Day 40 – Some Final Thoughts

So we come to the end of our journey. Easter morning is on the horizon. Our words proclaim today, Amen! So let it be here and now O God. How can this prayer serve then as a guidance for our church? Is it a summary of Jesus' ministry? Indeed in this prayer we have a wealth of mercy and an opportunity to find God's plan for the human race. Hint – it won't be easy. We may get what we don't expect. But that is the God we believe and confess.

Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. We have the assurance to know that we can call on our God as we would an earthly Father, that we have a relationship and an intimate connection with the Creator of this world. That out of His divine and fatherly goodness we are blessed by his love, his forgiveness, and the ability to have a relationship to God.

Hallowed by thy name. God name is holy and precious not to be taken in vain.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As Luther suggests God's will is done without our doing or work but we ask in this prayer that God would include us in this work. That we yield ourselves to God's work – not my will be done but your will be done O God.

Give us this day our daily bread. God gives us everything we need from day to day – food and clothing, shelter, family and friends – everything. We ought to then thank God for these blessings and see life itself as a gift.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Going hand in hand forgiveness of our sins rides on our ability to forgive.

Lead us not into temptation. Help me O God because I do what I ought not to do and need your guidance and loving hand to show me the way to walk.

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever Amen.

Day 39 – The Doxology

The "Doxology" as I learned it became a part of the liturgy of the church early in my memory. The tune (Old 100^th) became a prayer and a mode for giving praise back to God where it belongs. When we pray, "For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours – now and forever, Amen" we are giving are all and all to God. It is to say my allegiances lie not in my own greatness, not in the conquests I make happen, nor in the relationships that I have. Rather my allegiances lie in the realms of God's power, mercy, and grace. As a Boy Scout I remember the pledges toward God and country – the allegiances to insuring we are doing are absolute best to better all around us. For you O God are the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen.

Day 38 – And deliver us from evil…

"There is a yearning for God to put things right, to replace human sorrow with joy, human tears with laughter, human fear with peace." (Henry French, 118) I am afraid now more than ever when I pray these final words. Why? After all I am the hired holy man, the pastor who is supposed to have all the answers, the cleric, the man who has his stuff together. Beloved I am terrified. If I pray for deliverance to happen and to be real in my life what happens then when I fall back into sin, when I fail to be that stellar super disciple, when I tarnish the office of pastor and fail to complete what people would hope me to be? Deliverance takes me stepping aside and asking for God to intervene and make things right again. To go from sorrow to joy, from tears to laughter, and from fear to peace. This is good news and the longing of this fumbling disciple.