AMEN

The fitting conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer is recorded in Matt. 6:13b:  “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  Amen.”  This conclusion is not a petition, but a doxology of praise to God.  Without exception, the one who prays this doxology confesses that He alone is sovereign.

The word “Amen” is the same word that Jesus used to denote important truths as He preached, a word which is usually translated in the gospels as “verily” or “truly.”  We conclude our prayers with this word to express that we – and any on whose behalf we are praying – understand what we have prayed, as implied in 1 Cor. 14: 15-16:  “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also…Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say “Amen” at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?”  The word “Amen” also signifies that we are confident that our Heavenly Father will hear our prayer.  We can be confident “For all the promises of God in Him [Jesus Christ] are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (1 Cor. 1:20). 

When our pastor preached on this doxology several months ago, he read first Psalm 145, a fitting commentary on the entirety of the Lord’s Prayer.  Here is a sampling of a few verses from Psalm 145, each paired with a part of the Lord’s Prayer that it brings to mind:

·         Our Father, which art in heaven:  “One generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts” (vs. 4).

·         Hallowed be Thy name: “I will extol Thee, my God, O King; and I will bless Thy name forever and ever” (vs. 1).

·         Thy kingdom come:  “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations” (vs 13).

·         Thy will be done:  “All Thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless Thee” (vs 10).

·         Give us this day our daily bread: “The eyes of all wait upon Thee, and Thou givest them their meat in due season.  Thou openest Thy hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing” (vs. 15-16).

·         Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors:  “The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy” (vs. 8).

·         Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:  “The Lord preserveth all them that love Him: but all the wicked will He destroy” (vs.20).

·         For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever:  “They [Thy saints] shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power” (vs. 11).

·         Amen:  “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.  He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him: He also will hear their cry, and will save them” (vs. 18-19).

And so we come to the end of our brief study of the Lord’s Prayer.  What a privilege, that we can address God as our Father and bring our praise and our petitions to Him!  May we pray “without ceasing” as we anticipate blessing His name forever and ever.  “Every day will I bless Thee; and I will praise Thy name forever and ever” (Psalm 145:2).

Life Lately

Well...it's been a bit since a personal post.  We've been sick a lot since Christmas; otherwise, we're just busy living the Life - as you, no doubt, are, too.  Here are a few snapshots from the past month and half or so.

Christmas gifts made by Leah and Willem.

Gingerbread house making

LEGOs with Dad

Christmas cookie decorating

Gifts from Grammy

Snowman #1

Someday Marie's going to find it funny that she's been wearing twigs on her head nearly every day for over a month.  ;-)  Pretending to be "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has been her favorite play lately.

Friday night sleeping in the tent in the basement.

Mr. Eli

Indian beading

Snowman #2

If Mom's in the kitchen...

...so is Eli.

Earlier this week - 65 degrees and sunny!  We walked to the Sculpture Park and ate our lunch there.

We had supper at Applebees the other night (compliments of my sisters - THANK YOU!  :-) and there was one superb balloon man there.  Will has a lobster, Leah a horse, Nathan a dragon, and Marie a ballerina.

Will's "Mr. Bones" all built.

...and lead us not into temptation...

               

           Who are your enemies?

The Heidelberg Catechism’s exposition of the sixth petition of the Lord’s Prayer refers to the Christian’s three “mortal enemies”: the devil, the world, and our own flesh.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).

“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19).

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:17).

               

These are enemies, according to the Catechism, “that cease not to assault us.”  The only way in which we are able to resist these foes so that we are not overcome “in this spiritual warfare” is by the power of the Holy Spirit.  So Jesus taught us to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

          But how can it be that we pray to God for deliverance from temptation?  James 1:13-14 teaches, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”   A temptation is an enticement to sin.  A temptation’s very presentation is a lie, for temptation makes the way of sin look preferable to the way of righteousness.  It is the devil that Scripture repeatedly refers to as “the tempter, “a liar,” and the father of the lie.  Together with his demons Satan tempts us through the world and our own sinful selves.

          We pray to God for deliverance from temptation because God is sovereign over sin, temptation, and the devil.  Satan could do nothing to Job without God’s permission.  Peter taught the Jews in the early church that all that had been done to Jesus had been pre-determined in God’s eternal counsel.  In Isaiah 46:9-10 God Himself declares: “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is one else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.’”  The Christian prays for this deliverance recognizing that in our fallen world, temptation is an unavoidable reality.  We pray understanding that we are only able to withstand the “wiles of the devil” when we are clothed with the armor of God, the sword of the Spirit in our hand (Eph. 6:10ff).

          There are instances in the KJV version of the Bible that the word “temptation” is used in a different sense, however.  Earlier in the same chapter of James it is written, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations.”  The following verse demonstrates that James is not referring to temptations from the devil, but trials, sent by God to strengthen the faith of His children.  Trials and temptations can be presented simultaneously, but God’s purpose in trying is different than the devil’s purpose in tempting: “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”  It is in the way of overcoming temptation that we experience our deliverance from the corruption of sin; it is in the way of overcoming temptation that God sanctifies us.

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12).