It's Time to Pray

The last time I shared with you we covered the topic of “The Body.” We looked at scripture and a acronym about how we can do better at being a part f the Body of Christ. I promised a “part two,” It’s not ready yet. So, I am going to share something with you that I feel the Lord gave me at 2:00AM a few days ago. No acronym today, just five words that all start with the letter “P.” (Smile)

I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about prayer and got to thinking about what is known as “The Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-15.

Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven.

 Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

 But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

Praise - Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.  Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. (v9-10)

One of the best ways to begin our prayer time is with praise. Now, I get that there are times when all we need is an SOS prayer, “Help now Lord!”  I often include praying some of God’s biblical names, Hebrew names and just personal things I want to thank Him for.

Provision - Give us this day our daily bread.  (v11) What a blessing we have as believers that God provides for us every day. I often think about how He provided for the Israelites when they wandered for forty years. (Exodus 16)

One of the Hebrew names for God is Jehovah Jireh – “The Lord Who Provides.”

 Penitence - And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. (v12)

The synonym for that would be “repentance,” Repentance isn't just a one-time thing that we do when we get saved. It should be a consistent daily part of our lives. I don’t know about you, but the last time I checked, I am far from perfect.

Here are two other scriptures to consider.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 KJV)

Remember, this verse was written to the Church. Once we’re born-again we are not exempt from repentance.

While there are numerous verses on this topic, the other verse to consider for repentance is - Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2 Corinthians 13:5 KJV)

Again, here we can see that this should be a consistent part of our lives. Personally, I think we wouldn’t have to mourn over so many of the church leaders/ministry exposures we’ve seen in the past year. As leaders of God’s people one of the most danger temptations to fight is pride, power and prestige.

 Protection - And do not lead us into temptation, And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.(v13a)

I am so thankful for the Lord’s protection! One of my favorite scriptures is -

Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. (Psalm 32:7 KJV)

 Proclamation - For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (v13b)

Let us proclaim His greatness, especially in our sphere of influence, in our communities, and especially in our churches. You might find it odd that I mention churches, Sadly, there are many today who not adhering to the pure Gospel and are twisting scripture.

Another verse about proclamation is Psalm 105:3 (NKJV)  - Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!

In closing, brothers and sisters, this not only a challenge to pray, but a challenge to rise with more boldness than ever to share the gospel. There are many hurting, lost people all around us just waiting for someone to reach out to them. Let’s shine bright with light, hope, and peace of Jesus Christ.

One last verse to send you out with – A verse that we’re familiar with but many in the church have fallen lax in it. Pray and ask the Lord what you can do.

¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen..(Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV)

Till next time, peace to you!

 

Body Life

 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; (Romans 12:9 NKJV)

⁹ Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection,^[e] and take delight in honoring each other. (Romans 12:9-10 NLT)

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12 NKJV)

After reading the above scriptures, I was thinking about all that the church world has been through in the last five years. The covid area where churches were ordered to close. Some did; some didn’t. It created controversy.  The past year we’ve been inundated with report after report of fallen ministers and ministries. Again, this brought schisms in churches. Since the Presidential election in 2024 there has been such hatred spewed between Christians, and family members that has destroyed relationships. Most recently there was the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Sadly, this has also created division within churches.

Brothers and sisters, this ought not be. Remember the old song, “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love?”  Once again, let’s look at an acronym to see how we can do better at being true brothers and sisters in unity.

Behave Like Christians – I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. (1 Corinthians 1:10 NLT)

Obey - What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. ( ! Samuel 15:22 NLT)

Disciple - Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:12 NKJV)

This makes me think how we need a Kingdom mindset, not a church, denomination, or influencers. Jesus Christ and the scriptures should hold the utmost authority in our lives. We are a part of something much bigger than ourselves We can go anywhere in the world and find other disciples of Jesus. One word that is translated and pronounced the same around the world is “hallelujah.”

Yield -  ³ Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:3-5 NKJV)

Ooohhh, we’re to walk in humility with each other? I once heard a definition for humility like this – “Humility is confidence properly placed.” If our confidence is in Jesus Christ and not in man made things, it will be easier to walk in unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

This article is not in depth on this subject. In my next piece we will dive a little deeper discussing what biblical fellowship is. Let me close with a simple story about a conversation I had with a woman many years ago.  I won’t name the denomination because I don’t intend to bash anyone. Here’s how it went:

LADY: “Hi, have you had a good weekend?”

ME: “Yes, we went to hear a preacher at xxxx church.”

LADY: “Ohhh, but that’s not xxxx denomination that we are. You attended a different denominion to hear him?”

ME; “Of course, as long as they’re teaching the Word of God, I’ll go anywhere to hear good preaching and receive from the Lord. You know, we’re not going to have assigned locations in heaven for each denomination. It’s going to be the Body of Christ.

LADY: Oh??? I would never do that. (She promptly turned around in her seat to not speak any more.)

One more thing, here are some lyrics to an old hymn that I think pulls it all together.

Refrain: We come to share our story. We come to break the bread. We come to know our rising from the dead.

1. We come as your people. We come as your own. United with each other, love finds a home.

2. We are called to heal the broken, to be hope for the poor. We are called to feed the hungry at our door.

3. Bread of life and cup of promise, In this meal we all are one. In our dying and our rising, may your kingdom come.

4. You will lead and we shall follow. You will be the breath of life; living water, we are thirsting for your light.

5. We will live and sing your praises. "Alleluiah" is our song. May we live in love and peace our whole life long.

** Song of the Body of Christ by David Haas