The Lord’s Prayer with Emphasis Placed on “Your will be done (on earth as it is in heaven)“ This third reflection on the Lord’s Prayer guides our thoughts as we seek to understand the Father’s will and directs our actions as we strive to follow the will of the Father. Our Father in heaven, hallowed… Continue reading The Lord’s Prayer: Reflection III
Category: The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer: Reflection II
The Lord’s Prayer with Emphasis Placed on “Your kingdom come (on earth as it is in heaven).” This second reflection on the Lord’s Prayer helps us better understand the Father’s present and emerging kingdom for which we pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. – Let your kingdom, Father, break forth upon this… Continue reading The Lord’s Prayer: Reflection II
The Lord’s Prayer: Reflection I
The Lord’s Prayer with Emphasis Placed on “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” This first reflection shows the entire Lord’s Prayer as a litany of praise as we pray and meditate on the many ways in which the Father’s name — his nature and his character — is worthy of praise. Your kingdom… Continue reading The Lord’s Prayer: Reflection I
The Lord’s Prayer Reflected Upon Itself
I usually walk my dog each day along one of the many local park trails and I allow my mind to wander. One day I found myself thinking about a lesson I learned during my time in the theater: the meaning of any sentence is largely determined by where the point of emphasis is placed.… Continue reading The Lord’s Prayer Reflected Upon Itself
The Lord’s Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount: A Summary
The words from the Lord’s Prayer ripple, not only through the pages of Matthew’s Gospel but also through the most famous of Jesus’s sermons, the Sermon on the Mount. When Jesus sat down on the mountaintop to teach, I doubt that his disciples grasped the full breadth and depth of his words. Perhaps it was… Continue reading The Lord’s Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount: A Summary
The Lord’s Prayer and Matthew’s Gospel: A Summary, Part 2
The previous post summarized how Matthew’s Gospel helps inform us how to better pray the Lord’s Prayer, and specifically, it was focused on the first four statements of the Lord’s Prayer. The traditional approach to the Lord’s Prayer categorizes each statement as a petition, but such a categorization seems to me to be a bit… Continue reading The Lord’s Prayer and Matthew’s Gospel: A Summary, Part 2
The Lord’s Prayer and Matthew’s Gospel: A Summary, Part 1
A number of years ago, in the hopes that I might learn a bit more about prayer, I began studying the disciples’ request in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and Jesus’s answer in Luke 11:2-4, the Lord’s Prayer. It wasn’t long before I felt compelled to reread the four Gospels in search of… Continue reading The Lord’s Prayer and Matthew’s Gospel: A Summary, Part 1
Matthew 28 – The Dawn, the Message, and the Kingdom
If Matthew had been recording the story of any other person, after the tomb was sealed, all he would have to write about would be the lives of Jesus’s friends over the next few days, months, and years. Such a story could possibly go on after their deaths, but eventually, every person in the story… Continue reading Matthew 28 – The Dawn, the Message, and the Kingdom
Matthew 27:45-65 – The Cross, the Curtain, and the Tomb
Jesus, beaten senselessly, bleeding profusely, and stripped naked hangs on the cross for the world to see. Many people mock him, some ignore him, and his closest friends, those who were actually present, mourned him. Matthew writes, 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about… Continue reading Matthew 27:45-65 – The Cross, the Curtain, and the Tomb
Matthew 27:11-44 – Guilt, Dreams, and Glory
Our deliverance from evil has been secured by means of Jesus’s deliverance unto evil. Matthew writes, 11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer.… Continue reading Matthew 27:11-44 – Guilt, Dreams, and Glory