2006-07-14
Good Morning Dear Ones,
At last, we have arrived at the seventh and last index sentence for the Lord's Prayer [MT 6: 9-13]. You'll remember that for the last several weeks, we have been using the index sentences people used before more modern ways to teach the great lessons of this prayer were implemented. In a recap, here of the ones we've already examined and their purposes: "Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name..." [worship]; "Thy Kingdom come..." [allegiance]; "Thy will be done..." [submission]; "Give us this day our daily bread..." [petition]; "and forgive us our trespasses..." [confession]; "lead us not into temptation..." [deliverance]. Now, we look at the last one, "For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen" [worship].
The first thing that should jump out at us is the return to worship. As I mentioned last week, this all-important lesson in how to pray begins and ends in worship like "worship bookends." That is most certainly appropriate in view of to Whom we are addressing this prayer-our Creator, our King, our God! The use of the word "For..." to begin this index sentence suggests all that has gone on before is because of His Kingdom, power, and glory. When one has true faith, all of this makes clear sense. I must go back to a question asked of Jesus by some Pharisees in LK 17: 20-21. "Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, 'The Kingdom of God does not come in such a ways as to be seen. No one will say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!'; because the Kingdom of God is within you.'" In my considered opinion, this is a reference to the fact that God's Kingdom truly is eternal and has existed from the time He first created it before the earth was created. I feel that the Garden of Eden before the original sin was a part of it; then the serpent with his deceptive ways interfered. The Kingdom didn't stop existing, except in the hearts of those with sin as a lifestyle. Jesus was saying that it exists in the hearts of true believers and will eventually, when sin is expunged once and for all, will exist in the future in the New Jerusalem — described in REV 21 & 22 [what we commonly refer to as heaven]. In other words, it was, it is, and it will be for all eternity. This expresses the eternal nature of our God, that He is unchangeable, and that He is the ultimate Sovereign. That is why the author of the book of Hebrews was able to rightly say, in HE 1: 10-12, "You, Lord, in the beginning created the earth, and with Your own hands You made the heavens. They will disappear, but You will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will fold them up like a coat, and they will be changed like clothes. But You are always the same, and Your life never ends."
We often use the word, "amen," without understanding what it means. It's real meaning is "so be it!" This is an acceptance of our inferior position with regard to God- a kind of submission to the reality of God's superior and compassionately used power. PS 79: 13 is also an expression of worship that helps illuminate this seventh index sentence. "Then we, Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will thank You forever and praise you for all time to come." I can't remember who told me this first, but it is riveted into my mind now that our most important career in heaven will be the worship of God. Anything else we do there will be secondary to it. Perhaps this is strongly supported by the vivid picture of worship in heaven that we are given in REV 4 and those remarkable songs that will be sung to God in REV 4 and 5. If you haven't read them, please do now. RO 11: 36 also gives us insight into why our eternal worship of God is both necessary and appropriate. "For all things were created by Him, and all things exist through Him, and for Him. To God be the glory forever. Amen."
Now, let me bring the whole picture of the Lord's Prayer together for our understanding and meditation. The concept of eternity is like asking a mathematician to describe infinity. The concept is so mind-boggling that we can really relate entirely to it. This involves God having crafted a plan so complex and overarching in our lives as to be beyond anything a man can conceive. We are so tied to our watches, to the concept of finite time, that we can't really fully understand eternity. God doesn't need a watch or even the physical laws of the earth! No matter what or who, even Satan, can't interfere with God's purposes for very long; God's will shall be accomplished no matter what in the end. We are so very blessed that God's will for us is wholly righteous and in our best interests. That alone is enough reason to feel good about submitting to our Deity. We could never have such assurance in fully submitting to other people. Christ wants us to understand that prayers that begin and end with worship are wholly acceptable and right. Prayers including expressions of allegiance, submission to God, petitions, confession of our sins, and requests for deliverance from our trials, pain, and losses are good prayers-as long as God is put first and remembered last. My prayer is that each of us will never run through the recitation of the Lord's Prayer by rote the same way again. Instead, we will have a deep and abiding understanding of the lessons Christ has for us in it, and by saying it often, we will remember those lessons.
PRAYER: O Lord, we have entered into a covenant relationship with You, one that is real and very personal. With our imperfections and need for Your leadership in our lives, we all too often don't fulfill our part of this covenant agreement. It is by Your grace and patience that You don't ever break that covenant, even through we sometimes lead You to frustration. Because You always keep Your promises, so should we. PS 106:1, "We will celebrate and praise You, Lord! You are good to us, and Your love never fails." We recall how You fulfilled Your promise to Abraham in the past in PS 105: 42-43. "For He remembered His sacred promises to Abraham, His servant. So He brought His chosen ones singing into the Promised Land." We recognize with the help of Your Son in offering us the Lord's Prayer why we should be happy to submit to Your supreme power and lordship in our lives. PS 97: 1, " The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice." Each of us has trials, disappointments, losses, and pain of one kind or another through our lives. Through all of this, we can know that You are always there for us. PS 121: 8, "The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever." When we found ourselves to be born with inherited sin and unable to stop adding to that sin, You sent Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die on the cross-so that we could escape eternal condemnation. We approach You with the boldness of deep faith and reverence for You to continue opening our hearts to the Holy Spirit's teaching, to continue hungering for Your word, to keep on giving us the courage to stand up for our faith when it is challenged and share our faith with others, to hear our prayers and answer them, and to lead us through "the narrow gate on the hard path" to eternal life [MT 7: 13-14] with You. Only You can do this, Dearest Abba, and we offer You the praise, worship, and thanks that You so richly deserve. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, the Holy Spirit has directed me to begin writing about a subject that is personally very difficult for me-fasting. I'll wait till then to share my reasons, but in the meanwhile, He is telling me this is too important (just as prayer is) not to address. I believe you already know how deeply in love with the Lord I am from the writing I do. You also know that wasn't always the case. So when did it happen? It has to be when the Holy Spirit got His way with my stubborn, once traditionally Jewish heart. How is this done? RO 12: 2, "Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God-what is good and is pleasing to Him and is perfect." Something happens in the lives of all people whom God has chosen to fall in love with Him. It will be different for each person. Sometimes it happens precipitously, as in the case of a friend who was in combat and suddenly realized God was with him protecting him. Sometimes, as in my case, it happened when I began to hunger for His word and compare it to the bogus theology I was being taught by the former denomination I was attending. We are what God made us to be, and He made me a Jew. No attendance at another denomination will change that. Today, I'm a Messianic Jew, blessed to know Who her Messiah is. We don't have to walk away from our heritage, but instead, we can let God show us His view of it with His perceptions. This is true for any person who comes to faith in Jesus Christ. True faith is a heart opened to God's intervention. It is also a blessed heart!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn