My Favorite Verses - Vol V (Feb 17 to Jun 17)

As such, especially in light of the verses just mentioned, it should be clear
that Jesus was here not encouraging us to quote the Lord‟s Prayer repetitively
every week in church, but rather was giving us a general model of the basic
contents that every spontaneous prayer should evince – namely the following
characteristics: A) honoring the internal Father humbly (see John 14:20-26,
Matthew 18:3-4 & Matthew 22:37-38) … B) noting the fact that Heaven is already
potentially on Earth as it is in Heaven (see Matthew 10:7 et al) … C) stating that
all necessary sustenance has already been provided (seeing as how “bread” for
Jesus was the symbol of selfless service, and that selfless service was for him the
greatest nourishment available – see Matthew 4:4, Matthew 16:5-12, Matthew 26:26,
John 6:32-35 et al) … D) reminding us that his Father has already forgiven our
sins (see Matthew 5:48 + 1 John 4:18, Matthew 18:21-22, John 5:22 et al) … E)
noting that each of us already has the power on earth to forgive others their sins
(see Matthew 9:6 + Matthew 16:28) … F) re-emphasizing that the Father – as the
essence of perfect Love – cannot lead anyone into temptation (see Matthew 16:23,
James 1:13-17, Mark 10:18 et al) and indeed always encourages us to turn away
from evil and towards actively Caring for those perpetrating evil upon us (Luke
6:27-36 et al) … and G) exclaiming that we are to use prayer to remind ourselves
that we are here to do God‟s Will, not to have God do ours (Matthew 26:39 et al).
And that is why the interpretation I have provided previously has been shifted
to the present tense; to allow these verses to better harmonize with The Way of
Christ by turning them into a series of Here&Now affirmations of fact, as opposed
to a list of selfish requests – by making them an open recognition of what is, as
opposed to a future based desiring for what could be. For true enough, we cannot
Love others while desiring for self, and
we cannot Faith-fully serve those in need
while pining for future rewards or
benefits. Indeed, we should “not worry
about our life, what we will eat or what
we will drink, or about our body, what we
will wear,” (Matthew 6:25) for we have all
been provided for, and thus all should
pray to “be delivered from the
wickedness” (the Greek ponerou in
Matthew 6:13 – Strong‟s #4190) of greed &
fearful self-focus. We all have the ability
to Live & Love, and we should all
therefore focus on what we can do for
others in our current moment of
moments. For indeed, “today‟s trouble is
enough for today” (Matthew 6:34).
Amen ... Let it be so.
108