The Lord’s Prayer, The Our Father Prayer, The Perfect Prayer!
One could spend a whole lifetime reading, contemplating and trying to live out Chapters Six and Seven of Matthew’s Gospel.
To have a secret relationship with God in terms of doing good, praying, giving alms, and fasting.
The Lord’s Prayer, Our Father was my Mom’s perfect prayer and she passed her love of this prayer and praying, patience and faith down to me.
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Why is it perfect for me? It keeps me properly oriented to life and the world with God at the center and first thought. It keeps me abstinent (eat bread for a day only, not binge eat secretly and compulsively for the whole week in one day), clear and present in the present moment—today, incorporates the Golden Rule of treating others as we would like them to treat us and speaks to forgiveness and avoiding temptation which is my path to The Ultimate Love of peace, joy and freedom in life. TROML Baby!
Yes, there will be anxiety in your life, today and tomorrow and presumably yesterday unless you were born today!
If anxious, serve God, pray to God for His understanding and wisdom. Whether it is for your life, food, clothing, or shelter. Being anxious for the sake of being anxious does not help one bit.
It never has nor never will though I forget that sometimes when I am trying to be perfect or control other people and situations or lapse into all-or-nothing thinking and judgmentalism.
The heart and the eye are mentioned here, surely words from our mouth and thoughts in our head to be mentioned later, should all be directed to Him first for guidance and then the power to make decisions and take actions.’
It all comes down to trust and seeking God first, knowing and receiving his justice, and everything else you need in life will be given as a result of your faith and trust in God, not yourself or anyone else.
I was so blessed with good parents who had that light of God in their eyes and when they did not they served as a bold example to me to preserve and turn back to God to reignite that light and the love of God in their lives and by consequence mine too.
Evil as you are, our Father will give us good things if we ask Him for good things.
And I am evil, I have that sin and tendency at times to do the wrong thing. I am not perfect, far, far, far from it. But I also know Christ, that He died for my sins and rose from the dead. If I am honest with myself, Him, and another trusted human being I am cleansed daily and each day is a new beginning to be better than the day before.
The Golden Rule—“Therefore all that you wish men to do to you, even so do you also to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Them includes are so-called enemies…
There is HOPE in Matthew’s gospel and the Word of God and in God—“For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened… Therefore if you, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
I am grateful for the spiritual relationship I had with my mother. She more than anyone else led me to Christ through her love, example, and faith in God. Thanks Mom, I miss you dearly!
There is peace, joy and freedom to be found in Christ and it all starts with His perfect prayer—“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Have a TROML Day today!
Day 6: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The Lord’s Prayer, The Our Father Prayer, The Perfect Prayer!
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Matthew Chapters 6 & 7.
Bible Notes:
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew
Saint Matthew, also known as Levi, was a Galilean by birth.
Tax Collector at Capharnaum
Christ called him to become a disciple, and later an Apostle
After the Holy Ghost came down on the Apostles on Pentecost, Matthew preached the Gospel in Judea.
He wrote his Gospel to prove to his readers that Christ was the Messiah foretold by God in the Old Testament
Matthew Chapter 6: Purity of intention; Almsgiving; Prayer; The Lord’s Prayer; Fasting; True Riches; God feeds the birds; God clothes the lilies; We must have trust in God.
“Take heed not to do your good before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you shall have no reward with your Father in heaven.”
“But when thou prayest, go into thy room, and closing thy door, pray to thy Father in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, will reward thee.”
“But in praying, do not multiply words, as the Gentiles do; for they think that by saying a great deal, they will be heard.”
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
“For is you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your offenses. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offenses.”
“But thou, when thou dost fast, anoint thy head and wash thy face, so that thou mayest not be seen fasting by men, but by thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, will reward thee.”
“For where thy treasure is, there also will thy heart be.”
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If thy eye be sound, thy whole body will be full of light.”
“No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
“Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on… Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you of much more value than they? But which of you by being anxious about it can add to his stature a single cubit?
And as for clothing, why are you anxious? Consider how the lilies of the field grow; they neither toil nor spin… But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which flourishes today but tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more you, O you of little faith.”
“Therefore do not be anxious… for your Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be given you besides. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow will have anxieties of its own. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew Chapter 7: Avoiding judgments; Power of prayer; The golden rule; Obstacles to virtue; Conclusion of the sermon; The reaction of the crowd.
“Do not be judge, that you may not be judged. For what judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you… Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam from thy own eye, and then thou wilt see clearly to cast out the speck from thy brother’s eye. Do not give to dogs what is holy, neither cast your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet and turn and tear you.”
“For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened… Therefore if you, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
“Therefore all that you wish men to do to you, even so do you also to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
“Enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who enter that way. How narrow the gate and close the way that leads to life! And few who find it.”
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them.”
“I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.”
Iniquity—immoral or grossly unfair behavior; “a den of iniquity”
Synonyms: wickedness, sinfulness, immorality, impropriety; vice, evil, sin; villainy, criminality; odiousness, atrocity, egregiousness; outrage, monstrosity, obscenity, reprehensibility; formalturpitude
Antonyms: morality, virtue, goodness
“Everyone therefore who hears these my words and acts upon them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house on rock.
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