Morning Musing: Galatians 5:14

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“For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Our world is broken. Brokenness is everywhere we look. Our politics are a mess. Our cultures are crumbling. We are surrounded by hatred and racism. People are at odds with one another over the smallest things. If we’re not careful, the whole scene can begin to get a bit overwhelming. While in some places this may feel like it’s all very new and scary, the truth is, this is simply the world as it has always been. The question for us to wrestle with is the same question people have wrestled with since there were more than one of us on the planet: What can we do about all of this? Jesus offered us a solution to the mess. It is simple and nearly impossible on our own. But if we will pursue it, it just may change everything. Let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Matthew 6:9-13

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“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

This week we have been talking about prayer. As Jesus was teaching His disciples and the crowds about prayer, He started with what not to do. That’s what we covered over the last couple of days. We know that prayer is not a means of self-advancement. We also know that prayer should be simple and focused, not wordy or rooted in a false idea about God. As helpful as it is to know what not to do, though, knowing what to do is even better. So then, how do we pray? Fortunately, Jesus doesn’t leave us hanging there. He moves smoothly on to tell us how to do it. Let’s take a look at the Lord’s Prayer together today.

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Morning Musing: Matthew 6:7-8

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“When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

This week we are talking about prayer. Specifically, we are looking at some of Jesus’ thoughts on prayer from the Sermon on the Mount. When He starts talking about prayer in the middle of His sermon, His first comments are focused on what not to do. After that He shifts gears to giving us an example to follow in our own praying. Yesterday we looked at the first example of what not to do. Specifically, we are not to use prayer as a means of self-advancement. Prayer is about building and developing our relationship with Jesus. Anything less and it won’t do us any good. This morning, let’s take a look at His second caution. If His first caution was focused on why we pray, this one focuses more on the how.

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Morning Musing: Matthew 6:5-6

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“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are numerous books out there offering readers an intro on how to pray. I even read one simply called that: How to Pray. A quick Amazon search for “prayer books” turns up more results than you can click through. As you read through the Scriptures, there are lots of examples of prayer to study and emulate. Many of these books examine one or another of these prayers. The reason for all of this interest is pretty straightforward: We want to know how to pray. We want to know that our prayers are meaningful and have some reasonable chance of accomplishing their aim. We want to know that when we speak aloud in an empty room we’re not just talking to ourselves. Well, at the risk of doing little more than dripping a drop of water in an already flooded market, let’s take a second this morning and talk about prayer.

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The Green-Eyed Monster

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We’ve been talking for the last couple of weeks about the loads of life we bear when we try and do it apart from Jesus. We’ve talked about anger and, last week, fear. This week we are talking about yet another load. This time the challenge comes from our not trusting God will provide for us as abundantly as He has promised. If God isn’t doing it, then we have to pick up the slack. When it all depends on us, though, and we see someone who has more than we do, our natural tendency is to envy them for it. Let’s talk more about envy and how Jesus offers us a better way.

The Green-Eyed Monster

Think back with me to your childhood for a few minutes this morning. What were some of your favorite toys? Personally, I was an action figures guy. (And just so we’re clear, those are not dolls for boys. They are totally different.) I had all kinds of action figures and I’d make elaborate set ups all over our basement. To the casual observer it probably looked totally random, but everything was right in its place. All of the various toy catalogues are starting to hit mailboxes around the country. Of course, you won’t be able to find any of the things in them, but it’s still fun to look through them and dream. I know we’ve received at least the Amazon Kids’ Wish Book. The last time I looked through it, I’m pretty sure there was something circled on every single page of the book. I remember doing that. I remember once when my dad was serving as a local judge, sitting in his chambers while court was in session and going through and circling everything I wanted in the Toys R Us catalogue we had just received. 

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