Tag: Lord's Prayer

Good Friday

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment
“Jesus Christ Crucified,” Diego Velázquez, 17th century.

Now it gets deeply serious. Today is about Jesus’ suffering and death, the events that make eternal life for us possible. We again will use our pattern of daily prayer to sink deeper into this powerful story.

Morning

Praise: See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! (1 John 3:1.) He loves us so much that he would send his Son, God in flesh, to die for our sins, bearing the punishment we deserve. As much as we can, let’s consider for a few moments what an incredible gift we have been given—eternal life rather than death, which is eternal separation from this grand and glorious love.

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below; praise him above ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! Amen.“

Confession: We know we have fallen short of God’s expectations, failing to follow his will for us and in the process, committing sins. Let’s take time to search ourselves and confess those sins, today bringing them before a cross we know to have been soaked in our Savior’s blood. Those of us who take part in a Good Friday service should have powerful reminders of the work done on our behalf.

Time in Scripture: John, Chapters 18 and 19.

Noon

Take time to recite the Lord’s Prayer. Because of the season we are in, it also is a good time to consider the words of the Apostles’ Creed.

Night

If you’re not able to attend an evening Good Friday service, try to find some time for meditative quiet, listening to what God has to say.

Holy (Maundy) Thursday

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment

Easter approaches, but as we wrap up this season of Lent, we want to be sure we are appropriately absorbing what makes the celebration of Christ’s resurrection possible. First, we have to walk with our Savior as he moves through suffering and death.

If you have lost the pattern of prayer we rehearsed together last September and during the season of Advent, today and tomorrow are good days to try to recover them.

Morning

Praise: Let’s first take time to consider who God is and acknowledge that truth appropriately. He is Creator, Savior and Comforter, revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let’s praise God for the love poured out on us! Let’s also give thanks for the blessings we can see in our lives. Try to say a few out loud.

Confession: We know we have fallen short of God’s expectations, failing to follow his will for us and in the process, committing sins. Let’s take time to search ourselves and confess those sins. Those of us who take part in a Holy Thursday communion service tonight will find ourselves better prepared for that experience as we confess and remember this: Because we believe in Christ’s work on the cross, we are forgiven!

Time in Scripture: John 13 (NLT). Again, those of us in a Holy Thursday service are likely to hear this story tonight. Jesus teaches much simply through his actions; how do we imitate him?

Noon

Take time to recite the Lord’s Prayer. Because of the season we are in, it also is a good time to consider the words of the Apostles’ Creed.

Night

If you’re not able to attend an evening Holy Thursday service, try to find some time for meditative quiet, listening to what God has to say.

The Approach

~ Chuck Griffin ~ 1 Comment

We are moving toward our Sunday, July 11 sermon, which will be viewable online and based on 2 Samuel 6.

Today’s Text: Matthew 6:9-13 (NLT)

By Chuck Griffin

These devotions began in support of a larger effort to encourage traditional Methodist small groups. The group in which I participate recently revealed to me some connections between what we commonly call the “Lord’s Prayer” and this Sunday’s developing sermon on the nature of worship.

Jesus was teaching his followers how to pray, moving ultimately into an example of prayer straight from his divine lips. It’s perfectly fine to pray the prayer as is—you cannot go wrong quoting Jesus. The prayer also serves a larger purpose, however.

As a model for other prayers, his words remind us of how we are to approach God.

First, God is holy, and we need to stay rooted in that truth as we pray. By “holy,” we mean God is without fault, always perfect and the standard by which creation should be measured.

Sadly, we are sullied by our freely made poor choices. Our sins make us unholy. We need to approach God with expressions of humility and a sense of caution, what the Bible’s English translators sometimes describe as “fear.” That which is unholy historically has not survived direct experiences of God for very long.

As we pray, we also should express our deep desire to align our will with God’s will. We need to declare that we intend for our lives and the world around us to fall in line with what God wants.

That big-picture attitude creates the proper environment for praying about situations large and small. We can confidently approach our holy God as a loving God, knowing he will meet us in any moment as we call upon him with appropriate reverence.

In particular, we pray for relief from the sins tainting us, knowing we can seek forgiveness because of the work Jesus Christ performed on the cross. And we are reminded that the grace we are continually shown should be extended to others.

This all should create in us a humble demeanor that not only benefits us in daily prayer, but also prepares us for proper worship. As we will see on Friday, when properly prepared for worship, we can experience wondrous results.

Lord, keep us in awe, keep us humble, and at the same time let us know that we have many reasons to rejoice in your presence. Amen.