The Lord's Prayer

A continuation from brother Gabriel & brother Lionel's post.

Translations of The Lord's Prayer

Thanks be to Gab for last week's memory verse!

Here are two different translations for The Lord's Prayer, King James Version first, followed by the Chinese version.

Enjoy! :)

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV)
After this manner therefore pray ye:

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 debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

马太福音 6：9－13
“所以你们要这样祈祷：

“ ‘我们在天上的父，
愿你的名被尊为圣，
愿你的国降临，
愿你的旨意成就在地上，
如同在天上一样。
我们每天所需的食物，求你今天赐给我们；
赦免我们的罪，
好像我们饶恕了得罪我们的人；
不要让我们陷入试探，
救我们脱离那恶者。
因为国度，权柄，荣耀，全是你的，直到永远。阿们

Are you thirsty for God?

I didn't buy the Rock Foundation book written by Pastor Rony, but I'm blessed in the way that I do get portion of the book from the teaching materials. I found this part particularly interesting and hope to share with any new believers like myself:

Have you ever been thirsty? I mean really thirsty. So thirsty that your whole body seemed to be crying out for a drink;



so thirsty that your throat felt like it had dry dirt balls in it; so thirsty that you would give anything for a drink.





Ahhhh! That was good. I sure like the nice cool water.





Now, Jesus wasn’t talking about being thirsty for H20 – water. He was talking about being thirsty for God.



He said that if we were thirsty, we would have to do the drinking. And He wants us to be so full of Him that rivers will flow out of us.



When we drink, we satisfy our own thirst, but when the rivers of water flow out of us, the people around us will benefit. We won’t have anything for the world unless we are filled with God – His love and power.




That sounds easy, but how do we drink of God? Well, every time we respond to the Holy Spirit, we take a drink of Him.

When the Holy Spirit begins to move in a service, move with Him. Instead of saying, “I’m not going to do anything unless God makes me”, just jump in!



People respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit in different ways; they laugh, shout, jump around, run, dance, etc. By responding to His move, we are taking a drink. And every time we take a drink, we get more and more filled with God.



It is just like every time I take a drink of this water, I get more filled up with it. Every time I move with the Holy Spirit, I get more of God in me.

John 7:38 (NKJV)
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

In courtesy of Pastor Rony, Rock Foundation Series.

26 Aug 2009: Memory Verse - The Lord's Prayer

Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
"This, then, is how you should pray:

" 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' "

Many a time have I heard of incidents whereby people modify this verse in context and assume that this is how we should pray. It would go something like "....And lead me not into sickness, but deliver me from the [insert ailment here]."

If one is doing this with the right heart and is truely sincere, I believe that it will be a nice prayer that will be received. However, if one does this with the assumption that it will work, and does it out of ignorance or insincerity, well, perhaps it may not be the most effective of prayers.

I would believe that it was not intended for us to use this prayer as a contextual template to pray effectively. Rather, it is Jesus's teaching of the proper way to pray, not constraining us to the words, but rather showing us a good direction of our prayers.

Before I start explaining, do look at the verses that came before this prayer, especially the part on not doing hypocritical acts of righteousness as well as praying like a hypocrite among the masses, as I find that there is great meaning in those passages as well.

From what I have learnt from this prayer, it is one of servitude and reverence unto God, with the knowledge that God knows our desires and needs.

1. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
   This portion recognises God's reverence, the coming of His kingdom onto this world, as well as acknowledging God's will in all things.


2. "Give us this day our daily bread."
   This part refers to the seeking of God's providence for our needs, which in this case a symbol of our most basic need for sustenance. I tend to see it as representation of all needs, whether physical or spiritual.


3. "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."
   Debts in this case refers to sin, as Jews referred sin as debts in those days. Easily, this verse tells of asking for forgiveness from God, as well as letting God know that just as He has forgiven us, so shall we remember to forgive others that have done us wrong. One good reason for this can be seen in verse Matthew 6:14.


4. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
   The final part asks God not to allow us to fall into temptation, and to deliver us from the schemes of the devil.

So lets summarise:

1. Recognise God's reverence and will in our lives


2. Seek God's providence for our needs


3. Seek forgiveness in our sins, as well as acknowledging our forgiving of others


4. Asking for God to help in our resisting of temptations, and if we do fall into temptation, to deliver us from the devil's scheme

Finally let me conclude with my after-thoughts. Flowery language and complexities do not really add value in prayer. Make it simple, sincere, and always in love, be it love for God or in the love for others. Seek the right motives in prayer, and watch as God's faithfulness blossoms in your life :)

A blessed weekend ahead, till next we meet.

In His service,
Gab

Anointing & Baptism

Samuel 16:13 reads,

“Samuel took the olive oil and anointed David in front of his brothers.



Immediately the Spirit of the Lord took control of David and was with him from that day on.”



While He was praying, Heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit came down upon Him as a dove.



And a voice called from Heaven, ‘You are my dear Son, I am pleased with You.’”



Luke 3:21-22 read,

“After all the people had been baptized, Jesus also was baptized.



After Jesus had gone back to Heaven, His friends waited together for the Holy Spirit to come to them.



But they didn’t know exactly what would happen.

???????????????????????????????????????????????


Suddenly a rushing wind filled the house.



Tiny flames of fire rested on each person, but no one was hurt. Instead they all began to speak in strange tongues.”

Joy vs Happiness

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." -Nehemiah 8:10-

When I read that the joy of the Lord is my strength, I was contemplating the difference between joy and happiness. A check in the dictionary shows the results below:

- HAPPINESS is an emotion usually directly related to circumstances that are currently happening.

- JOY is attitude of the heart. It is not necessarily based on something positive happening.


Difference?

Happiness is an emotion and temporary; joy is an attitude of the heart.

I may feel happy because I won $10 million through lottery. However, the excitement of gaining the wealth wears off after I spent it. Even if I were to invest the money instead of spending it, I will be happy again only if I profit in the market.

Joy, on the other hand, brings peace in the middle of a storm. We may go through hard times, disappointments and times of testing, but God works through all these to bring us joy. God is always there to help us with our problems, and through the process we find joy. We can rejoice through these testings because the joy of the Lord makes us strong.

Initially, I find it confusing. The phrase says "the joy of the Lord gives me strength". Does it mean that the Lord is joyful and hence, it gives me strength? How can His joy contribute to my strength? Then I found out that I can view it in another perspective. If I were to seek him in times of my trials, He will be joyful and help me through my difficult times. This is where I gain my strength. (God is good and hence, he will be joyful to help us. It is similar to the positive feeling we get when we help the needy. The needy draws strength from us and we feel contented from helping them.)

Satan tries everything in his power to steal your joy by tempting you with things that will temporarily give you happiness but at the same time drift you away from God.

So... Hold on tight to your joy!

05 Aug 09: Memory Verse

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

~ Contributor: Lionel