Last issue, we began with examining the Lord’s Prayer, which many of us, primarily some of us older folk (like myself) are familiar with. Many of us knew and prayed this consistently, especially when we were young. It was also the King James Version shown by the following:
Matthew 6:9-13 – KJV – “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen”.
Last issue, I shared that as a boy in the 1960s, this was how I ended each night before climbing into the bed to go to sleep. Years later, I came to realize just how profound this prayer model that Jesus taught us actually was. We looked at how in the first part of what Jesus was teaching, “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…”, on our approach to God, that his name is “hallowed” (which means “holy”), and How it would please His heart if we just came to Him with a heart filled with gratitude, honor and respect first, before we start hitting Him up with all our needs and wants. This does not mean that we cannot approach Him with our needs; we should (Philippians 4:19), and He wants us to do this. But how many times do we come before Him throwing up our worries, cares, troubles and personal desires with no thought of first entering into our devotional time with just a pure adoration of Him? And as I have confessed last issue, I have been guilty of this! But I’ve learned and continue to learn the benefits of giving Him His due honor before presenting my needs to Him. Scripture says this:
Psalms 95:2 – NKJV – Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
As you do this first, it sets the spiritual tone for your communion time with the Lord. You will often find that as you commit the first part of your private devotional time with Him, just honoring, worshipping and praising His name, and you are sincere about it, that you will begin to experience His peace which passes all of our natural understanding, even while in the midst of many trials and storms of life. The Bible says this:
Isaiah 26:3 – NKJV – You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
This is what it means when you begin to experience what the Bible says in Psalms:
Psalms 91:1-2 – NLT– Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.2 This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust him.
You will know what it’s like to dwell in the shelter of the Most High and under the shadow of His wings. It’s a place of safety even if your current circumstances, whatever trials they may be, do not change. But here’s something else that I did not put an emphasis on in that portion of Scripture: That Jesus first started by letting us know our first manner of approach was “Our Father who art in heaven…”.
It is an amazing truth that God, the Creator of the universe, the All-Existing One, the One who never had a beginning, nor will ever have an end, the One who dwells in Eternity gives us the privilege to call Him Father! What a blessing! This is what makes Christianity unique, that we don’t have to approach God on a “first-name” basis, but we can address Him as our Father. This brings a whole new level of intimacy that can be developed in our relationship with the Lord that can be paralleled by nothing else! We have this privilege because God loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ into this world to make an atonement for our sins by His death, burial and resurrection (John 3:16). This is the Good News of the gospel!
So let us as believers, loved by God approach Him with confidence as our Heavenly Father declaring “holy” is His Name! God Bless!
