In Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray. Jesus’ reply is what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. It is recorded in both Luke 11 and Matthew 6.

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus says, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us what we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

We can never go wrong praying the Lord’s prayer. We obviously can pray in other ways, as well.

I learned a memory device that I sometimes use to help me structure my prayers. It is the acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication-“humble request’) which we can use like this;

Dear Lord, we are in awe of your power to create all that we know, and the love you have for us. We are sorry that we cannot meet the standard of perfection that you created for us and we routinely do wrong to ourselves and each other. Thank you for your forgiveness and the peace of knowing that Jesus’ sacrifice has made us perfect. Give us the things we need to live the abundant lives you promise for us and bring glory to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Do you ever have doubts or questions about your Christian faith? I think everyone occasionally does . The reasons may vary, but I think it often is a result of trying to figure it all out. Trying to understand things like, why something bad happened to us or a loved one, or how Salvation works, or other questions that cannot be answered with certainty.

Peter tells us that this questioning is not unique to us. The prophets even had questions.

First he says, we need to stay faithful through the questions and difficult times.

1 Peter 1:7-9 he says, “So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”

And then, he says, like the prophets, we may not understand the whole picture.

1 Peter 1:10-12 “This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you.”

It wouldn’t be faith if we had all the answers.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the insights you give us in your word, the Bible. Help us stay strong and trust you, even when we don’t understand the whole picture. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

“Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need.” Psalm 34:9.

This is one of the many verses in the Bible that tell us to fear God. Many people have a difficult time with the concept of fearing God.

God loves us all and wants us all to be saved. 1 Timothy 2:4 writes, “God our savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth”

Why would we fear this God?

CS Lewis describes this in the Chronicles of Narnia, describing Aslan the Lion, who represents God in the Story, like this:
“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…”Safe?” said Mr Beaver …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

We are to fear and love God, like a child would his/her powerful and loving earthly father. The child respects his father’s abilities, and knows that his father has absolute power over him, but also knows that his father would sacrifice everything for him.

Dear Lord, if we just recognize your awesome power, how could we not fear, but if we could just recognize how much you love us, we would follow your will. Help us know your power and love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Though it sounds so simple, when we are facing difficult, frightful, or uncertain times, remember the words of 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your cares on him, for he cares for you.”

We cannot prevent dealing with difficult circumstances in our lives, but we have a tendency to think that we have to carry the emotional burden too. However, God wants us to give him that burden.

Though things don’t always work out how we would like. When we hand over the concern to God, who loves and cares for us, we can have peace knowing that he is in control.

Remember also Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”

Dear Lord, Help us trust you and hand over our fears and concerns to you, believing and trusting in you is what you call us to do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

I heard someone say once, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” I had to think about that for a bit. I think there is truth to this concept when we think about the principles we live by. If we are honest, in one area of our lives, we will likely be honest in others. If we are caring and compassionate in one area of our lives, we are likely to be so in others as well. However, the opposite is likely true

In Luke 16:10, Jesus tells us a similar concept, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

We need to look at ourselves and evaluate whether we are living up to the standards we desire. If we see that we are slipping in small areas, we are probably slipping in big areas as well.

Dear Lord, help us examine our thoughts and actions to make sure that we are striving to be the person who can be trusted with little and with much. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.