The Prayer We Need for the Coming Weeks

Jesus gave us a prayer which will not only get us

through the next few anxious weeks, it is a prayer that will get us through every

day of our lives because it is the prayer that Jesus gave his own disciples when

they asked him how to pray.

Most of us repeat this prayer every Sunday during church services.

Unfortunately, because it’s so familiar, we repeat the words without truly

considering their meaning.

I believe in these words are the comfort and direction we need to find real peace

during these anxious times.

Matthew 6:9-13

Jesus told them, "Pray then like this:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. 

To ‘hallow’ means to declare God’s name sacred and our trust in God’s power to

change our lives. This is a great assurance in these turbulent times when we

have felt powerless.

But pay attention to how we are to think of our holy and powerful God…Jesus

tells us to call him, our Father.

What a contrast. We are told that the most high and holy God cares for each of

us as his own child. Abba. Daddy. Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 

Now that our vote has been cast and we’ve encouraged all in our community to

do the same, we must let go of our anxiety.

When we say, ‘Your Kingdom come’ we are inviting God to not only return in all

his glory, we are praying that God will bring us the love and peace that only he

can provide.

We are saying, Lord help us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, help us

to create peace in our communities.

Thy will be done, Lord, is not a passive statement. We still must vote. We must

endeavor to live the Sermon on the Mount. And as we live God’s

commandments, we ask God to participate fully with us in creating just and

peaceful communities.

We are asking God in his infinite wisdom, that his will be accomplished not only

in this election but in our day-to-day lives.

Give us this day our daily bread,

Not everyone has been able to return to their jobs, too many people are visiting a

food bank for the first time in their lives. Too many are wondering if they can

make their next rent or mortgage payment, too many children are being asked to

skip a meal because there’s not enough food in the house.

So we pray, ‘God give us our daily bread’. We’re not asking for riches; we’re

asking for just enough. As we pray these words, we might also look around our

community and see where we can help, where our extra few dollars might go

toward the FIRC food bank or the Smart Bellies school food program or

Thanksgiving to Go gift cards. No matter how little we have, each of us can be

the hands and feet of God and provide daily bread for someone in our

community.

 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

If you spend any time on social media, you know there is no shortage of harsh

words and recriminations on both political sides.

Perhaps we can reduce our time on social media for the next few weeks. What if

for every hour we spent scrolling through social media, we spent ten minutes in

prayer for our country?

Imagine what a difference that would make in our community.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.'"

The next few weeks will undoubtedly be filled with anxiety and fear and anger.

One side will win this election and one side will lose. There will certainly be

recriminations and 50% of our country will be upset with the results, which can

lead to dangerous behavior.

We must resist the impulse to side with anyone who tries to divide our country.

We are all Americans.

We need to pray that God will deliver us from evil. Pray that no matter the

outcome, we will work toward unifying our country so that we are once again, one

nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Jesus said, “This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Reveal who you are.

Set the world right;

Do what’s best—

    as above, so below.

Keep us alive with three square meals.

Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.

Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.

You’re in charge!

You can do anything you want!

You’re ablaze in beauty!

    Yes. Yes. Yes.”

(Matthew 6:9-13, The Message)