As I was thinking about being disappointed and how that affects the way I think, I was reminded of these verses from Matthew 6:8-13 NIV:
[8] "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
[9] “This, then, is how you should pray:
“ '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 today our daily bread.
[12] And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
[13] And lead us not into temptation (testing),
but deliver us from the evil one. '
There is just so much good to think on in this example of how to pray. First, we should turn our mind and thoughts to our Father in Heaven. He sees us, sees our situation, sees the solution, sees who we become, and He loves us greatly. He is always good, always faithful, always compassionate, merciful and loving. We need to first turn our thoughts to Him, and realize that He "knows our need before we ask Him."
Second, we need to think about His Kingdom as it exists in Heaven. His Kingdom in Heaven, has been established on earth by Jesus, and increased by His church. We need to think about how Heaven is, and realize that is His will for how things should be on earth. His Kingdom, means the dominion of the King. the dominion is the area over which He has control, authority and power. It means the King has the ability to exert His will over that which He rules. Thus, we are asking that in the same way God exerts His rule and will over Heaven, that He would do that on earth. Jesus came and proclaimed this, and demonstrated this. It is good for us to change the way we think and begin to realize that this is what God wants to do, and when we understand the realities of heaven, we can ask for those realities here.
Third, He desires to provide for us. Notice the focus if for the day (present day not future day) and it has already been allotted. The Greek actually reads something like this - This food, this daily provision, give to us this very day." It is part of the Kings rule to distribute to all as He see fit, for the King owns all. IT says in another place that all the silver and all the gold is Gods, all things in Heaven and Earth are His. He can and does distribute as He wills. We are right to ask Him and know that He will provide.
Fourth, there is a reconciling of relationships, a reflection on debts we believe we are owed by others, and the requirement to forgive. We are to apply the same forgiveness to others as we ask of the Lord. We could say it like this - "Do unto others as you would have the Lord do unto you." Unforgiveness is a form of unbelief. It is requiring repayment for wrongs, rather than trusting the Lord to cover you and provide for you and deal with the other who hurt you. The Lord said that vengeance is His, not ours to exact. We are called to love our enemies (Matt 5:44) in the same way that God loved us and forgave our sins when we were still sinners (Rom 5:8).
Finally, we should be asking to be saved from testing, and the plans of the evil one. Testing is not so that God sees what we have in us, for He knows all things and even our thoughts. The testing of our character is established to help us see what we have in us. Testing helps us to see where we are and how far we have to go. Additionally, the plans of the enemy try to derail us from God's purpose and plans in our life, and try to convince of His his unconcern or anger towards us. The Lord understands all this, and part of us praying this is to remind us of it too.
So let us receive this teaching and direction from Jesus and learn to set our hearts and minds, our mindset, in line with the Father. Let us learn to look at our life from His perspective. Let us believe that He is good, His plans are good, and that He knows our need and wants to meet our need. Let us believe that He is for us, always. As we change our mindset and take on His, we will learn to see our lives in a new light, and we will become world changers!
Amen!
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