Series Three: Thy Kingdom

Matthew 6:10a "Thy kingdom come."

When Jesus said "The kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Christ came to proclaim and brought the kingdom of God on earth. How? He was that kingdom of God in the flesh. The kingdom in Christ was His work of miracles. He revealed that the kingdom of God was here. Never before in history were those multitudes of people who were healed by Christ Jesus in those days.

The Pharisees demanded to know when the kingdom of God should come. Jesus explained that it was not something you see with your eyes or tell where it should be on earth. So Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21). According to Jesus, the present nature of the kingdom of God is spiritual. We manifest or show how the Holy Spirit works in our lives to glorify Christ on earth. Wow! Our important evidence that we are to experience the kingdom of God is a life of "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17).

When we pray, thy kingdom come, we are praying that God's power to destroy the works of Satan, to bring healing power among the sick, to save the lost soul, to promote righteousness, and to pour out the Holy Spirit upon His people.

When we pray, thy kingdom come, we are praying for Christ to return soon and to reign on earth (1,000 years of peace). We also pray for the future new heaven and new earth, Yes, Thy Kingdom come. Like Revelation says, "Come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20a).

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (Rev. 22:21).

The Lord's Prayer Round:
Our Father which is in heaven. Holy 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, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Series Two: Thy Name

Matthew 6:9b "Hallowed be Thy name." (Holy be Thy name)

When we pray, we show proper uses and respect to His name. When we pray, we honor God’s name. When we pray, we glorified God’s name. When we pray, we exalted His name. His name is not to be used in profanity like we have seen on TV. They really degraded God when they do that. God's name is Holy! So let's exalt His holy name!

Song: Holy Is the Lord.
Holy is the Lord and mighty is His name.
King of heav'n yet down to earth He came.
Angels sing His praise,
All men (people) should do the same.
Holy is the Lord and mighty is His name.
(Author: unknown, song collection)

There are some songs that could be related to the name of God. Our inner spirit senses the awareness of God when we sing His name. Our God has a name so our worship touches God. Therefore God visits us when we sing His name.

The Lord's Prayer Round:
Our Father which are in heaven. Holy 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, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

May the Lord bless you today!

Series One: Our Father In Heaven

Matthew 6:9a "Our Father which art in heaven."

Song: Awesome in Power
1. Oh, God,... awe-some in pow - er...
Oh God,... gen-tle in love...
Oh God,... You are my God ... and I love You...
2. Oh God,... full of com-pas-sion...
Oh God,... faith-ful and true...
Oh God,... You are my God ... and I love You...
(Rick Founds, collections)

This was Tony's favorite short worship of who God is. I would like to share the note from The Full Life Study Bible by Donald C. Stamps on Our Father ... in heaven. Prayer involves worship of the heavenly Father. As Father, God loves us, cares for us, and welcomes our fellowship and intimacy (private nature share as feeling close to Him); through Christ we have access (permission to enter) to Him at any time to worship Him and communicate our needs to Him. How He responds to His children depends upon our faith and obedience to Him.

The Lord's Prayer Round:
Our Father which are in heaven. Holy 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, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

May the God bless you today!

The Lord's Prayer for me

I thought it was good to share this part for individual although I prefer The Lord's Prayer more often. Tony thought it was impressive and sometimes we use it over coffee prayer time. I made copy and put it in my purse because we can't remember that one.

Dr. Elmer L. Towns wrote a book called, Praying The Lord's Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough. On introduction, he explained how he prays daily on the Lord's Prayer as a pattern, a way to pray. First, he explained his struggle in prayer until he tried the Lord's Prayer. He then went on to explain each part of the sentence that helps him to understand the purpose of the Lord's Prayer and to share with others. I suggest you check it out your local Christian Bookstore and show them the number of the book: ISBN 0-8307-2042-1.

The Lord's Prayer for Me.
My heavenly Father, may Your name be holy in me,
May Your kingdom rule my life,
May Your will control me,
May You be sovereign on earth as You are in heaven,
Give me daily bread for today's need,
Forgive my debts as I forgive my debtors,
Lead me not into temptation,
Protect me from the evil one,
Your kingdom rules in my life,
Your power can do anything,
And Your glory is forever and ever. Amen. (By Dr. Towns)

Key to remember about the Lord's Prayer: it is not a prayer to be repeated, but a pattern (a way) to enable us to include everything we are required to pray when we talk to God. Yes, The Lord's Prayer leads us to our heavenly Father first and we stop there for a moment to focus on God. Like the scripture says, "Seek God First." We use worship song for a moment and then went on to finish the Lord's Prayer.

No wonder Tony and I felt good when we pray The Lord's Prayer with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our spirit, and with all our strength. So our heavenly Father who is in heaven wants us to become familiar with the pattern of the Lord's Prayer.

May the Lord God bless you today!

The Lord's Prayer Rounds

Matthew 6:9-13 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed (holy) 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, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

After being with Tony for various short prayers often in the early morning before we go out for coffee together, I had a question. Prayer! Is there a better way to pray? Hum? Then somehow, the Lord's Prayer came up. We sign together the Lord's Prayer. We felt good, but why? So I asked the Lord about it.

Sometimes later, it was a busy time to move from Apt two to Apt five in the same building. I noticed the book that I had kept and organized with the group of "prayers" for the purpose to check it out later. Well, that later was now! So I pulled out the book from the shelf, "Praying the Lord's Prayer For Spiritual Breakthrough" by Elmer L. Towns.

I open the first cover and I noticed the name written was Nancy Gipple of California who gave me the book as a gift in June 2002 at Phoenix, AZ Deaf Convention/National Deaf Culture Fellowship.

God bless Nancy's heart! Little does she know that a book as a gift would become a blessing to me! God was answering my prayer, knowing that the book, Nancy gave me was right on the shelf. Now nine years later, I pick the right time to read and to study the Lord's Prayer! By the way, Nancy Gipple went to be with the Lord on Tuesday morning, November 23, 2010.

Now that I realize God was answering my question about why we felt good to pray the Lord's Prayer. So I went on to read the "Foreword" by Dr. Yonggi Cho of Korea who had a breakfast meeting with Dr. Elmer L. Towns. Dr. Towns asked Dr. Cho about how to have prayer more effective. Surprise answers: Dr. Cho uses Lord's Prayer like a prayer round. Like a runner who jogs around and around a race track to get physically fit. He prays the Lord's Prayer rounds to be spiritually fit. Why the Lord's Prayer? It covers everything you need. Dr. Cho uses Lord's Prayer round and then, he prays two hours each day for prayer requests people send to him. (His church is the largest church in the world).

So now I understood why I felt an urge to pray the Lord's Prayer several times in the morning. I pray one early in the morning and again during coffee time with Tony and also on the way to work. Three times! So it was called, The Lord's Prayer Rounds and it is okay. I felt an urge because quoting The Lord's Prayer really help Tony and me when we just couldn't think of anything else to pray at that moment. The Lord's Prayer Rounds became a blessing to us.

The Lord is good, isn't He? Really! He is an awesome God! He knew I would need this simple book and God used Nancy Gipple to give me this book nine years ago when I need it at the right time in July 2011! May the Lord touch your heart today! God cares for you!

Lily of the Valley

Song of Solomon 2:1
"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys."

Christ is often like the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys--common flowers in the field. This expresses His presence with us in our common problems. Jesus is there when you need Him the most. I found another song called; He's the lily of the valley. I have heard of this song in the old days and I remember hearing church sang it, but I have almost never use it until now. It is because of the verse it has led me to search the title of the song that I remember. The words touched my heart and I pray it will touch yours. The words are encouraging. So here goes!

Song: He's the Lily of the Valley.

I have found a friend in Jesus,
He's everything to me;
He's the fairest of ten thousands to my soul;
The Lily of the Valley, in Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.
In sorrow He's my comfort,
in trouble He's my stay;
He tells me every care on Him to roll.
He's the Lily of the Valley, the bright and Morning Star;
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
(Charles W. Fry, Sing His Praise)

Let the song lift your inner spirit to Jesus and
may He becomes real to you!

Altogether Lovely

Song of Solomon 5:16
"His mouth is most sweet: yea, HE IS ALTOGETHER
LOVELY. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend ..."

Thank you Paula Hardy of Canada who send this song:
Jesus is altogether lovely!

Altogether lovely,
He is altogether lovely,
And the fairest of ten thousand,
This wonderful Friend divine;
He gave Himself to save me,
Now He lives in heaven to keep me,
He is altogether lovely,
Is this wonderful Savior of mine.
(Author: Unknown)

Dorothy:
If you are in pain, sing. If you are going through
darkest time, praise. For praise open the gate of
heaven and God dwells in the heart of praise. Do
not forget this. When you praise Him, you are silent
the enemy. When you praise Him, your inner spirit
rises to Jesus who is altogether lovely. Only Jesus
can heal you.

So trust Jesus today!