About 3 years ago, the Lord spoke to me to pray that He should rescue His church from the hands of men, but I did not understand what He meant. I thought He was referring to my local assembly, so I localized my prayer to the same but not too long after that I began to realize that God’s plan was more than just my local assembly. It was for His church at large. So, I started posting a while back, but I got too busy that I stopped but I have promised God I will try to post at least once a week.
Alright for today, I shall write about Luke 9 from verses 1 – 4.
The disciples always watched Jesus pray all the time, no wonder miracles were happening everywhere he went. So, one day after his usual time of prayer alone, they requested that he taught them to pray like he does. From the news/grapevine, they had heard that John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray. They thought that was a good idea and wanted him to teach them also. Perhaps Jesus had talked to his Father about his disciples, and this was probably an answered prayer for him. Anyhow, he was willing and jumped at the opportunity because knowing him was not enough. His disciples needed to know who sent him so they could recognize the same authority over their lives as well.
Jesus said to them,
“This is how you should pray,
Father, may your name be kept holy
May your Kingdom come soon
Give us the food we need each day
And forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us
And don’t let us yield to temptation”
I like some other versions of the Bible better, but I will (by the help of the Holy Spirit) try to do justice to this prayer format.
So, let’s break it down:
Father may your name be kept holy. That is to say, recognize that God’s name is holy and do your best to keep it so. Do not call God’s name into filthy things. Do not swear by the name of God.
May your Kingdom come soon. Meaning there is a superior government to the one that we can see physically. It is the Throne of God where God dwells and that is the Kingdom we want. Not a kingdom that is only accessible when we die but one that is possible at salvation so He can rule and reign in our lives and environments.
Give us this day the food we need. This is interesting! Even though we are adults who should be fending for ourselves, Jesus is saying we can ask our Father to feed us and give us what we need. Why? Because He is a responsible Father. He cares for us. Hallelujah!
And forgive us our sins. Meaning we are fallible even though we may think that we are perfect. He wants us to recognize our weaknesses and ask God for forgiveness whenever we pray. This is because we are not always aware of our shortcomings. Sometimes we step on people’s toes without realizing it. Asking God for forgiveness every time we pray puts us on good terms with God.
And do not lead us into temptation. Okay, this is a big one for me and I am going to say what I have to say out loud. Nowadays, it is hard to stay away from temptations. Temptation from lying to make us look good, temptation from cheating in business and work, temptation from “lookry” (if there’s any word like that) or should I say lack of self-discipline and any other kind you may want to add to the list. There are temptations everywhere, including in church. For instance, it is not common to see men (who really do not need to cover so much of their body) walk about with seventy-five percent of their body showing at social or religious gatherings. However, that kind of fashion is now popular among women. They expose seventy-five percent and only cover the remaining twenty-five percent. I guess their motto is, “The more you reveal, the better you are celebrated.”
I was watching a powerful worship crusade on YouTube some weeks ago where people were ministering in songs. Then a very well-known powerful evangelist was introduced to minister. His ministration was powerful. I know I am repeating the word powerful, but I mean everything was powerful. A lot of people gave their lives to Christ. After his ministration, the evangelist called another gospel singer to the stage to lead the worship before he would come back up. He introduced the young woman as ‘a beautiful daughter of God’. That I agree with but what caught my attention was that the evangelist could not move away from the stage immediately. He kept starring at the young woman, but I was not surprised because the lady’s attire was a see-through long coat over a black jumpsuit. So, her top of chest, arms and top of back were easily seen. To top it up, the sister is light complexioned. TEMPTATION RIGHT THERE ON THE ALTAR.
In my previous post on Mark 13, I dwelt a little on verse 14 talking about ‘abomination that causes desolation standing in the Holy place.’
Some first ladies or women ministers even encourage body bleaching/toning and this kind of ungodly dressings that I am talking about. How can we change the world that we have blended so much with? How can we rescue the church of God from the hands of men if we are no different from the world? When are we going to let the world do the world and let the church stay as church? When are we going to stop polluting the church of God in the name of fashion?
Excuse me sirs and mas, where are the Christian fashion designers? Have they too graduated into vogue fashion designers?
Remember, God does not lead into temptation. Please don’t let people pray to stay at home in order to escape temptation in church.
God have mercy on us!
Prayer: Father, please forgive me for my part in the making this world a rotten place. Please help me to be a change agent for you in Jesus’ name (Amen).
Written By: Kemi Obayemi