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Scripture in the Morning #181 Good Morning: Matthew 6:9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. The Father is not just my Father or yours – He is our Father. The Lord’s prayer emphasizes the corporate aspect of our relationship which is of incredible importance. Why? Why does it matter that we appreciate that Christ in teaching us to pray has us pray exclusively to the Father and has us do so with an emphasis on “us” rather than just “me.” To consider... we are taught to pray with a Father-centered emphasis in view of “us” rather than in view of just “me” — because in so doing, we are centered first on God and then on His Kingdom (those beyond us who are saved by grace). Rather than an emphasis on me — it is on God and others. Now... Of course, we as individuals are part of the “us.” That said, by recognizing that God’s grace in Christ to us as individuals is amazing and wonderful - His grace extends billions and billions of times greater than just saving us individually. We stand more fully in awe of God as we contemplate that what He has accomplished is infinitely greater than just what we as individuals experience. When we emphasize “our Father” as opposed to “my Father” we see more fully the magnitude of who our great God is and have a better appreciation for what He has done. Because this is so, greater praise is in view. Yes, He is our personal Father. Yes, Christ is our personal Savior. Indeed, God the Holy Spirit personally resides within us as individuals. All this is wonderful. All this should be appreciated. Yet, we need to also realize that He is our Father — Father of billions. Christ is the Savior of billions. Indeed, God the Holy Spirit resides within countless people. God’s grace - His greatness - so extends beyond us that the Lord’s prayer emphasizes this reality. Enjoy our Father this day. May your weekend be wonderful and may church for each of you be a time of wonderful worship.

Scripture in the Morning #180 Good Morning: Matthew 6:9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. The Father is not just my Father or yours – He is our Father. A thought for everyone’s consideration this morning - a thought flowing from the reality that we are all, together, in the same Kingdom of God in Christ. It is this — we each have far more in common with one another than we might overtly think — and we should see each other as family much more so than we often do. On this morning list that receives these messages, we have precious brothers and sisters who are from a Reformed Christian perspective, some from a Catholic perspective, some from charismatic background, some Baptists, several Lutherans and some of at least two or three additional, yet different, backgrounds/perspectives. One might be inclined to think in view of what makes those among us different from us - and center on how we are distinct from one another. But... We all pray to the same Father. We all pray in the power of the same Spirit. We all pray in the name of the same Savior - Christ Jesus our common Lord. We are all sinners, all in need of Grace - and we have all received that same Grace from the same Savior. We are the Body of Christ. Lutheran. Reformed. Catholic. Baptist. Assembly of God. Matters not. We have so much more meaningful in common - OUR GOD - than we have as differences. Young believers. Old believers. They are our brethren equally. Rich. Poor. Well known. Unknown. Like us in terms of general interests or wildly different in that respect. None of these things that make us different matter nearly as much as what unites us as the Body of Christ. So... this morning, let us all thank our God for the grace that He has imparted to us all in making us part of a huge family. A family that lives, prays, and worships together. Praise God! May we all enjoy our Lord this morning and may He move us to see each other - and all believers - as family.

Scripture in the Morning #178 Good Morning: One last take... Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread... By calling us to pray this way, the Lord is perhaps reminding us that all our needs are met by grace and grace alone... James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. We need daily bread - as we have previously emphasized - for serving the Lord and for being an instrument in this world to hallow His name and advance His kingdom here on earth. But we also need His strength - His grace - His equipping - we need His daily bread for us for everything. We need daily grace for all our needs to be met. Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. By asking for daily bread we are not calling on God to act and provide as if He would not otherwise do so. No, instead we are reminded of our needs and, at the same time, reminded of who meets those needs. We are reminded of His grace. We are confessing our inability. We are being grown is dependence upon Him. That is, in the Lord calling us to ask for that which He has already promised to supply, He is blessing us with humility, growing us in dependence on Him, removing us more from dependence upon self and humbling us. Daily. So... the Lord’s prayer is God’s grace at work in us - blessing us as He teaches us how to pray. Moving us to daily dependence on God — what a blessed gift our Lord has given us. May we each praise and thank Him this day.

Scripture in the Morning #177 Good Morning: Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread... Why, do you suppose, that we are called to ask for “daily” bread? Why daily? It would be great to have a spiritual “one and done” food that moves us from now to eternity to serve and live for the Lord as an instrument of His grace in this world. But... That is, seemingly, not how it works. We as fallen people in a fallen world need God’s grace - God’s strength - we need our bread - each and every day. This makes us continually dependent upon the Lord and His provision for us. In many respects, this is a wonderful blessing from the Lord as He each day calls us to come to Him yet again and receive from Him what we need to serve and love others in His name. So... When we pray according to the Lord’s prayer - and mean what we pray as we pray it - and we ask for daily bread it is really a confession on our part that we can do nothing without grace. We cannot hallow His name - or promote in others the desire to hallow His name w/o grace. We cannot live according to His will here on earth as those in heaven do - not in our power. We cannot promote His Kingdom here on earth, His glory, His will — not without bread from Him. Daily bread. John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Apparently we need daily reminding of our inability and our need for grace. We need daily strength to live and to love with the Lord’s love for that day. Our Lord is daily calling us to the well — and we pray that He would move us to respond - again for His glory and for the benefit of those around us. Have a wonderful day!

Scripture in the Morning #176 Good Morning: As we continue with the Lord’s Prayer, we move forward... Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread... Many commentators say that at this point in the Lord’s prayer that the emphasis moves from God to man. I want to challenge you to consider that this is not the case. Context matters. Matthew 6:9,10 fully centered on God’s Great Name and the advancement of His Kingdom here on earth. I offer for your consideration that in Matthew 6:11 the focus is still on God. Our daily bread equates to manna. Those in the wilderness in the exodus needed that “bread’ or manna daily that they would physically survive & thrive so that they could fulfill their mission for God. When we ask the Lord, by His grace, that He would please “Give us this day our daily bread” - we are asking for the spiritual “manna or bread” to Spiritually thrive and live out God’s plan to be used of Him to promote His great name and to advance His Kingdom here on earth. The immediate verses are about hallowing the great name of the Father and advancing His Kingdom here on earth for His glory. Asking for “daily bread” is our way of saying, “Lord, provide for us here on this earth daily what we need to be used of you to be instruments in your hallowing your name and in your advancing your Kingdom in this world through us.” It is saying Lord use us to advance your will in this world, that your great name would be hallowed. Use us here Lord and equip us for use. We do not have the strength or ability to do what we are called to do in our own power. We need grace, Lord. We need daily grace to be your instruments here in this world. Lord, please give us this day our daily bread... Give us this day our daily bread... not for our glory or our purposes or our will. Rather, Lord please equip us - feed us daily bread - that we would receive your power, Lord, and your strength Father that you would work through us for your glory, your purposes and your will. May the Lord bless you with Spiritual manna and may your day and your weekend be wonderful.

Scripture in the Morning #175 Good Morning: Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. To pray - and mean it when we pray it - that God reigns on earth as He reigns in heaven — that what matters is His great name, His ways and His plans and His glory — rather than our ways, our plans and our glory — is what we are called to in the opening of the Lord's Prayer. God-centeredness — not man-centeredness. That is what is in view. The Lord’s prayer opens with a complete emphasis on the Father and this is as it should be. It opens with our confessing that His ways are better than ours, that His glory is what matters and that His will is superior to ours. And... and this is both subtle and yet very profound... because the prayer is a petition to the Lord — this is a confession that only God can do all this. When we pray “hallowed be your name” — we are asking God to hallow His own name in this world. It is an implicit confession that only God can do this. We cannot - in our power - advance His great name. God can (and does) advance His great name in the world - by grace - through us. That is, we confess that His great name is His to advance and that we ask that He advance His great name through us and amidst us. When we pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” — we are asking God to advance His kingdom in this world in every way. It is an implicit confession that only God can do this. We cannot - in our power - advance His kingdom. God can (and does) advance His Kingdom in the world - by grace - through us. That is, we confess that His Kingdom is His to advance and that we ask that He would advance His kingdom through us and amidst us. Note that we are not telling God what we will do. No, we are asking Him to do what we cannot do without Him at work through us — we are asking God to hallow His name and to advance His Kingdom for His own glory. Have a wonderful day!

Scripture in the Morning #174 Good Morning: Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Even as God the Son - co-equal to the Father - deferred to the will of His Father. Here, we too are saying “not my will Father, but thy will.” For those in God's whole Kingdom here on Earth - the whole Body of Christ — all who are saved — may all of us be moved by grace to follwo the written will of God in His Word. If we earnestly pray this way - and mean it - we are confessing that we do not want to live for self - but rather that we want to live for the Glory of Lord. Think about this... what takes place in heaven? According to the Word of God, heaven is complete worship given onto our great Triune God. By grace, those in heaven have no self-serving desires and all is oriented towards worship, praise, and enjoying the glory of the God. So when we pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” we are asking that God would orient the hearts of His elect here on earth (those saved by grace, those born again — those in the Kingdom of God in Christ here on earth) so that, like the elect in Heaven, the main thing in view is living with the glory of the Lord as our centerpiece. Stated in a different way, praying that the Lord would make His “kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ — is confessing that life should not be about us and our glory and our will — and it should be about God, His glory, and His will. Praying this way - and meaning it - is akin to saying “please Lord rid me of concern for self and my way — and make me Lord a person - and make us as a group (all within your Kingdom here on earth) — make us concerned for the greatness of your name (Matt 6:9) and the advancement of your reign here on earth (Matt 6:10) that your will, your ways and your glory are central for us. To God be all glory!

Scripture in the Morning #173 Good Morning: Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Just like praying that God’s name be hallowed is our way of saying that the Father’s name is worthy to be hallowed and the advancement of His name is central to our hearts — we now confess that we desire God’s Kingdom to grow in every way here on earth and that the hearts of those in His Kingdom here would reflect His reign in heaven. When we so pray — and mean it — what we are confessing is very meaningful. First, we confess that we revere and respect and see as most valuable God’s will — and that we see His will for us as more worthy than our will for ourselves. We are essentially saying “Father, I know that your will is perfect and your ways are perfect and that my own will and my own ways are lesser — please Father God, move my heart to follow your will and your way — not my will and my way.” Just as God the Son said as He walked towards His death on the Cross... Luke 22:42 Saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Even as God the Son - co-equal to the Father - deferred to the will of His Father — we too are saying “not my will Father , but thy will.” May your whole Kingdom here on Earth - the whole Body of Christ — all who are saved — may your will be worked through us Lord. Or... Praying “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is essentially agreeing with John the Baptist when he wrote... John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Scripture in the Morning #172 Good Morning: As we continue with the Lord’s Prayer, we move forward... Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Our Savior has us open prayer by asking that God would “hallow” His name. That is, we are to open prayer with asking the Lord to advance the greatness of His name into the world so that His magnificent name would be increasingly revered, respected, and spoken well of. It is, essentially, we opening by saying that we cherish the great name of the Father and that we desire to see His name honored and magnified. Now, the second commission is this — that the Kingdom of God in Christ be more fully advanced in this world and that here on earth the Kingdom of God in Christ would grow in depth of wisdom, in worship, and in rich relation with our King. Asking the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven also has in view the prayer that God would even grow His kingdom here on earth in number. That is, when we pray that “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” we are asking God to advance more fully His kingdom here on earth to reflect more fully His Kingdom as it is in heaven. Or... may your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven — may you, Lord, make your church more worshipful (as those in heaven worship you fully). Lord, please make we in your kingdom here on earth more obedient — may your will Lord be made into the driving force of who we are here on earth. Lord, may your will reign more fully within our lives here on earth so as to reflect more how those in heaven enjoy and see your reign there. Just like praying that God’s name be hallowed is our way of saying God's name is worthy to be hallowed and the advancement of your name is central to our hearts — we now confess that we desire God’s Kingdom to grow in every way here on earth and that the hearts of those in His Kingdom here would reflect His reign in heaven. Another angle is this — when we pray that “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” we are asking God to make us more obedient, make us more worshipful, make us — as a church and as individuals — make us more like what God calls us to be. It is to ask the Lord to more fully conform we who are in His Kingdom here on earth to be as focused on the Worship of God and on the Glory of God as are our Kingdom brethren who are in heaven. Enjoy the Lord this day and may your prayers be rich and reverent.

Scripture in the Morning#171 Good Morning: Humility in prayer is paramount. For your consideration, humility in prayer has in view that prayer is not designed to change God and how He thinks but is instead another means of grace whereby God changes us and how we think. The Lord’s prayer opens with... Matt 6: 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” When God blesses us by moving us to open prayers this way, He moves us to consider His greatness — His perfect love, His perfect forgiveness, His infinite power and His endless, matchless holiness. When God so blesses us in our prayer life in this way — we are moved to thanksgiving and a recognition of how amazing God’s grace in Christ is. When God so blesses us with this properly-centered prayer emphasizing God’s great name — we are reminded of what a privilege prayer is - of how we are wildly blessed by an audience with the God of all reality. That is... When God the Son moves us to pray with the name of the Father in primary view — it is God imparting grace to us and moving us to humility. This is a great act of grace on the behalf of the Lord. Our biggest enemy is our own sin nature that centers us on ourselves- and this often played out in our prayers. When the Lord moves us to center our prayers and our thoughts on Him first - He is rescuing us from ourselves. He is placing our thoughts on Him rather than on ourselves — and this is wonderful grace. Praise God for His directive to center our prayers on the great name of God. God changes us through prayer — moving us off of self (and thus releasing us, for that moment, from the bondage to self) and moving us to where all pleasures arise — moving us to consider God and His great name. Have a great weekend and may your time in church be most blessed.

Scripture in the Morning#170 Good Morning: May the Lord move us to humble prayer. Humility in prayer has in view an acknowledgment on our behalf that God is infinite, is worthy of all glory and praise and that His great name is to be hallowed. It has in view an understanding that it is God who calls us to prayer - who moves us to prayer and it is He who blesses us through prayer. It is recognizing that it is a phenomenal privilege to even speak His great name and that it is beyond amazing that He is so gracious as to listen to our prayers. Consider the humility of Christ.. Phil 2:5-8 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Even Christ defers to the will of the Father... Luke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” May the Lord remove from us any sense of our thinking that we have a right to tell God what to do in prayer. May the Lord move us to humbly confess what we desire and then to earnestly say - and believe what we say — when we say “but Lord not my will — but your will be done.” May the Lord grow in us the understanding that He knows infinitely better than us what we need. May the Lord humble us in prayer.

Scripture in the Morning#169 Good Morning: As we contemplate the Lord’s prayer, we opened with Matthew 6:9 - the hallowing of God’s name. But there is very, very meaningful counsel from the Son on prayer before this first element of prayer... Matt 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. The Lord knows all that we will pray. There is nothing we can say that He does not already know more fully than do we. Prayer then is not a means to inform God of anything - for God already knows everything. The focal point of our prayer — God — is sovereign, infinitely sovereign. Communicating with God is not at all like communicating to other people. When we communicate with others we need to inform them of what we are thinking - not so with God - He already knows. When we communicate with others we have in view convincing them to do (or not do) something, or to think in a certain way. We attempt to persuade others and get them to do or think in line with us. But when we pray, we must realize that God knows MUCH BETTER than we what we need. God does not change and we cannot change Him. Prayer is not about us moving God to action — it is about Him, His glory, and His grace moving us to action. We do not inform Him. We do not persuade Him. We should not cut deals with Him, make promises to Him, or attempt to flatter Him to “gain” His favor. Prayer is completely unlike communicating to other creatures. With this in view, we pray that the Lord would remove from us the desire to pray in an attempt to persuade God to our way of thinking - as if, somehow, our way is better than His. May we not dis-honor God by assuming that we can dictate to Him, convince Him or otherwise influence Him — for he is the Almighty. May the Lord move us to humble prayer.

Scripture in the Morning#168 Good Morning: As we contemplate the Lord’s prayer, we opened with Matthew 6:9 - the hallowing of God’s name. But there is very, very meaningful counsel from the Son on prayer before this first element of prayer... Matt 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. We are taught here that prayer is not for show — it is not to be designed to be seen by others for the sake of our better good - that others would approve of us because we “pray so well.” And... Matt 6:7 And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. We need not craft our words like we are giving a speech. It seems the Son is instructing us to pray with the glory of God in view, with an emphasis on His greatness and with respect and honor for the Father’s great name. It seems that the Son is saying that we should not make prayers about us — but to make our prayers about honoring God. We are not to try to “impress” God with our words in the way we might design our words in a speech to impress our audience members. No, this is the God of the universe we are talking to! We cannot impress Him! May the Lord move us to pray with reverent awe of His great name in view. May the Lord bless us with an ever-increasingly Godly prayer life. Our prayer then is that the Lord teach us to pray in an honoring way. Enjoy this day.

Scripture in the Morning#167 Good Morning: As we contemplate the Lord’s prayer, we opened with Matthew 6:9 - the hallowing of God’s name. But there is very, very meaningful counsel from the Son on prayer before this first element of prayer... Matt 6:5 And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. This verse presupposes something - that sinful men (like us!) are tempted to pray so that others would somehow view us better because we prayed. We, as sinners, often succumb to the temptation and pray, at least in part, so that others might view us as “sanctified,” “holy,” or “spiritual.” This motivation for prayer is indeed very idolatrous — where we make ourselves a (or the) reason for the prayer — that is, we make ourselves an idol. It is an idol in that we replace God and His glorious name as the focal point in our prayers with us and our reputation as the (or a) focal point of prayer. It happens - not just for the Pharisees - but to each of us as well (at least at times). So, our prayer this morning is this... “Lord, your name is amazing and your grace infinite. You are love and you are grace. By that infinite grace that is you, please accomplish in us what we cannot accomplish in ourselves — please move our hearts off of ourselves and our reputation and move us Lord to pray with you, your greatness, and your holy name in view. Lord, for your glory, move us to pray in an honoring manner that your name would be hallowed.” May your prayer life be great this day!

Scripture in the Morning#166 Good Morning: Matt 6: 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” So... why? Why does God give us this as the model for the first element of prayer? A third consideration for you. Perhaps God the Son calls us to open all our prayers with a focus on the great and glorious name of the Father — because He knows how self-serving we as sinners often are in our prayers. I will not impugn any of you in this. I will use me as an example. Often I find myself opening prayers with a list of demands — “Lord, please do this...” or “Lord, please make this stop...” Or Lord, please change this”, or Lord ... followed by my list of desires for what I want to see God do for me (or my loved ones)... We are all tempted to pray in self-serving ways. Man-centeredness is not just a challenge for churches - it is a challenge - a temptation - for each of us in our own personal prayer life. But... If we open all our prayers as Jesus our Lord and Savior instructs — by seeking the glory of God the Father’s name to be hallowed - our initial focus is not on us, but is rightly upon God. So... The command to pray for the name of the Father to be hallowed as the initial component of all prayer is, in part, to center our prayers on the Father and not us. Nothing comes before the glory of God the Father — not our requests or pleas — nothing. God-honoring prayer has as its first point the glory of the great name of God. May we all be moved by God’s grace to pray in an honoring and Godly manner - and may the Lord purge us of man-centered prayer. Enjoy your weekend and may church be wonderful for each of you this week.

Scripture in the Morning#165 Good Morning: Matt 6: 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” So... why? Why does God give us this as the model for the first element of prayer? As an a potential answer, there is a second consideration for you. The answer is this — God is love. God, who is love, spreads His into the world for the blessing of those in the world. So... God the Son instructs us to pray that the great name of God the Father be hallowed motivated, in part, by the Son’s desire to see the Love of the Father spread into the world. Psalm 16:11b in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore When God’s people (us) pray for the name of God to be hallowed - when we pray that the Lord uses us to proclaim His great name - when God’s grace moves us to remind others of the glory of God, then others will dwell on God’s great name and, for that moment, they will be “at the right hand of God” and “in His presence (not physically, but Spiritually)” as they dwell upon the Lord. When this happens, others will, for that moment, know more fully the joy and pleasure of God. When the Lord moves us to hallow His name — God’s love spreads to those who hear. So... When the Lord calls us to hallow His name - He is being loving, giving, and full of grace - and He blesses us with watching Him bless others as His name is hallowed. Even in His command to hallow His name, our infinitely loving God is giving grace to us. The Son blesses us and those around us by calling us to hallow the great name of the Father. Enjoy Him this day.

Scripture in the Morning#164 Good Morning: Matt 6: 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” The Lord gives us a model for prayer. He starts that model by instructing us to seek after the advancement of the reputation and “hallowing” of the great name of the Father. The word “hallowed” here as applied to the name of the Father means to “elevate the view of the greatness of God” in the hearts of those around us. It means that we are praying that the Lord would amplify His great name in the world. It is a prayer that the Glory of God, His attributes, His great reputation as Perfect God would be seen more fully by those around us. So... why? Why does God give us this as the model for the first element of prayer? I can only offer suggestions for your consideration - and this will be the first consideration for you. The Son so loves the Father that He desires that the Glory of His Father’s great name be upon the hearts of all creation. That is, the Son - Christ Jesus our Lord, co-equal with the Father and the Spirit - He who is of the Trinitarian Godhead - the Son so loves the Father than He wants the Father’s Glory to be the centerpiece of everything. Stated differently, the Son is Honoring - hallowing - the name of the Father - by instructing His Bride (us) to hallow the name of the Father. The glory of the Father is paramount for the Son. John 17:1 "Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee." From beginning to end, the driving impulse of God the Son's heart is to see that God the Father would be praised for His glory. This is an expression of the Son’s love for the Father. So... the Son calls us to join Him in hallowing the name of the Father. He calls us to love the Father as He loves the Father. He calls us to enjoy loving the Father as He does. May your prayer life be rich. Have a wonderful day.

Scripture in the Morning #163 Good Morning: Today we turn to the Lord’s Prayer of Matthew 6 - and the first focus of prayer that our Lord and Savior gives.... Matt 6: 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” The word “hallowed” here as applied to the name of the Father means to “elevate the view of the greatness of God” in the hearts of those around us. It means that we are praying that the Lord would amplify His great name in the world. It is a prayer that the Glory of God, His attributes, His great reputation as Perfect God would be seen more fully by those around us. Can God be more glorious than He already is? No - He is infinite perfection in every way. God cannot become more holy, perfect, or true, but His name can be more hallowed by His creatures. God cannot be more glorious, but His glory can be more fully known by those of us on earth. Jesus is here, in the Lord’s Prayer, reminding us that His people are to be active and prayerful participants in the honoring of the name of God. So... the Lord gives us a model for prayer. He starts that model by instructing us to seek after the advancement of the reputation and “hallowing” of the great name of the Father. Tomorrow we will investigate why the Lord gives us this instruction as the opening for Godly prayer. For today, may the Lord move us with the desire to see the great name of God exalted. May the Lord give us a deeper and more rich understanding of how great God is. May the Lord move us to speak highly of the great name of God so that those around us would hear of His Excellencies and worship Him. Have a great day.

Scripture in the Morning #161 Good Morning: James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Every good thing is a gift from above. What does this mean? Are you a Christian? Is it a good thing that you are a Christian? Then you're being a Christian is a gift from God. He choose it for you. He determined that you would believe. He did it all. A gift bestowed upon you. As a Christian, do you pray? If so, realize that anytime you pray it is God who instilled within you the desire to pray. And that prayer then is a gift from God to you. Grace. It is for your benefit and His Glory. Do you worship Him? If so, that good thing is a gift from God to you. He instilled within you the desire to worship Him — not because He benefits, because He does not — He instilled within you the desire and you then chose what you desired, you chose to worship Him and you benefited. Are you ever obedient? Do you ever obey His commands? If so, that good thing, your obedience, is God's gift to you — He inspired you, He moved you by instilling within you the desire to obey His commands. And He provided the Word of God that you would read it. His having had instilled within you the desire to obey and the specific Word to obey, you then did what was natural — you chose what He planted in your heart as a desire — you obeyed. And you benefited. He did this for you — as a perfect gift from above. God — who is Love — actively ordains your obedience, your prayer, and your worship. All of these are examples of perfect gifts that He ensures you desire. Ordaining Grace! Our God is awesome! Enjoy Him this day.