May 3, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Wednesday, May 3.
We continue with a brief series leading to tomorrow's National Day of Prayer. Our focus today is on the most famous prayer in history - The Lord's Prayer. It's found in two places - a short version in the gospel of Luke, and the longer, more familiar version in Matthew.
Some call it the Our Father, but I prefer the name Model Prayer. Jesus was a man of constant prayer. He followed the instruction in I Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray without ceasing." But, in the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus isn't praying - He's teaching us how to pray.
He teaches us to begin our prayers by focusing on the Father. The first three of the seven petitions in this famous passage are centered on God. Only after asking "Thy will be done," should we ask for our daily bread.
Protestant believers end this prayer with a doxology, a proclamation of praise. It isn't found in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew, but it's a beautiful expression of worship.
"For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever."
Amen.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
