Memorize & Ponder for Sunday May 24, 2014
Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13 (NRSV)
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
Throughout 2014, the Christian community at Brentwood Presbyterian Church is getting to know Jesus, the Christ, in a refreshing and transformative way. We invite you to listen for what the Spirit is saying in the text, then question how those insights might change the ways you see things and act in the world. Share your thoughts during the week on the meaning the Spirit creates for you in this text by posting a comment here.
A Provocative Pondering
Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us provoke one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together … (Hebrews 10:23-25a)
We say these words almost every Sunday – so often, in fact, that we seldom stop to think through seriously what we are praying.
This week, will take time to think this prayer through afresh. It combines all the elements of faithful prayer – thanks, help, and awe.
Thanks – for being our intimate and loving Father, the closest family relationship that we can imagine.
Help – by bringing the Father’s ruling power (a commonwealth of peace and abundance) to earth, just as it exists already in that parallel dimension we know as heaven.
Awe – at the salvation from evil offered through our relationship with God in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit, all this complex process grounded in and flowing from the love of God.
This prayer has nourished souls to flourish in the grace of Jesus Christ for millennia. It is worth a fresh look..
Join us in our study groups and worship services to ponder together what the Spirit is teaching us through this text.