Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection grow. pray. study. Daily Guide for Sunday, 23 March 2014 "Prayer Tip"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection grow. pray. study. Daily Guide for Sunday, 23 March 2014 "Prayer Tip"
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Prayer Tip:
In Luke Chapter 11, Jesus' disciples ask him to teach them how to pray. The answer has become what we call The Lord's Prayer. You can hear it prayed in every worship service here at Church of the Resurrection. A meaningful prayer exercise can be to take this prayer, which is really a guide to prayer, and meditate on it piece by piece, putting the guide into your own words, expressing your own thoughts to God. C.S. Lewis wrote of doing this and called it "festooning." As you "festoon," you bring thoughts and ideas and examples from your own life into the prayer, and connect to God in a more personal way.
For example:
Our Father, who art in heaven…
The name "Father" is not a comfortable one for everyone. Some of us have pictures in our heads of fathers who were much less than the loving, caring God Jesus describes in Luke 11:11-13. How can you "festoon" this salutation to describe to God what you know about him and his loving relationship with you?
…hallowed by thy name…
What does the holiness of God mean to you? "Hallowed," or holiness is God's nature. Where do you see God's holiness in your life? In the lives of the people you love? In the faces of the poor, and strangers? In nature? Art? Music? In worship?
…thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…
What specific part of your life do you need to give God in this part of the prayer? What do you need to surrender to God's will? This is the complete opposite of praying, "God, please make this [specific thing] happen.
Give us each day our daily bread.
What do you understand to be your "daily bread?" One song based on the Lord's prayer says, "Give to us but what we need." What do you need?
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
For what do you need to be forgiven? Who do you need to forgive? When that is done, how will you live differently?
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
A favorite "festooning" of this part of the prayer is adding the phrase "...deliver us from evil – that comes from others and that of our own making." What things from outside to you need to ask God's protection? What things from within yourself to you need God's help to keep from overwhelming and harming you?
For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory Forever. Amen.
It is always good to end a time of prayer with a time of praise for who God is, what God does, and the future God holds.--Jennifer Creagar, Prayer Ministry
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