"Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."

 Matthew 6:9

"Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Matthew 6:9

Today, I take a short break from my study of John to look at DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion for today, which explores Matthew 6:9. The devotion opens with a finding in scripture that many times (dozens per the devotion) scripture emphasizes "for his name's sake:"

• He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3)
• For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt. (Psalm 25:11)
• He saved them for his name’s sake. (Psalm 106:8)
• For my name’s sake I defer my anger. (Isaiah 48:9)
• Your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)

 The reference to this phrase in scripture begs the question "why," and the devotion posits: "God delights in having his name known and honored."  We are encouraged not to see this as a declarative or statement but instead as a petition, almost going as far as to say "an imperative or command."  In teaching the disciples how to pray, Jesus' very first "how-to" and His most paramount prayer is to bring glory to the Father. The devotion begins to wind down by sharing that Jesus offers this petition "[b]ecause this is the first and great passion of the Father."

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves, saves and never leaves or forsakes me - giving me the Holy Spirit to teach me all things and to bring about obedience to You - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You love me and save.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 18:3

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

I continue pause my study of Zechariah and of the last four books of the OT (complete: Zephaniah, Haggai; to complete: Zechariah, Malachi) - using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  Today, my preparation to lead Sunday school at my church, where our class is doing a study on prayer based on the book by A Praying Life, moves along.  Picking up where I left off in chapter 3 Become Like a Little Child [In Prayer], the book refers us to Matthew 18:3. Our prayer life should be without pretense or masks, acknowledging how life is messy and how children behave - impulsively, selfishly, unable to stay focused, etc.  We are encouraged to pray exactly where we are - authentically - even in the midst of how messy and chaotic our hearts and lives may feel. Whatever you are feeling - bring that to God - be real.  In chapter 4, Learning to Talk with Your Father, the book encourages us to ask persistently like a child (are we there yet?) and to believe like a child.  We are pointed to Luke 7:1-10 where a centurion seeks out Jesus to heal his servant and says to Jesus that all He needs to do is say it will happen and it will and Jesus commends the centurion for his faith.  As adults we become more cynical about others' commitments - we need to return to child-like faith and this will animate our prayer life.  As the chapter continues, we encouraged to see how we are to avoid focusing our prayer life as an exercise of smooth and eloquent speech when scripture shares how often it is not - see Ephesians 1 and 3 and Paul's prayer there is halting and scattered.   Chapter 4 winds down by emphasizing how we must understand that we have the Holy Spirit to guide us in our prayers - see Galatians 4:6. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God that gives me the Holy Spirit and I can never be separated from Your love.  Thank You that I can always come to You in prayer.  Guide me in prayer and give me more of a heart in prayer to bring whatever is in my heart to You.  I know You will take me however messy I am.  I am undeserving of such love.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin and help them choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Mark 10:14-15

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

I once again pause my study of Zechariah and of the last four books of the OT (complete: Zephaniah, Haggai; to complete: Zechariah, Malachi) - using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  This week, I am preparing to lead Sunday school at my church, where our class is doing a study on prayer based on the book by A Praying Life.  This Sunday, our focus will be in Part I: Learning to Pray like a Child, chapters 7-8.  To start my preparation, I do some review, going back to chapters 1-2.

Chapter One looks at a nagging questions believers sometimes have with persistent prayer that appears unanswered, certainly not answered the way we seek it to be.  The question of course is what good does prayer do? This begins to move us in the direction of where our prayer should be - in that if we are frustrated or angry about our perceived lack of response from God, we should express this because God wants us just as we are - this is true for prayer just as it is with salvation.  When we were saved, we were saved despite our messy and sinful our lives are.  Similarly, as the book describes this as perhaps a more acute problem in the U.S. then elsewhere, we are distracted and uncomfortable with silence and halting speech.  This is OK in prayer again because God wants us where we are - we are a mess and that is OK.  Come to Him anyway!  As the book pivots to start describing what prayer is, we are encouraged to see prayer as an intimate time with friends.  We don't worry about how we talk with friends because it comes naturally.

Chapter Two picks up on this theme of prayer like time with friends and expands on this by being more present in the moment, pausing in the busyness of life to share our heart with God.  We can train ourselves to pray more by acknowledging how God works in all the moments of life - and by praising Him.  Similarly we can slow down to see the needs of others and lift them up in prayer throughout the day.  

Chapter 3 dives deeper on the details of how to pray and it starts by sharing how we are to become like a child.  Several key reasons why this is so is they are real, unfiltered, bold, persistent, and completely dependent - all attributes of how we should pray.  The author points to Mark 10:14-15. 

Lord Jesus, help me have a heart for You such that I see You as Father and I become more like a child in prayer life - real, unfiltered, bold, persistent and utterly dependent.  

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of amazing grace - saving me while an enemy and hostile to You, ignoring the messiness of my life and sin...and in fact cleansing me!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You save and cleanse me from sin.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

 James 5:17-18

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. James 5:17-18

My preparation for teaching this morning on James 5:12-20 ends this morning as I made (what I believe to be) the final tweaks to the presentation I will use to guide our discussion based on an exploration of the question that has lingered this week: why do you think the example of Elijah is provided for prayer in vv17-18?  My source this morning for final preparation is a post from DesiringGod.com from Tony Merida entitled Learning from an Insane Prayer Life. Excerpts from this post regarding why Elijah is an example of prayer in James 5:17-18:

• There are many reasons why one can believe Elijah is not like us: "Elijah’s life is dazzling. Ravens bring him food; God uses a widow to provide daily bread for him in Baal’s territory; Elijah prays and God raises the widow’s son from the dead. Elijah wins the showdown against the prophets of Baal at Carmel; he called down fire from heaven; and he struck down 450 false prophets. Plus, he was an athlete! He ran seventeen miles from Carmel down to Jezreel, outrunning horses and chariots. Elijah was like Moses whom he later appeared with at the Transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1–7). Like Moses, Elijah went eastward for a season, after an initial confrontation. Like Moses, he lived on God’s abundant provision of bread, meat, and water (Exodus 16). Elijah was also like John the Baptist, whom he is associated with in the New Testament (Malachi 4:5; Luke 1:17). Elijah is a mega prophet, whose coming was to pave the way for the Messianic Age. In many ways, he is not like us."
• "Yet, in the New Testament James makes an extraordinary statement when he says that Elijah was a “man like us.” Us? Yes. While Elijah does hold a unique place in redemptive history, James focuses on the fact that every believer can have an effective prayer life like Elijah."
• "The language James uses is the language Paul and Barnabas used in Lystra, when the people wanted to worship them as gods (Acts 14:15). “We also are men, of like nature with you.”"
• Elijah “was simply claiming the promise of God” that famine was the punishment for idolatry; Deuteronomy 11:16–17

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who uses human agents to help us understand Your Word so that scripture and Your message for us can be clear for us to better understand, love, follow, and glorify You - that is why we exist!  Thank You Jesus for the commentaries and other tools You provide for a better understanding of Your Word.  I am not deserving of this blessing nor any blessing You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

 James 5:17-18

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. James 5:17-18

My preparation for teaching tomorrow on James 5:12-20 continues, and today I modified the presentation I will use to guide our discussion based on an exploration of the question that has lingered this week: why do you think the example of Elijah is provided for prayer in vv17-18?  While the commentary Christ-Centered Exposition series volume for James somewhat addresses this question, John Piper delivers a more expansive response on this question based on a sermon he did in March 1990. Piper starts by sharing how he sees many who believe - incorrectly - that prophets from the Bible like Elijah were somehow extraordinary and "cannot serve as a model for us insofar as they prayed for miracles to occur."  Yet Piper points out that the text is crystal clear in v17 that "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours."  Piper then continues sharing: "[t]he point is: Elijah was just like you so that you can be encouraged that YOUR prayers will have great effect—like stopping the rain for three and a half years....All of us should be praying for each other and our goal in praying should be to live and pray in a way that would have the same kind of healing effects as Elijah had when he prayed for rain after a three-year drought."

Amen - let us pray!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who provides a community of believers where we pray for one another. Thank You Jesus for this incredible blessing.  I am not deserving of such a God...my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working....My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:12-20

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working....My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. James 5:16, 19-20

My preparation for teaching this upcoming Sunday 25AUG on James 5:12-20 continues and today I prepared the presentation I will use to guide our discussion.  The core of the discussion looks at prayer in suffering and how we should pray, and how a community of believers is important to support and encourage one another from wandering from the truth into sin.  

I look forward to our Sunday school's discussion!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who gives me Your Word, the Holy Spirit, my church and so much more to help me understand Your Word and help me understand the message You have for me.  I am not deserving of my salvation nor any of the blessings You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

James 5:12-20

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. James 5:16a

My preparation for teaching this upcoming Sunday 25AUG on James 5:12-20 continues and this morning my focus today is a commentary-assisted review of the text, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition series volume for this book. First, the commentary describes v12 as a "hard-left" (off course from key topics patience in previous verses and prayer in next verses).  It shares, referring us to James 3 where he is talking about taming the tongue: "faith that perseveres is trustworthy in speech. The words from our mouths should be so consistent and dependable that they guarantee reliability." 

Excerpts from the commentary on 5:13-18, in a section entitled Prayerful in Sorrow:

• We are reminded again that patience and waiting on the Lord requires prayer; when you are hurting, happy, anxious, etc.; prayer with the elders who will pray over you
• Use of oil in v14 discussed as symbolic, as setting apart someone who is sick as needing attention and care from God; "[t]his is the only place in the New Testament letters where anointing a sick person with oil is even mentioned, and many healings occurred without anointing. The emphasis is on praying and not just to pray with the elders but, according to James 5:16, to pray with the church."
• Confess sins to one another and pray for one another - v16a
  
• On the power and effectiveness of prayer - v16b - the example of Elijah in vv17-18, is provided per the commentary to help us learn the secret to power and effectiveness in prayer (John 14:14): "to ask for something in the name of Christ is to ask for something according to His Word and for His glory. So when you pray, you need to start by making your wants God’s wants."
• We should also pray to change our desire to His desires
  

 Excerpts from the commentary on 5:19-20, in a section entitled Loving Towards Sinners:

• These two verses describe "the seventh and final characteristic of faith that lasts."
• Look out for brothers and sisters in Christ
• V19 specifically describes "earthly restoration"
• Commentary emphasizes the doctrine of eternal security and how this is accomplished through community; we must look out for one another  

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome incredible God who has given me incredible, supportive and Christ-like community in my family and in my church-thank You Jesus! I am not deserving of how You saved me and give me such a community.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.   Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men.

2 Thessalonians 3

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2

I continue my pause of my study of 1 Corinthians as I participate in a men's discipleship group (d-group) at my church.  This morning, on week 3-day 4, my focus is a deeper review of 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 with the assistance of DesiringGod.com's Look at the Book (Lab) "Offense and Defense in Prayer for the Word 2 Thessalonians 3:1–5, Part 1" to unpack the text. In the lab, John Piper looks at how Paul seeks prayer. The lab starts with John Piper looking back at 2 Thessalonians 3:16-17 and how Paul prays for the Thessalonians. Piper then explores how Paul pivots to seeking prayer in two ways in 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2:

• Piper notes that Paul first seeks prayer not for himself but for the Word of the Lord to "speed ahead and be honored; Piper uses a translation that describes how the Word must run, using the analogy of an athlete running a race to get a crown and to outrun all opponents (opposition to the Word); see also 1 Corinthians 9, 2 Timothy 2:9, James 4:2; Piper shares a convicting thought - that the world is different when you pray, then when it does not - we MUST pray; on this prayer Piper describes that when the word wins (over suffering/affliction/persecution) for us personally - we experience joy; see also 1 Thessalonians 1:4-6); this is described as a prayer that is positive or offense
• Paul then prays that he be delivered from wicked and evil men, specifically opposition to their efforts to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ; see also Romans 15:30-31); the reason Paul acts for this prayer for protection is that "faith is not of all" and Piper suggests that can be understood not simply as not everyone has faith (true of course) but that God appoints some with faith (election) and not others; see also 1 Thessalonians 1:4 and Acts 13:48-49 where this "appointment" or "choosing" (election) is used; Piper concludes the Lab but referring us to Acts 13:48-49 as he shares that this and here in 2 Thessalonians 3:1 are the only two places in the New Testament where the Word is described as running or spreading and being glorified/honored; the prayer for protection is described as a prayer that is negative or defense

Thank You God for this convicting message on prayer!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus - You are so good!  Thank You for this message for how You provide Yourself through Your Word and for the Holy Spirit, my brothers and sisters in Christ, etc. - all to keep me close to You.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love and blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Romans 12

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Romans 12:3

I continue to lean on DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion, which today looks at the implications that arise for our prayer based on Paul's text in Romans where he exhorts believers to avoid thinking of themselves more highly than they ought to think. Piper explains that we can avoid pride by seeing that not only whatever gifts we possess are by the grace of God, but so is the very "faith with which we use those gifts." Both, as expressed by Paul, are "according to the measure of faith that God has assigned."  God is the One doing the assignment. Piper than pivots to prayer where he refers us to Luke 22:31-32 where Jesus prays for Peters faith - that it be strengthened and that it not fail.  Piper also refers us to Mark 9:24 where the man of the epileptic son cries out to God to help him with his unbelief - to heal his son. Bottom line - as highlighted by Piper as he wraps the devotion - is that we must "acknowledges that without God we cannot believe as we ought to believe." Humility is core to our faith as it gives us an ability to submit to God, not just for our salvation, but also daily for forgiveness, our daily bread, to be equipped to serve, etc. Be humble!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who gives me everything - my salvation, my daily bread, everything!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You provide.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family,  my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.

Daniel 9

 And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. Daniel 9:27

I continue my study of Daniel in conjunction with a disciple/small group study with my church's men's wake up call. This morning my focus is Daniel 9:20-27 as I lean on my commentary for this text, which outlines the following divisions:

I. God Hears the Passionate Prayers of His Beloved Children (9:20-23): Here, the commentary encourages us to see Daniel's prayer as a model, including "[w]ho we pray to, what we pray for, and how we pray are ...[as they] are all important to God."  It notes that Daniel "is praying to the right person with the right posture, something that always characterizes real and authentic praying."  It also notes, how, despite being in exile, Daniel is aware of the time of day when Gabriel arrives as being "about the time of of the evening sacrifice....There had been no evening sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem since it was destroyed in 586 BC. Nevertheless, Daniel still tells time according to his religious calendar. “He still functions on ‘Jerusalem time,’” says Dale Davis (Message of Daniel, 124). Daniel at eighty-plus years of age has not lost his spiritual identity. Yahweh’s clock is his clock."

II. God Has a Prophetic Plan to Bring about Our Salvation (9:24-27): The commentary notes that Israel's exile is not 70 years, but 70 times 7 or 490 years. It shares how there is significant scholarly debate about the details of the prophecy provided here but there is no debate about how it points to Jesus, Jerusalem's destruction and the period to follow, and end times. 

He has risen!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and mercy for me as You sacrificed Yourself so that I could have life, including victory over sin and death.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such grace and the greatest gift of all time.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me turn from and overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.