Tag: prayers

The Lord’s Prayer – Line by Line Part 2

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In verses Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus provides a model for believers to follow as they pray. He is speaking to crowds that have gathered around Him as He sits and preaches. Jesus is sharing that believers are not to pray to draw attention to ourselves or to just say Christian phrases so we sound good. He exhorts us to pray differently. He then shares what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus says, “Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.”

Credit: JC

The second line, “. . .hallowed be your name” prompts our minds to focus on the fact that while God is our Dad, He is to be approached with respect and awe. This line is a reminder that as we pray, we stand in the presence of a Holy God, so we must not have unconfessed sin or be living in disobedience. We approach God through the righteousness and holiness of Jesus, standing on our belief that He died on the cross for our sins.

We are entering the holy presence of the same God Who causes all-consuming fire to fall on wickedness (Genesis 19:24) and the earth to swallow up those who are disobedient (Numbers 16:32). This is the same God Who flooded the earth due to man’s sin (Genesis 6:17) and yet cares about every single bird (Matthew 6:26). God is all-knowing and all-powerful as He reigns from His heavenly throne room. If ever we feel our hearts are too casual with approaching the Almighty God, let Revelation chapter 4 remind us.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, thank You for showing us how to pray. May we always remember You are a Holy God sitting on Your throne with flashes of lightning, and rumblings of thunder. You shine like jasper and carnelian, and around Your throne is a rainbow and twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. Before Your throne are the seven torches of fire and a sea of glass, like crystal. Help us to approach You with awe as the Holy God You are. May we reflect Your holiness to a hurting world. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

The Lord’s Prayer – Line by Line Part 1

On By JCIn Miscellaneous, Wounded Butterflies BlogLeave a comment

In verses Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus shares a model for believers to follow as they pray. He is speaking to crowds that have gathered around Him as He sits and preaches. His disciples are sitting there as well. Jesus is sharing that believers are not to pray to draw attention to ourselves or to just say Christian phrases so we look good. He exhorts us to pray differently. He then shares what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus says, “Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.”

Credit: JC

The first line, “Our Father in heaven” causes us to put God first, before anything we may request of Him. Jesus starts off the prayer in a way that reminds us we are to be focused on worshipping God as our Father, putting Him first in all that we do. Calling God our Father is an acknowledgement of the relationship between the Almighty Creator and His creation. Our belief in Jesus as the Son of God is the way we get to the Father. He is our Father, our Dad and loves us more than we can possibly understand. Yet, He is in heaven and we are on earth. God is all-knowing and all-powerful as He reigns from His heavenly throne room. Through this line in the prayer, we are reminded that we do not know everything. Our trust must be in our heavenly Father.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, thank You for showing us how to pray, may we always put You first. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

How to Parent Like Job

On By JCIn Miscellaneous, Wounded Butterflies BlogLeave a comment

The book of Job is known for its suffering and pain. It is the human example of all hell breaking loose in someone’s life. When one is struggling, Job is the book to read for perspective, hope and the reminder that God is always in control, even when we do not like what is happening to us. God is in control.

I want to focus on what Job did as a parent, before the suffering arrived in his life, and see what we can learn from him. As we read in Job 1, he was a very wealthy, blessed man. “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.”

Job had ten kids and seemed like a very busy man. Yet, we are told his approach to parenting starting in Job 1:4. “His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.”

Credit: JC

Job had a “regular custom” or habit of praying for his children and working to ensure they walked blameless before the Lord. He would sacrifice a burnt offering for each one of them just in case they sinned. It is also important to note when he prayed for his children to be purified before the Lord, “early in the morning”. Battling for children in prayer and through sacrifice is not to be taken lightly or to be done when there is a free moment. These acts of love must be a habit, a regular custom and they must be done first; they must be a daily priority in our lives.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, please help us to make praying for all children a daily priority. Help us to be blameless and upright as Job was to provide a Godly example to the children who see us. Strengthen and protect all children so they may walk blameless before You. It is in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

How Can We Have Effective Prayers?

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There are many Scriptures that show us we are all imperfect people. Romans 3:23 says that we all have fallen short of the glory of God. This verse does not say some people or even most, but all people have fallen short of the glory of God.

As it is written in Ecclesiastes 7:20, “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” But James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” How can we possibly become righteous when Ecclesiastes states that no one on earth is righteous?

Credit: JC

God answered this question by sending His Son, Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross for us, He offered a way to put on His righteousness and holiness. It is when we believe in Jesus that we then become righteous because we are now in Jesus. We become ‘set apart’ which is another meaning for holy. We put on the righteousness of Jesus, which is part of the armor of God; the breastplate of righteousness is a piece of God’s armor that we have to pick up and put on. The action we need to take is belief in Jesus. Righteousness belongs to Jesus, He earned it for us – all we have to do is believe.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you so much for Jesus and for what He did for us on the cross. Lord, we lift up all church leaders and members. Please give us the strength to pick up the armor of God and put on the righteousness of Jesus. Help us to share and follow the Word of God. Help us to stay on the paths that You have laid before us. It is in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

Shield of Faith

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One of the many gifts that God has blessed us with is the armor of God. While there have been many commentaries and thoughts on the armor of God, we will focus on one simple question after we review the Scriptures.

In Ephesians 6:10 to 6:18, we read,  “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Credit: JC

Each piece of the armor is critical, the helmet of salvation we must wear on our heads to keep our minds focused on the fact that we are redeemed and belong to Jesus. The belt of truth is worn to keep our bodies tethered to the Word of God, the Truth. We put on the shoes that carry the peace of God, wherever we walk, we carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to a hurting and dying world. The breastplate of righteousness is us putting on the righteousness of Jesus, through His sacrifice and love, we are protected. We pick up the sword of the Holy Spirit, which is the Word of God that must be thrust in the face of the enemy as lies are thrown at us every single day.

The last piece of armor is the shield of faith. When you visualize the shield, please do not picture a small round shield. These shields were massive pieces of military equipment. The shields were about two to three feet wide and three to four feet tall. They were able to protect the entire body of the soldier when they crouched behind them. The shields were designed to continue to protect the soldier and remain strong under heavy attack, including flaming arrows. When the soldiers lined up shoulder to shoulder and ‘connected’ their shields, an almost impenetrable wall was built to protect many at once.

Why do you think the shield of faith is the largest piece of armor? As the Scriptures say, the shield is to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Every single day, the enemy will hurl arrows at you – from all directions. The more you use that shield of faith to cover your entire body, the better protected you are. And, like the soldiers, when they were under heavy attack, they stood shoulder to shoulder and were even better protected with the shields lined up. If you are under heavy attack, seek out brothers and sisters in Christ to stand shoulder to shoulder with you. Have them praying over you and for you. When you feel tired or beat up by the world, stand under their shield of faith, tell them the lies that the enemy is throwing your way and allow their shield of faith to protect you by speaking the Truth. As James 4:7 says, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  

Let’s pray. Father in heaven please help us to put on the entire armor of God each and every day. Lord, help us to protect ourselves with the shield of faith. Remind us who we are in You. Help us to resist the devil by standing behind our shield and leaning into the faith of others when we need reinforcements. We praise You and thank You for Jesus. It is in His precious name we pray, amen.

Secrets to Life – Part Five

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It seems that everyone is looking for the secrets to life to increase happiness, joy, peace, love or to attain some other positive state of mind. Each week, a secret to life has been revealed that is intended to lead you to a more peaceful, love-filled and joyous state of being. This week, the fifth secret to life is revealed.

Credit: JC

Purpose. You are still here on this earth for a reason. God has not finished with your life; your purpose still lies ahead or you would no longer be here. Discovering that purpose is a secret to life – bringing peace, satisfaction, joy, and love.

How can one find their purpose? Begin with asking a few questions . . .what makes you excited, what do you love doing, what do you feel inspired by or passionate about? Also ask a few friends or family members these questions and see how they would answer about you. Once you have gathered this information, choose the top one or two answers that occur most often.

From there, you can begin to invest more intentionally into those one or two areas. Start with prayer and create a plan on how you can spend more time in your passions and less time in other things. Focusing your prayers, time, energy and/or money into areas that bring you joy and peace is a step on the path that results in you living out your purpose. You can also prayerfully consider what things you spend time or money on that do not support your purpose and determine if you should continue. If you choose to continue investing into things that are not in your passions, identify why and make peace with that decision.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank You for placing in each of us a specific purpose that only we can fulfill. Help all of us to find that purpose: the reason why we were created the way we are with the specific story and experiences that we have. We know there is only one person like us in all of history and that we have been given the opportunity to fulfill that purpose for You. Thank You for loving us and giving us each an important assignment. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Partition in Our Minds

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In church and in Christian circles, there appears to be a partition being placed in our minds about prayer.  A partition, or wall, placed by the enemy that is a slow burn to turn us away from prayer, our direct connection to God.  Just over the past few months, I have encountered three different groups of people that identify themselves as Christians.  The first group was people who think they are unworthy to pray and/or God won’t listen to them.  They believe in God, but just not that He will listen to them when they pray.  When I say ‘I am praying for you’ to them, either they change the subject, or they appear uncomfortable and end the conversation. I found this to be a surprising reaction from someone who labels themselves as a Christian.  

There is a second group I have met that call themselves Christians, but prayer seems like a foreign concept or even shocking to them. When I share with them that I am praying for their sick child or a lost pet, they cannot fathom that I should bother God with such things.  They say, ‘After all, there are wars going on in the world, why does God care about a lost pet or one sick child?’ Yet, God does care, He cares deeply.  

Credit: JC

There is a third group of people that when I say ‘I am praying for you’, they immediately freak out and want to know what bad thing has happened that they need prayers. They expressed concern that I knew something they did not and asked me to tell them what horrible thing had occurred to cause me to pray for them. This reaction saddened me. We are to be praying for each other regularly.

If Satan can blind us to the importance of prayer through these or other ways, he disrupts our conversations with the Father and our advocate, Jesus. Prayer is how we grab a hold of the spiritual realm and connect to Jesus.

Prayer is like air, it is needed daily and constantly, prayer is not a nice-to-have.  When the enemy decreases your desire to pray or your desire to even receive the prayers of others, you have a problem.  When you have a problem, pray. When you try to pray and the enemy enters your prayer life to distract you by luring your mind to wander, you have to fight. Pray for the strength to fight. Use the enemy’s attempts to decrease prayers to instead increase them. Then we really will be praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).