Have you all noticed how quiet it is? For those of you with younger kids at home, this is probably not the case. But I have noticed it several times this week, even outside it’s quiet. The nice spring weather earlier this week made it possible to get outside and walk, run and just sit in that quietness. I have been reflecting and trying to figure out my life. Last night lying in bed, not sleeping and hoping that these stupid hot flashes would be over, I was reminded that the way I learn best is by doing. I have never been a book learner, or a hearing learner. I need to be hands on for things to really sink in. So how does all this relate to spiritual growth? The quietness of my days has allowed me to think deeper and listen to God more. And I’m pretty sure I would have never made this connection without the Holy Spirit. Growing closer to God is something that has to be done and practiced day after day, not just something we read about and talk about. 

Ephesians 4:1 says ``Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received,” That phrase has challenged me this week. I’ve heard it, read it and have even written those words. “Live” is an action word. Which means doing things in our normal daily life that point to Jesus and show others that we’re living for him. New Morning Mercies is a daily devotional by Paul David Tripp. One of the passages this week was Matthew 6:9-13-the Lord’s prayer. After reading the devotional and then hearing a good friend speak about this same passage, I was challenged to go back and reread these verses and spend more time digging deeper and listening to God. Hang with me here and I’ll get back to how this ties in with learning by doing. 

Recently, I have been convicted that there are many days when I fail  to actually live a life worthy of my calling. I fail to worship God. I fail to forgive others. I fail to trust in God’s provision. I fail to desire His will above my own and fail to remember that this is not my home. And if I know that I learn better by doing, then I must make it a daily practice to honor God by my actions and not only my words. Breaking down these few verses in Matthew 6:9-13 hopefully will help illustrate this. The Lord’s prayer is a very familiar passage of scripture for those of us who have grown up in church. It’s been taught, repeated, and memorized. But what if we took the time to go a step further, dig in, and break it down verse by verse. Thinking about the words and their meaning. We may find that it will lead to a better, deeper understanding. Let me try and show you. 

Matthew 6:9-13 (CSB) 

“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

9: “Our Father in heaven, your name is honored as holy.” Jesus is praying here. Jesus our Savior! Guys, if Jesus is saying we need to praise and honor our Father, and he is doing it-then we must follow his lead. True honor and worship can be hard. At least it is for me. It’s not something that can necessarily be taught, yet is something that must be learned. As a child, the words I learned were “hallowed be your name”. Hallowed meaning-holy, consecrated or sacred. The ESV study Bible says “this means God is treated with the highest honor and set apart as holy”. I’m just gonna be honest and say this is often not my attitude during prayer. Our posture during prayer has been something I’ve thought quite a bit about in the last few weeks. Time and time again the Bible tells us that people fell down before Jesus or knelt before him. I believe our posture before him is an act of submission to him. Praising our Father-the giver of life is not just the first check mark on our list of how to pray. But an attitude of the heart and soul. For me this means practicing by doing every single day. 

10-11a: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s kingdom, God’s will. Not mine, not yours, only his. For followers of Jesus, the place we now live is NOT our home! A simple truth that is so easy to forget in the business and routine of life. His kingdom-the one God designed, perfect in every way, will come. Isaiah 43:19a says “Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming.” We spend so much time talking about what, wondering and asking what God’s will is for our lives. When in fact, he has already told us: follow me, take up your cross, make disciples of every nation, live a life worthy, etc.. Our Bibles are full of his instructions on how to live in God’s will. I wonder if one of the reasons we continue to question this is because we don’t like the answer? Let’s be honest, it takes focus and effort to live for Jesus every day and in every situation. Sure, I get there are specifics to everyone’s life and vocation. And yes,we do need to seek his direction and guidance in making those decisions, but his will is clear. 

11: Give us today our daily bread.” Let’s go back and take a look at verse 8 which says “Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.” This is key to understanding that God will provide for us each day, exactly what we need to get through that day. It reminds me of when the Isrealites were wandering in the desert, manna came from heaven everyday. The exact amount they needed for that day, only on the Sabbath were they given a double portion. Additionally, Psalms 23 reminds us “the Lord is my shepherd, I have what I need”. Not to mention the many times scripture tells us not to worry or be afraid. People- God’s got this! He’s got us!

12: “And forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.” You know it’s a whole lot easier to ask God for forgiveness than it is to forgive those who have hurt us. The struggle is real! It is so easy to hold grudges. Or to judge people, the decisions they make, and the words they say that hurt us or the ones we love. Convicting! Once again, confronted with the fact that I’m asking Jesus to do something for me that I am unwilling to do for another. That is not okay! We have to follow the example of Jesus and actually do the forgiving, not just say the words. 

13: “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” The thing that struck me here is again the reminder that Jesus is the one praying. Jesus who lived a perfect life, one without sin. And he is saying keep me from temptation and the evil one. Hmmm, makes you wonder, why am I not daily asking my Father to keep me from temptation and evil?! Duh! 

This may seem simple and natural for some of you, but for me not so much. Thankfully the Holy Spirit keeps me up at night and reminds me of how our Father wired me to learn. Never before have we been given such uninterrupted time for drawing near to our Father. Let’s not waste the opportunity to lean in, dig deeply, and learn how to live lives worthy of our callings!