to honor him and not tarnish his name with what I say or do as someone who walks around using the name, "Christian."
Maybe if I did, I would hear less people using God's name in vain or saying, "Jesus" as if he was merely a curse word or a good luck charm.
Remember the third commandment and the first petition that Jesus taught us to pray when you pray!
Monday, May 30, 2016
The Lord's Prayer
I just finished two series: one on the Ten Commandments and one on the Apostles' Creed. Both were based on my time with Celebrate Recovery, a wonderful resource to help anyone and everyone healing from either addiction or sin, which is everyone, to heal and to be able to be honest and open about their problems.
At each meeting, recoverers recite the 12 steps of recovery based on AA but with Scripture and 8 steps of recovery based on the beatitutes followed by the Serenity prayer. As helpful as those are, I feel like it would be more helpful to draw from more historical source and on Scripture.
Scripturally, we do not have problems or bad choices, we have sin the separates us from God and will for eternity unless we surrender our lives to Jesus who lived the only perfect life and died in the only complete sacrifice for all the sins of those he will save. He rose again from the dead. Being both God and man he intercedes between us and the Father.
It would be helpful for people who come to church for recovery to recite the 10 commandments to show them what exactly is their sin and why it is so deadly. It would also be good to recite the Apostles' Creed because it shows what all God has done to both create us and save us from our sins. Jesus is the only solution to our sins. Not 12 steps and not my resolve to make better decisions. Only Jesus can save me.
The Lord's Prayer would be a better prayer to pray than the Serenity Prayer. The Lord's Prayer was specifically taught by our Lord to the disciples when they asked him how to pray. The Serenity Prayer has good moments, but is not biblical, is attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, a liberal, and is not really God's solution to the sin and tragedy in our world. God doesn't want us to merely live in the world and take its blows. He wants us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and fight for justice in order to make it more like the Kingdom of God.
So this is my start to the Lord's Prayer. It is divided into six petitions, so the next six posts will be about those.
When you pray, it is also good to come just as you are and not do anything extra whether it is to light a candle, draw a circle, or any other unbiblical ritual not prescribed by the Lord. The principle behind the 2nd commandment, the one to not make a graven image, is that we do not try to worship God in ways that he has not commanded. God cannot be manipulated. God wants us to come to him through Jesus with nothing but ourselves. Anything extra that we do is relying on our own efforts and telling the Lord that we don't believe he cares more about us and our loved ones more than we do. I can't think of anything more arrogant and less trusting in the Lord. Just come as you are with nothing else.
At each meeting, recoverers recite the 12 steps of recovery based on AA but with Scripture and 8 steps of recovery based on the beatitutes followed by the Serenity prayer. As helpful as those are, I feel like it would be more helpful to draw from more historical source and on Scripture.
Scripturally, we do not have problems or bad choices, we have sin the separates us from God and will for eternity unless we surrender our lives to Jesus who lived the only perfect life and died in the only complete sacrifice for all the sins of those he will save. He rose again from the dead. Being both God and man he intercedes between us and the Father.
It would be helpful for people who come to church for recovery to recite the 10 commandments to show them what exactly is their sin and why it is so deadly. It would also be good to recite the Apostles' Creed because it shows what all God has done to both create us and save us from our sins. Jesus is the only solution to our sins. Not 12 steps and not my resolve to make better decisions. Only Jesus can save me.
The Lord's Prayer would be a better prayer to pray than the Serenity Prayer. The Lord's Prayer was specifically taught by our Lord to the disciples when they asked him how to pray. The Serenity Prayer has good moments, but is not biblical, is attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, a liberal, and is not really God's solution to the sin and tragedy in our world. God doesn't want us to merely live in the world and take its blows. He wants us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and fight for justice in order to make it more like the Kingdom of God.
So this is my start to the Lord's Prayer. It is divided into six petitions, so the next six posts will be about those.
When you pray, it is also good to come just as you are and not do anything extra whether it is to light a candle, draw a circle, or any other unbiblical ritual not prescribed by the Lord. The principle behind the 2nd commandment, the one to not make a graven image, is that we do not try to worship God in ways that he has not commanded. God cannot be manipulated. God wants us to come to him through Jesus with nothing but ourselves. Anything extra that we do is relying on our own efforts and telling the Lord that we don't believe he cares more about us and our loved ones more than we do. I can't think of anything more arrogant and less trusting in the Lord. Just come as you are with nothing else.
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