Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

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Tag: Prayer

God in the Lord’s Prayer

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On November 21, 2011

In Christian, Jesus' Prayer

If I was to ask a majority of Christians, do you know the Lord’s prayer, the answer is most likely going to be resoundingly affirmative, and some may even go on to tell me that it is recorded in Matthew 6 and Luke 11 and starts with “Our Father, who are in heaven” and ends with “Thy power and the glory, forever and forever.” Now,  for a while, I was under the impression that most Christians had gotten it wrong when it came to knowing what the Lord’s Prayer was. This stemmed from either a message that I had heard or an article that I had read, which stated that the familiar “Our Father which art in heaven” was not the Lord’s Prayer but instead the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, making it “Our Prayer”, while the Lord’s Prayer was the prayer that Jesus prayed for himself,  his followers (disciples) and future believers as recorded in John 17. The John 17 prayer is also known as the High Priestly prayer. But last night, when meditating on the Pater Noster (Our Father) prayer, I realized that there was a fallacy in my understanding; that this prayer, in fact cannot be written off as not being the Lord’s Prayer, because in it, we actually see a glimpse of the characteristics of God. In fact, close scrutiny of each phrase of the “Our Father” prayer, reveals that hidden in it is a treasure; a treasure of knowledge about the characteristic of the God we serve. Now I am of the understanding that referring or not referring to the “Our Father” prayer as the Lord’s Prayer is inconsequential, for what really matters, is whether or not, we see the kind of God, He is, as we read and recount the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.

Read below, and make your own conclusion.

Our Father which art in heaven,- God, our PATER (Father)
Hallowed be thy name. – God, our PRIORITY and PURITY
Thy kingdom come, – God, our POTENTATE (King)
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. – God, our PURPOSE and PLAN
Give us this day our daily bread. – God, our PROVIDER
And forgive us our debts, – God, our PARDONER
as we forgive our debtors – God, our PATTERN
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: – God, our PROTECTOR
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen – God, our POWER

Points to Ponder:
Do you/I see God as our Pater, our Priority & Purity, our Potentate, our Purpose & Plan, our Provider, our Pardoner, our Pattern, our Protector and our Power. Next time you are asked to pray the Pater Noster, think about who God is, instead of vainly repeating the words.

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV)
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

No matter what – I will pray

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On October 13, 2009

In Christian, No matter what

Many decisions that ought to be taken are not taken due to one of the following reasons:
1. we try to rationalize the situation assuming that our finite and limited human minds has infinite comprehension and abilities or
2. we think of the consequences of the decision and are paralyzed for fear of life or fear of being ridiculed.

In today’s text, taken from Daniel 6:1-28, we will look at Daniel, who chose to pray NO MATTER WHAT.

Many of us are probably familiar with the story of Daniel in the lion’s den, but for the benefit of those who aren’t, as a backdrop to this character, Daniel was cast into a den of lions by king Darius, who was tricked by jealous conspirators, into signing a foolish decree that no one should make petition (pray) unto anyone else, except the king for a period of thirty days. These evil men knew that Daniel was faultless and fervent in his allegiance to the one true God, Jehovah, and sought to have him killed, for they knew that he would not compromise when it came to the matters of God or his commandments, the first being, you shall have no other gods before Jehovah, a.k.a., you shall not worship or pray to anyone else , except Jehovah. The law in the kingdom of Darius, a Medo-Persian kingdom was unchangeable, once ratified and sealed and so when the king was informed of Daniel’s continuance in prayer to Jehovah, not once but thrice a day, the king who favored Daniel, was now in a quandary and had to follow through with the decree. Daniel is thrown into the lions den, but miraculously, the mouth of the ravenous lions are held shut by the angel of God sent for his protection among the beasts. What the conspirators or the king had failed tor realize was that while the law of unchangeable, the lions were not. When juxtaposed between choosing life by not praying or choosing death by praying to God, Daniel chose to pray to God, NO MATTER WHAT. In other words, Daniel was not willing to refrain from praying, even if that meant, it would cost him his life.

If Daniel would had rationalized or thought of the consequences, he would have probably ended up like the majority, refraining from praying to God, and breaking His commandments, by praying to a man (the king Darius). This might have saved his life for a short while longer but in the end he would not have gone down in history as someone who had the privilege of spending a night with lions and living to tell its tale. His act of courage and faithfulness not only did it deliver him from the lion’s den, but also proved to the heathen kingdom, that the God whom he served is far more than able to deliver the righteous one out of any trouble, even from seemingly dire and deadly situations. Our acts of prayer can prove unto the unbelieving world that the God whom we pray to, is in deed able and is a personal, prayer answering God, unlike any other.

Points to ponder:

  1. What is God asking you and me to pray for?
  2. Can we take the step to pray to God, without rationalizing or thinking of the consequences, NO MATTER WHAT?

Seek the LORD – the How-Tos?

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On September 4, 2009

In Christian, Seek the Lord

No matter what, the right thing to do in our living moments is to perpetually seek the Lord as it is not only a matter of a conviction but also a commandment that ought to be followed. But we find ourselves consumed with our commitments to our own matters of life, from our family to our employer and in some cases even extra-curricular activities seem to take priority over our spiritual relationship with the LORD God. In a world that makes one believe the lie, that their is no time to spare, what are some practical ways we can seek the LORD. In other words, How can one Seek the Lord? The answer can be found in the Bible as well. In the book of Daniel, Daniel writes “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:” (Daniel 9:3).

We can seek the Lord by

  1. prayer and supplications
  2. fasting
  3. sackcloth and ashes

Prayer: When was the last time we prayed and presented our request to get to know what was in God’s own heart. Sadly most of our prayers have been reduced to “Lord bless me, my family, my work and my plans” and in some cases we pray with the request to make our will God’s will instead of praying for God’s will to be revealed and to be made our own. Prayer like any communication is a dialog and while it is absolutely essential to present our requests (supplications) to God, what is even more important and needed is that we take the time to hold our peace and be silent before the Lord so that we may hear Him speak and tell us what He has in His heart.

Fasting: Fasting is not merely the missing of a meal or the abstinence of food (or food items) for a period of time. Food (bread) is what sustains us and fasting is a demonstration on our reliance on God and his word to sustain us and not just merely depend on food. When the disciples questioned Jesus as to why they were unable to cast the spirit that had possessed and taken captive of a little child, Jesus responded that power over some demonic kinds are only possible with prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). In other words, prayer (telling God what you would like to have done) and fasting (relying totally on God to do it) equals Power (the demonstration of God coming through and the people giving Him the glory)

Sackcloth and ashes: The Dictionary of Cliches defines “to wear sackcloth and ashes” a “to be contrite, penitent or chagrined over something on has done. It was an ancient Hebrew custom to wear sackcloth dusted with or accompanied by ashes as sign of humbleness in religious ceremonies.” In other words, to seek the Lord with sackcloths and ashes is to humble ourselves with a contrite and penitent heart, one that God will not despise (Psalm 51:17).

So How do we seek the Lord? With

  1. prayer and supplications – communing with God to find out what is in His heart
  2. fasting – relying totally on Him and
  3. sackcloth and ashes – humbling ourselves with a penitent and contrite heart

Let us ALL seek the LORD.

Daniel 9:3 (KJV)
3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

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