Our Father: Lead us Not into Temptation

Enter the Presence: In our adventure through the Lord’s Prayer, we are entering the last few laps. We’ve celebrated God’s glory as Holy and as Father. We’ve asked that God’s Kingdom be built and looked at our responsibility in building that kingdom. God gives us our daily sustenance, and asks us to join in him in forgiving one another, just as we are forgiven every moment of every day. Which of the exercises have you tried? Were they helpful?

Today we pray “lead us not into temptation”. We face the fact that we are tempted to do the wrong thing every day. With Paul every one of us can say, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Paul continues, “Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” I’m sure each of us at some time has been driven to sob, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” We want to do the right thing, but it seems like the more we try the worse it gets. However, Paul reminds us, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:15-25) Through Christ, we are redeemed from the wrong things we do.

In the Lord’s prayer we say, “Lead us not into temptation”. The truth is, God doesn’t give us temptations. We find plenty of those on our own. We may spend time watching cat videos instead of taking time to pray. It’s easier to join the gossip than to find something positive to say. Shaking our head over a problem is simpler than working for a solution. Every day we make choices. Some of them take us down the well-traveled road that everyone else takes. As Robert Frost suggests “I took the road less traveled and that has made all the difference”.

Stand In Awe: Consider some of the citations for ‘road’ in the Bible, like these.  

“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (Psalm 16:11)

“A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it.” (Isaiah 35:8)

The scripture promises that following God’s way, will be the way of joy and holiness. Jesus tells his disciples, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

When we pray ‘lead us not into temptation’, we are asking God to show us the proper path, the right road to follow. Probably it will be the ‘road less traveled’.

Sit with God and imagine what that road looks like in your life.

Involve your Heart: Think through yesterday. When did you give in to temptations to take the easier road?

What is your greatest temptation, the thing that lures you away from God’s path-power, social media, being likable…?

If there is a labyrinth nearby, take time to walk it thinking about how the path guides you without you having to determine which way to go. In the same way God guides your steps when you let God be in charge.*

This week focus on the phrase “Lead us not into Temptation”

*From Thy Kingdom Come

Our Father: As we Forgive

Last time we considered how much we need to be forgiven, and how generous God is with forgiveness. This time, we look at the next phrase, which is perhaps even harder to accomplish. We ask to be forgiven “as we forgive those who trespass/sin against us”.

 Jesus is rather stern about the connection between being forgiven and forgiving others. In Matthew 18:21-22 “Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.’” It’s not that Jesus is saying we should keep tally of how many times we have forgiven someone, but rather that there should be no end to our forgiveness, just as there is no end to God’s forgiving us.

Jesus then goes on to tell a parable to illustrate the point. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’ (Matthew 18:23-35)

It is not easy to forgive someone who has harmed you or even who keeps hurting you, and that is why we pray for help in doing just that. Not to excuse the behavior, but in fact for our own soul’s health and wholeness.

Enter the Presence: The daily post from the Society of St. John the Evangelist recently had a message about this line in the prayer. Brother David Vryhof says, “When we pray, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” we are recognizing that a deep connection exists between our willingness and capacity to forgive and God’s forgiveness of us. God is not saying that our ability to be forgiven depends on our own efforts to forgive others. Rather, we are asking that the forgiveness we receive from God may lead us to forgive those who have wronged us.”

Think about someone that you have a hard time forgiving. Maybe it is for something that happened a long time ago. Perhaps it’s an ongoing situation. It could be that the other person is not even aware that they have angered or wronged you in some way. Offer this incident to God.

Stand In Awe: Read the parable again and imagine you are standing before the King of Kings and that all your sins great and small have been erased, like the slave in the parable. (They have you know.) This image of The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant by Pieter Coecke Van Aelst (1502-50) may help you enter the scene.

How does it feel to have a clean slate? Will you do things differently from now on? What difference does this new chance make to your life going forward?

Involve your Heart: Then leave the presence of the King. You meet someone who has sinned against you. What will you do?

Is it hard to remember that you are supposed to forgive when someone treats you poorly?

Praying for someone is the best way to change your opinion of them. Choose 5 people who you find difficult to deal with. (or less if you can’t think of 5-lucky you!) Choose one of the options from Thy Kingdom Come for praying for friends to remind you to pray, then be committed to praying for them this week. 

This week focus on Forgive those who trespass against us.

Next week we’ll ask for guidance and direction.

*From Thy Kingdom Come

Our Father: Forgive Us...

Did you do any of the suggested exercises last week? Do you look at your daily bread or communion bread any differently? As we have acknowledged in the Lord’s Prayer that God is sovereign, and that God provides for our daily needs. We now look at how God heals our brokenness. “Forgive us our trespasses/debts” we pray.

This is a difficult phrase. We don’t like to admit that we are wrong. It’s much easier to try and shift the blame. ‘It was her,’ ‘He did it,’ we insist as toddlers. Or ‘I don’t know how it happened…’ We’ve all seen the videos of animals who know they have done something wrong slinking away with tail between their legs. We don’t like to feel that shame. We don’t like to ask to be forgiven for failing. It reminds us that we aren’t perfect, and mostly we don’t like that reminder.

On Sunday we may pray a corporate prayer of confession, which keeps our individual sins and failings at a nice safe distance. We’ve all made mistakes, and I’m sure that my neighbors’ must be bigger than mine, so maybe God won’t notice my little sins when God is focusing on everyone else’s. It is easy to fall into the trap of the Pharisee and tax collector in the temple. “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector.” (Luke 18:11)

Enter the Presence: There is a current Christian song called Forgiven by David Crowder that starkly changes the dynamic of trying to shift the blame. The words remind us, “I'm the one who held the nail/It was cold between my fingertips/I've hidden in the garden/I've denied You with my very lips… I've done things I wish I hadn't done/I've seen things I wish I hadn't seen.” Crowder’s song reminds us that we are all participants in the crucifixion. We each deny Christ, and are always doing the wrong things.

However, the song doesn’t end with the deserved condemnation. He sings “You look at me, arms open/Forgiven! Forgiven!/Child there is freedom from all of it… You love me even when I don't deserve it”

The words of the Lord’s Prayer are said in faith, knowing that in fact, we are already forgiven. Crowder rejoices “I could've been six feet under/I could've been lost forever/Yeah I should be in that fire/But now there's fire inside of me/Here I am a dead man walking/No grave gonna hold God's people/All the weight of all our evil/Lifted away forever free…You love me even when I don't deserve it/Forgiven! I'm Forgiven!/Jesus Your blood makes me innocent/So I will say goodbye to every sin/I am forgiven!”

I invite you to take time to watch the video and really listen to the words. Or read them through at the end of this post**.

Stand In Awe: As the song says, “Jesus Your blood makes me innocent”. In the Letter to the Hebrews, Paul reminds us, “Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.” Paul takes it a step further and says, “let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:19-25)

Because we are forgiven, we should encourage each other to ‘love and good deeds’. We need to help each other see that we are each forgiven. The song by Crowder reminds me of the picture by Ron DiCianni of Jesus holding a man who has a hammer in his hand. There is also another, less famous one by DiCianni that shows a man with a hammer kneeling at the foot of the cross. 

Involve your Heart: Look at one of the DiCianni pictures. Have you ever felt the weight of sin as deeply as depicted in the art? Or have you felt Christ holding you and offering forgiveness?

If you have a large nail, hold it between your fingers, as in the song. Think about how your sins, though seemingly small, do drive a nail into your relationship with God.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show where you erred, or acted, or didn’t act. Write it all down and then shred it or burn it, thanking God for forgiveness.*

*From Thy Kingdom Come

This week focus on the phrase Forgive Us our Trespasses.

Next week we will consider how we can and must forgive others.

**I'm the one who held the nail
It was cold between my fingertips
I've hidden in the garden
I've denied You with my very lips

God, I fall down to my knees
with a hammer in my hand
You look at me, arms open

Forgiven! Forgiven!
Child there is freedom from all of it
Say goodbye to every sin
You are forgiven!

I've done things I wish I hadn't done
I've seen things I wish I hadn't seen
Just the thought of Your amazing grace
And I cry ”Jesus, forgive me!”

God, I fall down to my knees
with a hammer in my hand
You look at me, arms open

Forgiven! Forgiven!
Child there is freedom from all of it
Say goodbye to every sin
You are forgiven!

I could've been six feet under
I could've been lost forever
Yeah I should be in that fire
But now there's fire inside of me
Here I am a dead man walking
No grave gonna hold God's people
All the weight of all our evil
Lifted away forever free
Who could believe, who could believe?

Forgiven! Forgiven!
You love me even when I don't deserve it
Forgiven! I'm Forgiven!
Jesus Your blood makes me innocent
So I will say goodbye to every sin
I am forgiven!

Forgiven! Forgiven!
Child there is freedom from all of it
Say goodbye to every sin
You are forgiven!

Our Father: Thy Will be Done

In our continuing adventure of looking at the Lord’s Prayer phrase by phrase we come to a transition point. We entered the prayer with acknowledging that God is our Father, yet God is also holy and beyond all creation.

Now we ask that the holy will of our Father come to earth, just like in heaven. We say, 'thy will be done on earth as in heaven.' As noted on June 18, heaven (if we think of it as outer space) is incomprehensibly vast and beyond our human knowing. It is even more unknowable when we think of it as the dwelling of God. So how can God’s will be done ‘on earth as in heaven’? When we say, ‘thy will be done on earth, as in heaven,’ aren’t we offering to be part of bringing God’s way to the people of earth? That is not an easy task, nor something we should take lightly.

Enter the Presence: The idea of being a conduit of God’s will on earth is found in the Episcopal Baptismal covenant which asks us to ‘respect the dignity of every human being’, and to ‘work for justice and peace’. You can read the entire prayer.

Christian artist Hillary Scott sings a song titled, Thy Will be Done. She notes that it can be hard to determine what God’s will is in our lives, sometimes. “I thought I heard you,” she sings. But it didn’t work out and now “all I get are these 4 words-thy will be done.”

Can you relate to Scott as you try to work to bring God’s will to earth?

Stand In Awe: Teresa of Avila reminds us “Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.” That is an awe-full idea that we fallible humans are responsible for being Christ to the world. However, it is in everything that we do and say that we are just that. Our daily actions matter to God's will becoming real on earth. 

What do you feel when you think about being Christ’s hands and feet in the world?

Involve your Heart: There are as many ways to help God’s ‘will be done on earth as in heaven’ as there are people on earth. Most of us are already doing something every day to live into that hope, in our interactions with one another. This week take time to do something intentional that you don’t normally do.

Consider a prayer walk around your neighborhood, your work place. As you walk, focus on what you see in the homes or offices you walk past and pray “Thy will be done” over each one. Continue your walk each day this week. *

Write your name in the center of a page. Surround it with people, situations, places, worries that you want God to intervene in. Ask God to help you pray for each of these things. *

On June 29 the Forward Day by Day meditation suggested greeting yourself (and others) with ‘Good morning, Child of God’. It might be a little uncomfortable to do that, esp. on days when you are feeling out of sorts or grumpy. However, that is how God sees us, isn’t it?

How would saying, ‘Good morning, Child of God’ to yourself and everyone change your attitude?

This week focus on letting God’s ‘will be done on earth as in heaven’.

Next week we turn to the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer.

*From Thy Kingdom Come https://www.thykingdomcome.global/

Lord's Prayer: Hallowed be Thy Name

We are praying our way through the Lord’s Prayer, a phrase at a time, this summer. So far, we have discovered depths of meaning in the first line “Our Father, who art in heaven”. Today we move on to the phrase “Hallowed be thy Name”.

Hallowed is not a common word in everyday 21^st Century English. It was much more common in Elizabethan times when the Lord’s Prayer was translated into English. The word means holy, consecrated, sacred, or revered. In modern use, it can refer to long held traditions or significant locations (Gettysburg, cemeteries, and universities, for instance). ‘Hallowed’ can be traced back to the Old English word hālig meaning ‘holy’. Of course, the holiday of Halloween comes from ‘All Hallows Eve’, or the day before All Saints’ Day.

In the Bible, the Hebrew word translated as ‘hallowed’ is qadhash, meaning to set apart or consecrate or the Greek work is hagiazo with essentially the same meaning of making holy, consecrating, or sanctifying. There are many references in the Bible where the Hebrew word gadhash or the Greek word hagiazo are used. These include: Leviticus 22:32, Exodus 20:11, 1 Samuel 21:6, Numbers 18:29, Jeremiah 17:22, Hebrews 9:2, Revelation 22:11, among others.

Enter the Presence: The phrase ‘Hallowed by thy Name’ might, as we look at it, be a bit perplexing. Are we trying to sanctify God’s name? Isn’t God the One who should do the consecrating? The phrase “Hallowed by thy Name” is part of the entire opening salutation of the Lord’s Prayer. We are addressing “Our Father, in heaven” and acknowledging that the very Name of God the Father is holy.

According to Philip Wendell Crannell, the word “embraces the idea of marked separateness.” Crannell also says “To ‘hallow the name’ includes not only the inward attitude and outward action of profound reverence and active praise, but also that personal godliness, loving obedience and aggressive Christlikeness, which reveal the presence of God in the life, which is His true earthly glory.” 

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume V notes, “In these words, we give glory to God…as an adoration; as that, the Lord be magnified, or glorified, for God's holiness is the greatness and glory of all his perfections. We must begin our prayers with praising God…our chief and ultimate end in all our petitions, [is] that God may be glorified; all our other requests must be in subordination to this…[And] We desire and pray that the name of God, that is, God himself, in all that whereby he has made himself known, may be sanctified and glorified both by us and others, and especially by himself…”

So, we are not trying to make God holier, instead we are acknowledging that God is indeed the source of all holiness. By saying, ‘hallowed be thy Name’, we are admitting that God is holy and separate and that we must respond in awe and obedience to that glorious presence in our lives.

Stand In Awe: Sometimes we get too familiar with the words of the Lord’s Prayer. Take some time to sit and pray the phrase, substituting some of the other meanings for the word. Some suggestions might be:

[Father] “Sanctify thy Name”, “Make your Name Holy”, “May your Name be set apart and special”. Think up your own version.  

Does changing the wording, change the emphasis for you?

Do you find yourself drawn deeper into the holiness of God by one of the phrases?

Involve your Heart: Think how God makes ‘hallowed’ and holy all life. If you looked at some of the other verses using the word, you will notice that creation, bread (especially the shewbread), and offerings are among the things that are sanctified. How does the fact that everything is 'hallowed' change the way you look at the world? 

Make a list of people for whom you would like to pray that they feel surrounded by the holiness of God’s love.

Write the word ‘Hallowed’ or ‘Holy’ in the middle of a page. Surround it with things in your life that you consider holy because they are from God, or like God.

You could add to your ZenTangle or color prayer, if you are doing that.  

 This week focus on just the words “Hallowed by thy Name”.

Next week we’ll look at the phrase ‘Thy Kingdom Come’. 

The Lord's Prayer: Our Father

Welcome to a new adventure. Throughout the summer, we’ll be exploring a very familiar prayer in some, perhaps, unfamiliar ways. At the end, we’ll have developed some new insights into the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer in our life and worship. The prayer that we call “Lord’s Prayer” is Jesus’ response to his disciples’ request ‘teach us to pray’. It is found in Matthew (6:9-13) and in Luke (11:2-4). We use it in nearly every worship service. Many of us pray it as part of our daily devotions. Even many non-Christians know the words.

Have you ever looked at the prayer phrase by phrase? What do the words really mean to you? Can the prayer provide insights into your life? Do the words open your heart?

These are some of the things we'll be considering over the next few weeks as we delve into this familiar, yet multi-faceted prayer. 

Enter the Presence: The first two words of the Prayer are an address to God: “Our Father”… To the first century Jews, this would have been an almost shocking familiarity. The Jewish people knew that the Holy One of Israel lived in the Temple in Jerusalem, and was found in the Torah. Addressing the Creator of the Universe as “Father” was inconceivable.

For some today, this opening phrase is just as difficult. In recent years, there has been much written that the word ‘Father’ alienates those who have perhaps been abused or who had a poor relationship with their earthly father. It is a valid concern*. Remember the word ‘Father,’ in this context, is just a way to describe relationship. It is not the only attribute of God. Try not to get stuck on the gender of the word.

Stand In Awe: Think of all the other names of God in the Bible. Genesis 21:33 calls God: “Lord, the Everlasting God”. In Exodus 3:14, God says “I AM” is his name. Gideon names God, “The Lord is Peace” (Judges 6:24). There are other terms, phrases and names of God throughout the Bible. Take some time to research them.

What is the Name that you use most often when addressing God? Is it Father, Lord, Savior, Friend, or something else?

Involve your Heart: One way to experience prayer is to turn it into art by creating an image with the words or using calligraphy to embellish it. 

You might want to make a ZenTangle from it. Google ZenTangle and you'll find lots of words and images to inspire you. You could copy the image of ‘Pray’ from this blog as a starting point, and write the words of the prayer in and around the art. 

Perhaps you enjoy the idea of ‘praying in color’. If so, write “Our Father” in the center of a page. Be as fancy as you want with the words. Around them write the names of people or events you want to lay before God in prayer.

Perhaps you’ll want to continue the same activity all summer, or try different formats each week. 

This week focus on just the words “Our Father”.

Next week, we’ll consider “heaven”.

*If the word ‘father’ bothers you, I would invite you to think of God as the perfect Father you may not have had. Lisa TerKuerst of Proverbs 31 Ministries has said that despite having a less than perfect father, she imagines curling up in a chair with her heavenly Father and being held and loved in the way she wishes she had been as a child. One of my own favorite memories of my father was sitting on his lap in a giant green chair (well it seemed giant to me as a child) as he read bedtime stories to me. I can still feel the rough texture of the upholstery and the hint of cigarette smoke on his breath. Even later understandings of his brokenness and hurtful actions cannot erase that memory of the love of that evening ritual. 

Our Father...

From now until Advent, we’ll be traveling through the Lord’s Prayer a phrase at a time. Often, for me at least, a prayer can become very familiar and you hardly think of the words as you say them. In taking this prayer apart, and then using our creative, right brain, side to think about the phrases, may we gain a new perspective on what we are saying when we pray.

Throughout this series we’ll be taking the ‘thinking outside the box’ to another level every week. Recently on Facebook a translation of the Lord’s Prayer from the Aramaic circulated. This translation shines a different light on the terminology and so the second part of each meditation will use the line from the Aramaic translation.

I invite you to try some of these exercises and enter into this prayer. You can use an idea from part 1 or part 2, or both, or neither. I think you will be enriched if you take a few extra minutes to sit with this prayer. Sometimes, like today, there will be a bonus idea, too.

Of course, we start by saying “Our Father, who is in heaven”. How often do you really think about those simple words?

Part 1: Stop and think about each word in the phrase: like ‘heaven’, ‘Father’, ‘our’. Even the little words ‘is’, ‘in’, ‘who’ may jump out with new meaning. Choose one or 2 of the words. Find photos or other images that illustrate these words for you. They can be photos of your own, like this image of sunrise I took, or ones you find on the internet. Let yourself sit and be drawn into the image and closer to God.

Part 2
The Aramaic translation of the first line is “O Breathing Life, Your Name shines everywhere”. It is very different from what we are used to. The words open up new ways of thinking and praying this line.

The phrase, “O Breathing Life” instead of “Our Father” invites us to breathe a prayer. This is an ancient form of prayer and meditation. Say any short prayer, phrase from a psalm, or simply the word “Jesus”. Breathe in on the first half and out on second. One prayer you can us: “Be still and know/ that I am God.” You can also use this first phrase of the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father/in heaven or O Breathing Life/your name shines everywhere) as the mantra.

Bonus Idea

Another way to pray this first line of the Lord’s Prayer, in either translation, is to use Zentangles.
These are simply repeating ’doodles’/designs (like below). Pick one design from the selection, or make up your own.
Because they are so simple and repetitive, it is easy to pray while drawing. Let your mind roam through the first line of the Lord’s Prayer.

See you next week for ways to consider "Hallowed be Thy Name"