I may have to go to posting only once or twice a month. I have just been so overwhelmed by college; I had forgotten what it was like to take a 13 hour course load. And of course it is all fluff stuff like POLI SI, and Industrial psychology, biology and humanities.
Anyway I think that I am ahead enough to post two or three more times on a weekly basis then we will have to see what happens.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Prayer Part 1
"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," (Ephesians 6:18, NASB95)
Prayer is our life line to God, the conduit through which we express our praise, our petitions and the understanding that we have of God. As baby believers we express our prayers toward God by means of the model prayer that Jesus gave in Matthew 6:9-13. As we grow our prayers become more intimate and more God focused than self focused.
We shall begin our study on prayer at Matthew 6:9-13.
"“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name." (Matthew 6:9, NASB95)
"Οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς· Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·" (Matthew 6:9, NA27)
The first thing that we need to notice is the term “our Father”.
Prayer should always begin with the recognition that God is our Father, the One who gave us life and who loves, cares for, provides for, and protects us. [1]
When man was originally created God gave them the work assignment of imaging God and part of that image is the father aspect of God. That imaging was to provide a basis for understanding God as the Father. That is one of the reasons that Satan attacks fatherhood and the family unit. With the destruction of the family unit and especially of fathers modern Christians have a distorted and broken idea of what it means to be a father or how a father acts.
In his article “The Father Heart of God” John Dawson outlines some of the reasons that God chose to use the family unit to teach the concept of “God the Father” by teaching parental authority, faithfulness, generosity, affection, attentiveness, and acceptance.
Psalms states: "A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation." (Psalm 68:5, NASB95) The word translated as “judge” can also be translated as “advocate”. The HCSB translates it as “champion”.
Psalms also states: "Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him." (Psalm 103:13, NASB95)
These verses give us insight into how God as the Father wants us to understand Him. If our fathers in the human realm do not measure up then we must turn to the bible to correct our understanding.
[1]MacArthur, J. (1995). Alone with God. Includes indexes. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
Prayer is our life line to God, the conduit through which we express our praise, our petitions and the understanding that we have of God. As baby believers we express our prayers toward God by means of the model prayer that Jesus gave in Matthew 6:9-13. As we grow our prayers become more intimate and more God focused than self focused.
We shall begin our study on prayer at Matthew 6:9-13.
"“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name." (Matthew 6:9, NASB95)
"Οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς· Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·" (Matthew 6:9, NA27)
The first thing that we need to notice is the term “our Father”.
Prayer should always begin with the recognition that God is our Father, the One who gave us life and who loves, cares for, provides for, and protects us. [1]
When man was originally created God gave them the work assignment of imaging God and part of that image is the father aspect of God. That imaging was to provide a basis for understanding God as the Father. That is one of the reasons that Satan attacks fatherhood and the family unit. With the destruction of the family unit and especially of fathers modern Christians have a distorted and broken idea of what it means to be a father or how a father acts.
In his article “The Father Heart of God” John Dawson outlines some of the reasons that God chose to use the family unit to teach the concept of “God the Father” by teaching parental authority, faithfulness, generosity, affection, attentiveness, and acceptance.
Psalms states: "A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation." (Psalm 68:5, NASB95) The word translated as “judge” can also be translated as “advocate”. The HCSB translates it as “champion”.
Psalms also states: "Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him." (Psalm 103:13, NASB95)
These verses give us insight into how God as the Father wants us to understand Him. If our fathers in the human realm do not measure up then we must turn to the bible to correct our understanding.
[1]MacArthur, J. (1995). Alone with God. Includes indexes. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
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