Monday Devo - Bend the Knee and Follow His Lead
Our church family spent time in prayer before and during our gathering tonight. Pastor Nick and other adult leaders had been at a youth conference with more than a dozen youth, and they came back uneasy with the lack of seriousness and intensity our faith appears in our comfy church routines. Nick posed the challenge in a question: How much time do you spend praying daily? If you don’t pray, do you really believe?
The God of the universe reveals Himself as our Father, and what should blow our minds and cause a stirring in our soul is the realization that the Father wants us to know Him, to speak with Him, and hear from Him, and His Son gave a simple model for prayer. We know it as the Lord’s Prayer:
Matthew 6:9–15 (ESV)
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
There’s a theme of dependence in this prayer that is unmistakable. Each verse shows that God is King, and we are not. Our direction, provision, and protection are all dependent on Him. Another way of looking at the Lord’s Prayer then, is as an oath of fealty or a formal acknowledgement of loyalty to a lord, such as what would happen in medieval times when one king took over another kingdom or a new king ascended to the throne. But the good news is our Lord is perfect, just, benevolent, and generous, unlike the kings and lords throughout history. So as Nick was saying Sunday night, let’s stop playing church, and get out of God’s way by bending our knees in prayer, and let Him work by following His lead. Let’s stop doing church and be the church.
Extra credit: Video from the Ten Minute Bible Hour discussing the Lord’s prayer and it’s personal, philosophical, and political implications. https://youtu.be/tOlIcfp8bEs