Simple Prayer

A couple of weeks ago I had the blessing of working with David Hawk, Hawk, in Children's Ministry as the Carpenters for Christ were building our new Community Life Center. As they built a building we built trust and laughter into the lives of kids. One of Hawk's goals was to teach the kids The Lord's Prayer. He believes, and I agree, that we've missed a generation with Scripture memorization. The kids did an amazing job and had it down in less than three days. 

Today I was reading someone else's blog and he mentioned The Lord's Prayer. Here's what he said...

From Chris Lockwood's Blog entitled Pray Like This...
It seems that prayer has become so matter of fact these days, that we have forgotten the privilege we have in approaching and speaking with a Holy God.  What an amazing opportunity to communicate with the Author of all creation, and how sad for us that we don’t heed every moment we have to speak with, or hear from, Him.  We have become too busy to pray, too calloused to bother with what God wants, and too unimaginative to the wonderful possibilities that might await us if we’d just embrace this intimacy.  Jesus relieves the burden for what we’ve imagined prayer is by informing us that there’s no need for long ambitious empty phrases or many words.  God doesn’t need us to put on a show.  He’s not impressed.  Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 

Prayer, sincere prayer, is simply a way of saying, “I trust you God”, therefore, by not praying, we communicate lack of trust.  Could it be that our busyness, callousness, or lack of imagination is more a result of our insistence that we bear our burdens rather than believing the One who has already overcome the world?  Yes, God has overcome the world, whereby our prayers allow us the opportunity to become a little more familiar with just who He is, all that He’s accomplished, and what wonderful gifts He desires to pour out on those who trust Him.

Not sure where to start?  Jesus has laid out a simple blue print.

1)  Worship:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 

2)  Surrender:  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

3)  Trust:  Give us this day our daily bread  

4)  Repentance & Forgiveness:  forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

5)  Protection:  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

6) Added by me...Ends with worship: For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever and ever. Amen!

What a privilege, an honor, we have in prayer.  The only required cost is time, but the returns far outweigh the investment.

So Sad

Ok, so I am not a morning person, though as age catches up with me I am less of a night owl as well. I was up before 5 answering 'nature's' call and then my brain wouldn't shut down as I lay in bed with my CPAP mask on. Now I am awake on what could be a long day. Our VBS begins this afternoon and then I'm going to help Bonnie with some A/V issues at an evening VBS the Summer Missions Team and she are helping another church lead. 

This all stems from a conversation we had in Sunday School yesterday. Well, maybe not a conversation because that takes two or more persons and our youth aren't the most talkative on Sunday mornings. Anyhow, this is what I shared.

We were talking about God's Word and how it impacts our lives. Our key text was from Psalm 119. We were talking about how the Bible can bring us joy and this is part of what I shared and will now elaborate on a little more.

I read a news article last week that was so sad. A pastor in the Houston, TX area took his own life after a long bout with depression. Now I am not trying to judge but I am trying to understand. I can relate to this man, whom I've never met, because I too have dealt with depression. Now I've never been suicidal but I have been in what felt like a dark hole with little or no light. I just feel so sad for that pastor and his family, both his natural family and his church family. One of the verses we  read was Psalm 119:11, 'Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God.' Yes one of the few verses I have memorized in KJV. I know depression can warp your sense of reality. But for me, I can say that I never completely lost my joy. The depression that I've dealt with has been since we lost the girls in 2008 and it was coupled with the fact that I broke my arm at the end of 2008. I was emotionally, physically and spiritually broken. I actually went to a psychiatrist who in less than 10 minutes diagnosed me with clinical depression which took me by surprise that I was that easily diagnosed. But after counseling and some medical help, I am much better. So much better that I am off the meds and counseling both. All this does have a point I'm not just rambling.

After I shared a little not even as much as I have here I began thinking about Bible verses that I had hidden in my heart that had helped me and continue to help me. The verse I shared with the kids yesterday was 'I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.'  Then I thought about a simpler verse, the verse that is still ringing in my mind and keeping me awake...'Jesus wept'. A favorite verse for many to say they've memorized because of its simplicity. But there's nothing simple about it. Because Jesus wept, He knows what we're going through. That is one of the most comforting things about being a Christian or Believer or Jesus Follower, which ever term you prefer to use. We have a Savior who identifies with us. That's why Jesus came. As Dawson McAllister would say, Jesus was God in the bod. So when we hurt, He hurts. When we laugh, He laughs. I love the classic song from Geoff Moore, 'He was one of us, somehow like you and me, the God we serve breathed the air that we breathe...' We are not alone. I remember hearing some pastor say when we read Jesus say I will never leave you nor forsake you it literally means I will never, no never ever leave you nor never, ever forsake you. I don't know what that pastor was going through but I know what I've been through and even in the darkest of valleys, even the ones that can be described as the valley of the shadow of death, I wasn't alone.

Conclusion...WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS WORLD. Please, please, please don't buy into that lie.

Here's another song that has gotten me through the tough times...