Jesus’ Model Prayer - Part 3
●After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
●Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, (trespasses) as we forgive our debtors (those who trepass against us). ●And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. ●For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:9-15)
I MEMORIZED THE ABOVE SEVEN VERSES during the two years I attended Alpine Elementary School in the above building. Miss Hattie Brown, in the first grade (1940-41) and Miss Vaughn, in the second grade (1941-42) led us in reciting “The Lord’s Prayer” every school morning. Our school year was eight months, ending the middle of May. School was out in time for the students to help plant gardens and field crops. So, in two years, I figure we recited the prayer about 300 times. Nobody complained and none of the parents showed up to threaten the teachers.
(THIS HAS A POINT TO IT,) and I also like to go back there and re-live those special days with those special teachers. I didn’t know it at the time, but our school building was a new “Cadillac building” (stone, not wood) built during the Depression. Each of the four rooms had central heating: (the stoves were in the center of the rooms.) We had a cloak room, and everyone had an assigned hook for hanging our jackets and a private cubicle for stashing our ham-biscuit lunches.
THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BUILDING WAS BUILT BY THE WPA (Works Progress Administration) in 1938 during the depression. In 1939 WPA was renamed: Work Projects Administration. The Federal Government borrowed money and put people to work building roads, bridges, schools, etc. People were paid for working at many projects and each type of work had an alphabet name. It was advertised as a “hand-up” for working a day’s work and NOT a “hand-out” for doing nothing.
OUR DRINKING WATER CAME FROM A WELL BEHIND THE BUILDING. A big hand-operated pump was hooked to a galvanized pipe that was embedded in a stone trough. The pipe had 7 or 8 quarter-inch holes drilled in the top of it, about two feet apart. The biggest boy in class was the pumper because it took muscle to push that much water through the holes and high enough for everyone to get a drink. After several licks with the pump, water would shoot up out of the holes in the pipe and we could drink all we wanted.
ONE FROSTY MORNING WE WERE MILLING AROUND THE PUMP waiting for the bell to ring. Someone double-dog-dared me to stick my tongue to the pipe in the trough. Sure! Why not? Sticking was easy. Pulling the tongue away was another matter. My tongue instantly froze to the pipe! I pulled and tugged and finally gave it all I had and jerked my tongue loose. Blood! Pain! But, I don’t remember any more about it. It must have healed, because it’s ok today. I was a fast learner, and nobody else wanted to try it. I was the lone sucker.
BACK TO THE SEVEN VERSES. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. This is strong! This is the program! God is not content to leave the earth in a cluttered moral mess with little men and women trying to run little kingdoms for their own dreams. God is going to wrap it up one of these days and Jesus is going to rule the earth and reign from the throne of His Father, David in Jerusalem.
THE BOOKS OF DANIEL, REVELATION AND ISAIAH are concentrated in this verse. He urges us to participate in it by praying for it. This is a good thing to pray in the morning before we begin our intercessory prayers for family and friends who are sick or have other special needs.
JESUS INSTRUCTS US TO PRAY FOR THE KINGDOM TO COME and for God’s will to be done in earth as it is in heaven…before…we pray for daily bread. God’s coming kingdom and God’s will being done on earth should be on our minds every day. Isaiah wrote: Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:7) God is going to do it, but He wants us to pray for it and have a part in it.
BECAUSE I WAS TAUGHT "THE LORD'S PRAYER" and recited it over 300 times in the 1st and 2nd grades, it is still with me today. It is natural and very satisfying for me to pray that prayer in morning prayers before I pray for personal needs, family needs, needs of friends. Praying this first, helps me to keep God’s interests and my personal interests in balance.
IN THE SECOND GRADE, MISS VAUGHN WROTE JOHN 3:16 ON THE CHALK BOARD and we recited it daily for four months: 80 times. The 2nd four months we recited John 3:17 80 times. Then came the biggest war in the history of the world to this day and we moved 300 miles away. New school; new friends.
I WANTED TO BE ACCEPTED BY NEW FRIENDS IN THE "CITY SCHOOL" so I practiced cussin’ so I would be accepted by the trashy boys in my new class. You see: I had not mixed the Lord’s Prayer nor John 3:16 with faith. I was still not saved. That would take place after a while. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (Hebrews 4:2)
BUT, THERE ARE SOME OTHER BIBLE VERSES I HAD NEVER HEARD OF: For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11) And…I had not counted on a strong preacher or my mother’s prayers. She was a praying woman.
IN OCTOBER 1943, IN THE BEAN MARKET, GOD STRUCK A MATCH UNDER THE WORD OF GOD. John 3:16 caught fire and the God of the Lord’s Prayer was obviously in charge of the meeting. It’s as real as if it happened last week. America is progressively choosing to live in a garbage can. Mamas and daddies need to work hard at engraving the Word of God in the minds of their children. See to it that your children hear the Word of God from your lips in your home and see you on your knees talking to God. If your children climb over you to live in a garbage can, make sure they have a lot to climb over and then pray for them ‘till you draw your last breath. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
AUGUST 15, 2018 – WEDNESDAY
A.M. Psalms 103-104 P.M. Romans 14
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
A Good Verse to Memorize:
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. (Psalm 19:1) (Write verse on scrap of paper and put in your pocket to memorize.)
Song for Today:
Keep on the Firing Line (2:42) (Singing Men of Calvary Mem.Church.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2wSORRwBzA
You may need to adjust your volume.
Health Hint:
The new kid on the health block is the role our gut plays in our health. The anti-biotics are playing havoc with our overall health. Specialists from Duke University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Mayo Clinic explain why it is so important to maintain a healthy balance of bacteria in our gut. Today, I reviewed the 6-7 videos put together by Health Reporter: Lorie Johnson. Follow this link to get a free booklet mailed to you and to download the streaming videos to your computer. You MAY be able to get it on your smart phone. Follow http://www.cbn.com/special/buildabettergut/ to receive your free booklet by mail and to access the streaming videos to your computer.
I urge you to get the free booklet and to download and view the streaming videos. Doctors from Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins University Hospital, and others. Put together by health journalist: Lorie Johnson. Follow this link to her site within CBN: https://www1.cbn.com/node/256801 There are at least a dozen top-notch videos on health. I regard her as one of the best medical reporters in America today. Search her web site to learn a lot of good things.
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