Between now and Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday on February 22, we will go through a new series looking closely at the Lord’s Prayer, with help from the Heidelberg Catechism. The reason we will go through this series during this season is because the revelation (or epiphany) of Christ is also a revelation of Christ’s kingdom. Prayer is a fundamental aspect of living in Christ’s kingdom. Prayer is the most natural activity in which we will ever engage in life.
Yet, how many of us feel confident in our prayer life? How many of us can honestly say that prayer comes naturally to us?
When we drove back from Iowa last Monday, we hit bad weather east of Chicago. In the distraction of the snow, I slowed down, maintained a speed, and used the wipers to clean off the windshield. I was less concerned about where I was going and more concerned about dealing with the distraction of snow. I was less concerned about my destination and more concerned about the windshield.
But windshields are not meant to be looked at; windshields are meant to be looked through. Distractions take your focus off the goal and set it on something else. The distraction of snow took my attention from looking through the windshield to looking at the windshield. It occurred to me that this is very much like our prayer life. With all the distractions that come our way, we get more concerned with the mechanics of prayer (How-To, For-What) than with the goal of prayer.
The Christian life is a journey. Prayer is an important tool in our backpack. It is to help us on our journey. It is not the point of the journey. Our goal, our destination, is not to become Prayer Warriors. The goal of the Christian life is to become lovers of God and mankind: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” That is where we are headed; prayer is God’s gift to reach that destination.
This series is meant to encourage Forest Grove toward that goal, that destination of maturity as a church. We will pay particular attention to the tool of prayer, God’s gift to us.
Our guide will be the Lord’s Prayer. This is not the say that the only prayer is the Lord’s Prayer; neither is it to say that spontaneous prayer is bad. It is to say that the Lord’s Prayer acts like a musical scale for musicians. In order for musicians to get better, they learn and practice musical scales. Now, did that student discover the scale? No, the scale is basic to every piece of music. Every piece of music follows some sort of scale. They receive it and use it.
The Lord’s Prayer is like the musical scale for prayerful living. We receive it from the lips of the Son of God. We learn it and practice it. And as we practice it, we find that we can play more songs than before.
(This is a reason for moving the Lord’s Prayer to where it is now in the service. I want the children to hear their mom and dad confidently and boldly and loudly and wholeheartedly praying the Lord’s Prayer. I want them to experience the joy and wonder of it from you, mom and dad.)
But why do we need help from the Heidelberg Catechism? Some person might think that the Heidelberg Catechism is “boring.” I cannot speak for everyone but only for myself. In my experience, I have discovered that I am boring, not the Heidelberg. I am boring because I have a very limited understanding of God, the world, and myself. To listen to the Heidelberg on the same topics opens my mind to other opinions and other thoughts that never occurred to me.
Some other person might object to the Heidelberg because it is old. The assumption is that only new things are good and old things are bad. (I’m not sure where the line is drawn, but if you consider yourself “old”, then you might want to watch out for people who share this assumption.)
Let me speak primarily to those around my age, especially in high school. We must be careful of the temptation called “Chronological Snobbery”. Chronological Snobbery is the belief that our generation has it figured out and we don’t need to hear from anyone else. Chronological Snobbery masks itself as tolerance, for it advocates the importance of listening to others. However, it is nothing but intolerance, for it ridicules any voice outside of its own generation or time.
Listening to the Heidelberg as we study the Lord’s Prayer breaks chronological snobbery. It invites us to consider the same words in Scripture from two different generations. While these two generations might be separated by over 400 years, we share the same goal, which is to love the Lord and our neighbors.
Yet, how many of us feel confident in our prayer life? How many of us can honestly say that prayer comes naturally to us?
When we drove back from Iowa last Monday, we hit bad weather east of Chicago. In the distraction of the snow, I slowed down, maintained a speed, and used the wipers to clean off the windshield. I was less concerned about where I was going and more concerned about dealing with the distraction of snow. I was less concerned about my destination and more concerned about the windshield.
But windshields are not meant to be looked at; windshields are meant to be looked through. Distractions take your focus off the goal and set it on something else. The distraction of snow took my attention from looking through the windshield to looking at the windshield. It occurred to me that this is very much like our prayer life. With all the distractions that come our way, we get more concerned with the mechanics of prayer (How-To, For-What) than with the goal of prayer.
The Christian life is a journey. Prayer is an important tool in our backpack. It is to help us on our journey. It is not the point of the journey. Our goal, our destination, is not to become Prayer Warriors. The goal of the Christian life is to become lovers of God and mankind: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” That is where we are headed; prayer is God’s gift to reach that destination.
This series is meant to encourage Forest Grove toward that goal, that destination of maturity as a church. We will pay particular attention to the tool of prayer, God’s gift to us.
Our guide will be the Lord’s Prayer. This is not the say that the only prayer is the Lord’s Prayer; neither is it to say that spontaneous prayer is bad. It is to say that the Lord’s Prayer acts like a musical scale for musicians. In order for musicians to get better, they learn and practice musical scales. Now, did that student discover the scale? No, the scale is basic to every piece of music. Every piece of music follows some sort of scale. They receive it and use it.
The Lord’s Prayer is like the musical scale for prayerful living. We receive it from the lips of the Son of God. We learn it and practice it. And as we practice it, we find that we can play more songs than before.
(This is a reason for moving the Lord’s Prayer to where it is now in the service. I want the children to hear their mom and dad confidently and boldly and loudly and wholeheartedly praying the Lord’s Prayer. I want them to experience the joy and wonder of it from you, mom and dad.)
But why do we need help from the Heidelberg Catechism? Some person might think that the Heidelberg Catechism is “boring.” I cannot speak for everyone but only for myself. In my experience, I have discovered that I am boring, not the Heidelberg. I am boring because I have a very limited understanding of God, the world, and myself. To listen to the Heidelberg on the same topics opens my mind to other opinions and other thoughts that never occurred to me.
Some other person might object to the Heidelberg because it is old. The assumption is that only new things are good and old things are bad. (I’m not sure where the line is drawn, but if you consider yourself “old”, then you might want to watch out for people who share this assumption.)
Let me speak primarily to those around my age, especially in high school. We must be careful of the temptation called “Chronological Snobbery”. Chronological Snobbery is the belief that our generation has it figured out and we don’t need to hear from anyone else. Chronological Snobbery masks itself as tolerance, for it advocates the importance of listening to others. However, it is nothing but intolerance, for it ridicules any voice outside of its own generation or time.
Listening to the Heidelberg as we study the Lord’s Prayer breaks chronological snobbery. It invites us to consider the same words in Scripture from two different generations. While these two generations might be separated by over 400 years, we share the same goal, which is to love the Lord and our neighbors.
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