ResponsiveReiding

“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. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “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, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Matt. 6:7-13.

We have been considering “The Lord’s Prayer” under the idea of using it to regularly re-tune the heart, not as a mere rote religious exercise. To go to this prayer and consider the massive implications of each phrase, as a means each time to re-tune the soul to God’s priorities; to those things He knows are best for us. So that we think with this scheme always in our minds – framing how we see reality.

It begins by calling us to consider how holy, glorious and magnificent He is first, so that we have some sense of who it is we are praying to, before we even begin. And that in recognizing Him as He is afresh, seeing that the greatest cosmic need of all is that every knee bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord – to the praise and glory of the Father (Phil. 2″11). That His glory and reputation be restored among all sentient beings. And indeed, can we truly pray until WE are seeing Him as He is first?

Secondly, Jesus tells us that the final answer to all the prayers of the saints culminate in this one grand petition – that His Kingdom would at last come. That all human and angelic rebellion against His perfect rule would at last be vanquished, and that Christ would rule unopposed both in our hearts and minds, and manifestly on earth – globally and cosmically.

And thirdly, reframing our desires to coincide with His will in all things. For we so often do not even know what to pray for. So, the Believer, humbly submits his or her requests to Him for the review of His perfect wisdom and love. We trust Him to veto foolish things, grant better than we ask, answer when it is most advantageous and base His answers on what is best for our souls and growth in Christ – long term.

Fourth, Jesus shows us that we need to look to the Father both for our simplest, basic needs, but above all that Christ would be the ultimately satisfying Bread of Life for our souls. That Christ would be broken afresh to us. That we would be satisfied in Him, above all earthly things.

And it isn’t until this point – that He leads to treat the ideas of sin and forgiveness. I find that both curious and glorious.

How often do our prayer lives begin with the confession of sin? That our starting point is far from His? That as Believers, justified by faith in Christ and His atoning work on our behalf, He is not as fixated on the sin problem as we still tend to be. We are this side of the Cross. Christ has died. He has paid the price for our sins. We come to The Father as children already, and not as groveling beggars. Not to do so is to come to Him as though Jesus’ work hasn’t already made the way. As though by obsequious shamefacedness, we now pave a new way to Him ourselves. It is as if having fallen, WE now have to do the re-set. Jesus made an initial way, but it is up to us to keep it or restore it. It is the opposite of grace, wherein we trust Christ’s righteousness as imputed to us, even as our sin was imputed to Him at Calvary.

What does this do then? It frees us to confess freely and without having to deny any of our wickedness, nor to come to Him sheepishly. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:15 & 16) We can fully agree with Him regarding our failures and guilt, while at the same time pleading for a repentant heart, and all with the confidence that we are already fully accepted in Christ and face repentance, not man-crafted penance. We cast all of it on Him.

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us” tunes us most keenly to the Gospel wherein we stand. And, it fills us with the wherewithal to forgive others out of the abundance of what we’ve already received. It reminds us that no one has ever sinned against us as greatly as we have sinned against Him – and gives us a bottomless reservoir out of which to draw our own forgiveness for others.

Of what a glorious salvation is ours in Christ Jesus – the Lamb slain for sin.

One of the things which commonly happens with Christians, is that we take a verse – like this one – and toss it around as a general maxim without really considering it well in context. I hear this verse quoted all the time as a stand-alone. But when we do that, we can miss the real point of the portion when taken as a whole. Does God give wisdom in general? Sure. But is that what James is after here? I don’t think so.

The context here is asking God for wisdom, regarding how to count it “all joy” when as Believers, we encounter all sorts of “trials of various kinds.” The application is intentionally narrow. And the caveat appended to it is that if we do not do so, we will find our faith quite unstable. How those fit together is essential in understanding James’ point.

Note first then that James is after helping Believers grow in steadfastness. Steadfastness is remaining the same in regard to living rightly before God, irrespective of outward circumstances. It means having a frame of mind in trusting God, no matter what changes around us externally, or even how we feel.

That being the case, the wisdom referred to here isn’t generic wisdom, but specifically related to facing trials – not only courageously, but profitably, by trusting in God’s providential care over His children. It is wisdom to take advantage of our trials in confidence that God will use them to help us mature and become complete, mature spiritually.

If we do not have faith in His care and providential appointments in our trials, then we will have no real faith at all, and as a result will be unstable in everything we encounter in life. We will always be knocked off kilter by difficulties. We must trust our God, His care, power and good will toward us in Christ.

That means then, that to “ask in faith” is to ask:

1- Trusting God’s character.

2- Trusting God’s love.

3- Trusting His wisdom in bringing us to and through our trials.

4- Trusting His sovereign appointments and care.

5- Trusting The promises in His Word.

Faith, true Biblical faith is ALWAYS rooted in His trustworthiness.

If I have no faith in that, in His trustworthiness regarding His sovereignty over my life, I will never be stable, never gain endurance, and never grow in spiritual maturity.

So today fellow Christian, if you are truly His, and you are enduring a hard place right now, He is saying to you – that if you will ask for wisdom as to how to use this trial, to co-opt it for steadfastness and growth in the image of Christ – He WILL, give it. He is faithful to do so. You can trust Him. And knowing our weakness here, He promises that He will not think little of us for needing more wisdom, but will freely, lovingly and joyfully grant it. He will not chide us for our lack. For He loves to be our great supply in such circumstances. He loves to have us call upon Him in our time of need. To know, that we are to keep coming back to Him over and over and over as the One on whom we truly rely.

Oh what precious things such as these are ours because of Christ!

The title to this post is not my own. It is a near constant reminder from my internet friend, scholar and Bible teacher – Mark Ward.

When the Apostle Paul is giving corrective instructions to the Corinthian Church, he has to address the issue that even though the Holy Spirit may supernaturally enable someone to speak in a language unknown to them – nevertheless, unless that language is translated for the assembly. So he writes in 1 Cor. 14:7-12 “If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.”

Edification – building up – requires intelligibility.

Or consider the example in Nehemiah 8 with those returning to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity. Many, did not even know their native Hebrew anymore. So we read that Ezra enlisted a group of men in the endeavor to restore the Word of God to the people. We read: “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” The word “clearly” there implying they gave an interpretation, paragraph by paragraph – and gave the sense too, not just the words.

Edification requires intelligibility.

Because we know this, and because we also know that most of us know neither Biblical Hebrew nor Greek, God has gifted men and women throughout the ages to study and translate the original languages into those spoken by others around the world. How grateful we must be for this.

But even when that work is done, we recognize that languages themself change over time. Due to this reality, new and new Bible translations are needed, even in the very same language over time – to be sure the message of the Bible is not lost due to the way language morphs. A good example is the graphic above showing how The Lord’s Prayer would have looked to English readers around 100 A.D. And below, are several more examples.

Thirteenth Century –  Manuscript in the Library of Cambridge University:
Fader oure that art in heve, i-halgeed be thi nome, i-cume thi kinereiche, y-worthe thi wylle also is in hevene so be an erthe, oure iche-dayes-bred gif us today, and forgif us our gultes, also we forgifet oure gultare, and ne led ows nowth into fondingge, auth ales ows of harme.

Fifteenth Century –   Manuscript  in the Library of  Oxford University:
Fader oure that art in heuene, halewed be thy name: thy kyngedom come to thee: thy wille be do in erthe as in heuen: oure eche dayes brede geue us to daye: and forgeue us oure dettes as we forgeue to oure dettoures: and lede us nogte into temptacion: bot delyver us from yvel.

Seventeenth Century –  The King James Version of 1611:
Our father which art in heauen, hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdome come. Thy will be done, in earth, as it is in heauen.  Giue vs this day our daily bread.  And forgiue vs our debts, as we forgiue our debters.  And lead vs not into temptation, but deliuer vs from euill: For thine is the kingdome, and the power, and the glory, for euer.

(The 3 examples above are from a post at: http://www.livingwithfaith.org/blog/the-lords-prayer-through-the-centuries)

Now a while back, a gal came to attend our congregation, with virtually no Bible background. She needed to be brought up to speed with Biblical language for sure, and especially the nomenclature which we – as Bible-believing Christians take for granted. We use a lot of unique words. We throw around words like regeneration, justification, sanctification and the like – but seldom take the time to define those terms for the uninitiated. Even a phrase as basic as “born again” needs to be unpacked for those who have had no previous exposure, or very limited familiarity.

Coming back to the gal I just referenced – this issue popped up in a way I hadn’t remotely thought about before – even while trying to explain terms in my preaching and using a newer translation of the Scriptures like the ESV.

The problem? My beloved hymns. Take for example vs. 2 of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, and its “Here I raise my Ebeneezer.” What in the world does that mean? Even to many raised in the Church today.

Let me make it even more basic. For this gal, the simple “thees” and “thous” of Elizabethan English in the hymns proved to be a stumbling block to intelligibility. And this, from a college educated professional. Imagine what this might mean to those doing inner-city or far rural missions! The problem is compounded.

Now for me as both a hack poet, and a child of the manse (who even knows what that means any more?) I am truly loath to give up the music and cadence of the words of sacred hymnody, let alone the melodies. I love the amazing turns of phrase and linguistic beauty of so many of the hymns that have fed my soul for all of my life.

That said, if I want the truths which were meant to be communicated in those grand “songs of Zion” (does that phrase mean anything to anyone anymore?) to still serve the souls of those coming after – we may need to rethink, and re-work these sacred works of Gospel art.

I offer up a modest attempt below. I’d love to know what you think. I labored to keep the intent of the lyrics while trying to remove anything which might hinder anyone, and yet retain memorability as well as intelligibility. May God raise up a number in our day who can take on such a project – that what can be preserved, is, and what can be modified rightly, may be, for the edification of many others in days to come.

This, from “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”. The original appears at the bottom.

I. Joyful, joyful, we adore You,

God of glory, Lord of love;

Hearts when warmed responding to you

Turn to see the Son above

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,

Drive our darkest doubts away;

You Who give eternal gladness,

Fill us with Christ’s light today

II. All your works with joy surround You,

Earth and Heaven reflect your rays,

Stars and angels sing around You,

Center of our highest praise.

Fields and forests, valleys and mountains,

Beautiful meadows, flashing seas,

Singing birds and river fountains

All sing of your majesty

III. You are giving and forgiving,

Always blessing, always blessed,

Source of all the joy of living,

Boundless sea of happy rest!

God our Father, Christ our brother,

All who abide in You are mine,

Teach us how to love each other,

Sharing in your joy divine

IV. Come and join the happy chorus

Angels long ago began;

God the Father loving, saving,

Sent in love the Son of Man.

Always singing, marching to Heaven

Spirit empowered to conquer strife,

Joyful music leads us homeward

By the power of Christ – our life.

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,
Op’ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother,
All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us,
Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward
In the triumph song of life.

“Give us this day, our daily bread.”

‌As we consider prayer from Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, we now come to the place where most think we are to make our petitions for daily provision known. And while that is not wrong per se, I think it misses the main aspect of Jesus’ intent. Why so? Because just a few verses later, Jesus tells us that the Father is already attuned to these basic issues of life. He in fact says ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” And why are these not to be our concern? Because if we “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…all these things will be added to you.”

‌To pray in faith is to consciously say “I know you have my “daily bread” well in hand, so that I can focus instead on your kingdom and righteousness.” That is not to say we cannot or should not bring our immediate concerns to Him – but it is to say that we can exchange deep concerns over the regular needs of daily life for concerns about His priorities with complete safety and confidence that He already knows them and has made provision for them in advance. Yes, we bring them all, but not with anxiety – but trusting His love and care and concern even before we get there!

‌What then is He really after in this petition? I think it can be nothing more or less than the refreshing, renewing, delighting in and knowing more deeply and sweetly – the wonder of “The Bread of Life” – Jesus Himself. It is a plea for a new “taste” of Him if you will. To be satisfied in Him. To be filled with Him. To want that we desire nothing more than Him and consider knowing and partaking of Him our greatest and sweetest need. Our REAL need.

‌Give us as your people, as your children today, more insight into His person and work; more joy in His glory; more wonder at Him; more delight in Him – a deeply soul-satisfying partaking of Him that that spoils our appetite for the things of this world and the cravings of the flesh.

‌And why is this so important? Because “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” (2 Pet. 1:3) Did you get that? All things that pertain to true life and godliness come through the knowledge of Him!

‌Here is where get full. Here is where we get what is most important to true life. Here alone is where our deepest needs are truly met in the fullest possible way.

‌Our Father, you who rule and reign over all – be glorified and hallowed in us above everything. Expand your kingdom in and through us. We commit all to your perfect wisdom and unfailing love. Now Father, fill us up with Christ. Reveal Him to us increasingly as the fullness of all you have to give. Satisfy us in Him. Let our souls feast on Him today afresh. Fill us with your Son till we can contain no more. Pour out the realities of His person and work until they eclipse anything and everything else. Give us THIS day, our Daily – Bread.