Teach us to Pray Prologue to Lord's Prayer

Three questions which go deeper than we are comfortable going...gb  

Who is it? 

* Who am I? What am I? Why do I confuse myself?

The journey to God is multidimensional. It goes through the SS and encountering His revelation. It occurs in a fellowship of believers, shared life together--dependent on those who went before us, those with whom we walk and others around the globe. We cannot be Christian on our own terms and the authority of the church and our duty of obedience are in tension with our desire to trust our own minds and follow our own hearts.

The faith does not magically transform us into perfect beings, nor does it save us from the quirks of our own particular lives. It is this broken man/woman who encounters God. It is this person who remains unknown and in process who seeks God. The more we learn about ourselves the more we see how we are blind and deaf, how we misunderstand and misinterpret. How we hide the truth from others and ourselves. Who am I? A sinner needing redemption, a wounded child needing healing, a lonely soul needing connection, a unclean needing to be cleaned--the list goes on and on. It is all different angles on a creature needing the Creator's loving creation/salvation.

What do you think you're doing?

Much of life is partially lived. We are on auto-pilot or zombie mode. We are familiar with our daily tasks so we can do them while our minds wander. Years of practice make us proficient and being partially conscious and unfocused about everything. We 'say our prayers' but most of the time they are words. Even in fervent intensity we are not always clear exactly what we think is going on. Why do you pray? How do you know when you are actually praying? What is the purpose of prayer?

Have you lost your mind?  

* nous Greek for mind, it is the way we see and interact with the world. In some sense, it is to what Myers Briggs or Enneagram 2 refer. The personality is the "lense" through which I see, experience a  nd understand the world. It determines how I experience events. The Eastern Orthodox say that salvation includes the journey of the mind to the heart. Biblically these words--mind and heart--are not a contrast of intellectual to feeling; rather it is the false self returning to the core where we encounter "the image of God" and are reconciled to ourselves and to the God who reigns in our heart. SO it is a struggle with the Lies/Falsehoods and passions/wrong desires which dominate us (called the flesh, and includes the world and the devil as adversaries). With very, very, very rare exception--humans never get close to this. One theory of the afterlife is the painful process of having that salvation manifest in the reunion of mind to heart, heart to heart with God and others. Why painful? Because we resist the truth and we resist the healing. Fear, doubt, and being comfortable with the deception, even if we hate it, so we resist change. Jesus called it carrying a cross and dying  to your self. Nothing unpleasant sounding about that, huh? Praise the Lord!

here are two sources for more information

** https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions/

** https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/

Prayer is, at some level, one of ways that we learn to love God and neighbor and to receive love. It is shifting the focus of life unto TRUST. Prayer is vulnerability and self gift. 

I was told to "say my prayers" and I was given numerous prayers to pray as a child. The Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be were foundational. There were many short prayers  which we were also reminded could be prayed multiple times a day. I continue this practice today, especially with verses of psalms. A few examples. Lord, Jesus, have mercy on me! Into your hands I commit my spirit! Save me, Lord! Praise the Lord for He is good! There were also the formal prayers from our worship each Sunday. Yet, no one every explained to meet what prayer was.    

Lord's Prayer 2 Note on "Hallowed" and "Name"

God is Holy

Holy! Holy! Holy! The Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 6:3)

Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come (Apocalypse 4:8

The word "Holy" (verb qadash 203x; adjective qadowsh 169x; noun qodesh 519x) is very frequently used in the Jewish Bible. 

The verb appears first, when God make the Sabbath holy (Gen 2:3; Ex 20:8, 11). The idea of consecrating or making holy occurs numerous times in Exodus: consecrate the first born (13:2), the congregation (19:10, 14), the priests (19:22) and the boundaries of Mount Sinai (19:23). It includes the priest's garments  (28:3), the sacrificial gifts (28:38) and the sacrificial implements. Leviticus is also full of numerous references to making things holy.

As an adjective, Isaiah frequently references God as The Holy One. Of particular importance for the Lord's prayer is Isaiah 5:16 [Jewish Bible "And the Lord of Hosts is exalted by judgment, the Holy God proved holy by retribution//RSV But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness"], Understood as covenant fidelity--God judges rightly and makes justice by saving the faithful an condemning the oppressors, worldly and unfaithful--God the Judge is true to His word because He is holy. Holiness and justice (as understood as God being faithful to the ones He loves and with whom He makes covenant) are linked in the biblical understanding.

Along these lines Isaiah 43:3 [I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior] and 47:4 ["Our redeemer--the Lord of Hosts is His Name--is the Holy One of Israel"] reinforce this connection of holiness (and even the Name of God) with salvation.

Ezekiel 39 is an extended  prophecy on God's salvation (against Gog and Magog). 39:7 "I will make my holy name known among my people Israel, and never again will I let my holy name be profaned.  And the nations shall know that I the Lord am holy in Israel." Making His name holy is connected to this divine intervention (or judgement) to save.

Pagans profane God's name, and Israel is forbidden to do the same. Nine times in Leviticus God demands that they not profane His Name. Priests "shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God"

The Name of God is also a manifestation of His presence. It is one of many ways that the Eternal spiritual God is present in time and space (see also word, angels, glory, through prophets, or through sacramental signs like fire, or wind) In Deuteronomy, God's name dwells in the land (eight times total in Dtn 12, 14, 16). This idea of God's name dwelling among the people is picked up in 2 Samuel 7:13. God tells David "you cannot build a Temple," instead "your offspring...shall build a house for My name." 1 Kings 3:2 says that the people offered sacrifices at shrines "because up to that time no house had been built for the name of the Lord." 5:19 Solomon proposes to build a house for the name of the Lord. After the House of the Lord is complete the peoples are gathered. Some fourteen times the "house for the name of the Lord" is repeated. God's Name abides in the Temple, it mediates His invisible presence and power among the people of God. (It is to be noted, that the name can also refer to one's reputation, and the renown of the name is the glory one receives.)

Jesus makes reference to His body being "the temple." Paul makes a similar claim about disciples. "Do you not know that you are God's Temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 4:1) He repeats the question in 6:19, exhorting the readers, "therefore, glorify God in your body!" Drawing together the desire that God's name be glorified by all, that we must glorify God, that God does works of salvation in and through us to make His Name holy in the world and that we, each and all of us, are the dwelling place of His Name adds increased awareness of the depth of meaning of this little phrase. We ask so much when we say, Abba, Father--make your name Holy!

John 17 is the final of five chapters making up the last discourse of Jesus. It is during the Last Supper, on the night He was betrayed. Jesus begins with the prayer that Father would glorify the Son, so that the Son can glorify the Father. Jesus says, "I have made your name known to those whom you have gave me from the world." (17:6) He continues a bit later with the theme of God's name; "Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given Me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given Me." The Name has protective power, a function of Holiness. When pray that His name be holy, we must also embrace it and enter into it. The Name participates in the Reality which is God, it mediates His presence among us. At some level, the Name of God is an aspect of incarnation--that we can even know Him in His name is a result of His Self-emptying (kenosis- Philippians 2:7) to enter time and space.

Lord's Prayer 1 Notes "Our Father"

Supplemental Notes to Teaching on-line

Prayers shape us. 

The practice of prayer is difficult. Most of us are told to pray at an early age. I remember our meal prayer: Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive, from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen. No one ever explained to me what a bounty was (TV shows with bounty hunters only muddied the waters). In honesty, I do not think I was terribly curious about it. I was supposed to thank God for food and I did. I figured God liked hard to decipher wording, lots of adult prayers were confusing. Some were even a little terrifying. For example, Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. I had two take-aways from this nightly practice. One was my absolute dependence on God's mercy. The other was going to sleep was a dangerous thing, there seemed to be a good chance I wasn't waking up. Saying these prayers impacted my understanding of myself, my God, and my world.

"Our Father"

Our

The plural of the Greek ''ego" (I) In the sermon on the Mount Jesus uses the singular "your" in reference to the Father. In prayer we are part of a community. Even when alone, we pray corporately as the one Body of Christ--His church.

In John 20 Jesus tells Mary He must ascend (anabaino-go up) "To My Father and your (plural) Father, to My God and your (plural) God." Most scholars think He is contrasting His relationship with theirs. 

Here are important uses of term "Father" applied to God from Jewish Bible. In addition, I have included several New Testament verses. It is my hope this helps in deepening the 

Psalm 68:5 "Sing to God, chant hymns to His Name; extol Him who rides the clouds; the Lord is His name. Exult in His presence--the father of orphans, the champion of widows, God in His holy habitation. This was the first reference to Divine Fatherhood and it is telling that it is in relationship to the most helpless. If God is Father of all humanity, the revelation here is that it begins with the poorest of the poor.

Psalm 89 a prayer for the restoration of David's dynasty, which reflects God choosing and promising fidelity to David. God says (of David) "He shall say to Me, 'You are my father, my God, the rock of my deliverance.' [we did a reflection on Psalm 95:1-2 recently looking at 'rock']. The connection of YHWH's fatherhood to Messiah is foundational for Jesus' relationship. So the Father of the poorest of the poor is also the Father of the King as well!

Isaiah 9:6 part of the liturgical Christmas readings.

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

The immediate reference is the birth of a prince and this is the throne name. Therefore, the focus is God, but Christian interpretation applies the reading to Jesus.

Malachi 2:10

One of my favorite prophetic books (not named Isaiah or Jeremiah), Malachi's prophecy is filled with dozens and dozens of questions. It is an invitation to to go deeper with God in conversation. Verse ten begins a reflection on Israel's embrace of idols, foreign gods, and leaving Jewish wives for pagan ones. Malachi (which literally means Messenger) asks, "Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? why do you break faith with one another, profaning the covennat of our ancestors?"  Here we see the covenant relationship in parent-child terms. Hundreds of times the word "father" is used in the phrase "God of our father/s" and refers to Abraham, or Jacob/Israel, or all three Patriarchs. There are many others attribuited to Solomon who calls to "the God of my father David."

In response to His Jewish adversaries, Jesus says, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on My own, but He sent Me." [He goes on  to tell them that they are from their "father, the devil" and they embrace the devil's desires--murder and lies.] Those who are children of God are children of the truth. They believe Jesus, they trust Jesus and they love Jesus. (John 8:39-47)]

1 John 1:9 "Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God; whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son." Once again, from a slightly different angle, the reflection on truth, in this case overtly the teaching of Christ, determines one's relationship with God. Here we see the close relationship (Father and Son) is embodies in the word God.

Powers and The Power.

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

1 Corinthians 8:1--13

Mark 1:21--28

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany 

Humans have always known that there is more to the world than the naked eye can see. We know about molecules and atoms, cells and viruses, microwaves, x-rays, and radio waves. Much of the physical world is "invisible" and sometimes it is not very physical. 

If scientists tell us that the world is a strange place, is it unreasonable to think there is an unseen, spiritual world? For example, what is a thought or a feeling? What is human consciousness? How are the mind and the brain different? Calling spirits energy or the soul an animating principle does not explain the mystery away. 

The New Testament assumes the reality of the spiritual realm. St. Paul understands idols and pagan gods. Paul had read the Hebrew Bible, particularly Isaiah, which sees the idols as blocks of wood. Paul identifies the principalities and powers behind the pagan gods as demons. Jesus knew demons were real because He had dealt with them. His mission is against the dark powers which rule humans and nations. This is part of the church’s ministry. 

Mark 1 tells of such an encounter. Jesus was teaching in Capernaum (the synagogue is the same size as our church). He was amazing. Suddenly a man with an unclean spirit begins screaming at Him. The demon accuses Jesus of being the Holy One who has come to destroy the demons. Jesus commands it to leave. The Greek word sparasso (to mangle, to rend, to spasm) describes the violent departure. Jesus is victorious in that battle, but it was a battle.

Jesus' Kingdom is love, mercy, repentance, unity and peace. Satan desires the opposite—the vicious sins which divide us and create chaos and violence. The work of demons has never ceased, but three years ago the Vatican reported* a dramatic increase in demonic activity. The mental health issues, political turmoil and violence infecting our land are hardly fruits of the Holy Spirit, would you agree? 

If the darkness discourages us, then we must remember that Jesus is phosphoros (literally one who carries light). Epiphany is a celebration of the Eternal Light become incarnate and manifesting the Salvation of God. We who believe in Jesus are filled with His Spirit and carry His light.

So believe, repent and love the Lord and one another. Be aware of the demonic powers at work among us, especially in our minds, hearts, bodies and politics. Worry less, trust more. Pray, study and serve more, worry, fear, and fight less. Jesus came to destroy the demonic and set us free, if we suffer some spasms in this earthly sojourn, we do it with hope. Jesus is victorious.

  

 

*https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-trains-exorcists-as-demonic-possession-claims-rise-37263

Samuel Hear God (2 Epiphany)

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)               1 corinthians 6:12-20                 John 1:43-51

It is helpful to read Samuel in light of Judges. The failures of all the judges are recapitulated in the story of Samson. He is also a bridge into todays reading. For example,  Samson’s troubles begin when he sees a pagan woman and tells his parents. “Get her for me, she is right in my eyes.” In the end, Samson dies with both of his eyes blinded. The Book ends by saying : “There was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

This is not a positive assessment but a reference to Eve, who did what was right in her eyes, and ate the forbidden fruit. The priest Eli will also have issues with his “eye/ayin” and what he “sees/ ra’ah.” Eli is accused of not seeing the blasphemy and abuses of his sons as priests. We read that Eli’s eyes are darkened—spiritually as well as physically, just like Samson.

Samuel’s mother needed a miracle to get pregnant. While she is at prayer, Eli thinks she is drunk; another illustration that his “eyes are dim.” Hannah dedicated to God, a connection to the same nazirite vows Samson failed to keep.

One could say the nation of Israel was in darkness: “The word of YHWH is rare. There are no visions.” However, there is a glimmer of hope for “the lamp had not gone out.” A small boy who tends that lamp is about to be called to bring light to Israel.

God called Adam and Eve, who hid, now He Samuel, who responds. The old priest instructs the boy to answer, and the third time he is called he says, “Speak, your servant is listening.” The Hebrew word for listen is shama, the root of Samuel’s name. His name is “The one who hears God.”

Samuel will listen to and obey God. After King Saul fails, God will send Samuel to find David—a man after God’s heart. God’s covenant with David includes a promise of an heir and an everlasting kingdom.

These are some of the links in that long chain of salvation history which culminates in the Messiah King Jesus. We are links in the same chain. We are called to be disciples of Jesus. We must all be a SAMUEL—one who (shama) ‘hears God.’ If are few visions and the Word of God seems rare in our world, If more and more people do “what is right in their own eyes,” if our eyes grow dim and the lamp burns low—remember, the words of God’s prophets. Judgement Days are upon us. Fear not! Judgment is also salvation.

When Jesus warned Jerusalem of its impending doom, He made an offer of peace. If we repent and turn to the Lord, then whatever befalls our world, the shalom peace of Messiah Jesus will abide in us. Leave hatred and violence to others, carry the mercy love of Jesus to friend and foe alike. Do not be seduced by self-righteousness, doing what looks right in your own eyes. Instead, Love the Lord and serve Him, Love and forgive your neighbor. We are not the first to face hard days. The Lord is faithful. All will be well.

4 Epiphany

Deuteronomy 18:15-20       1 Corinthians 8:1-13      Mark 1:21-28

Remnants and Salvation! (Christmas 2)

Jeremiah 31:7--14   Ephesians 1:3--6, 15--19    Mt 2:13--15, 19--23

Jeremiah reveals the glorious side of judgement today: deliverance. Sin causes suffering and death by cutting us off from God, salvation is the restoration of His people in new life. We will sing with joy and praise our God, for YHWH saves His people and preserves a remnant!

Remnant (Hebrew: She-a-rith) is a recurring pattern in the Bible. It begins in Genesis 45:7, where Joseph explains to his brothers how God redeemed their evil act. ''God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant," he says, "and keep alive for you many survivors." This is the first of many times that God preserves a remnant to save His people!

In Jeremiah today, we hear that the remnant includes the poor and weak: “gather and bring the blind, the lame, the mothers with young babies, even pregnant women in labor.” Those who weep will be consoled, for YHWH is a Father to Israel, and they are His firstborn. We are told to listen; God is a shepherd who will gather and keep His flock. God ransoms and delivers His family. The Lord promises food and drink, joy and dancing. We will live in a garden paradise.

The reading today ends in joy, but I want to look at the next verse which is also an omission from today’s Gospel reading. Jeremiah 31:15 says, “a voice heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children.” Then a word of hope in v16, “keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears for there is reward for your work and they shall come back... your children shall come back to their own country.”

Matthew 2:16-18 is missing from our Gospel reading today, which focuses on Jesus’ escape to Egypt, rather than Herod killing the babies and Rachel weeping. Yet I hope you see that Jesus is the remnant. He survives when a new Joseph takes Him into Egypt. By preserving, God can save us. The Herodian pattern of evil is continually repeated, but always God preserves a remnant. The Heavenly Father redeems human evil and saves His people.

So, fear not. Whatever threat might worry you, do not be afraid. Our Father is faithful. At stories end, we will all dance and sing. Each of us be filled with joy and praise God. So let's start today!