The Phil Files

The Lord’s Prayer reminds us of our dependence and need for something, or really the great Someone, to step in change our situations when we cannot. Resting just beneath the surface of the prayer is the recognition that we face immovable situations more often than we like. Our prayer, in essence if not in substance, is a cry to God that he please deliver us from situations — whether large or small, frequent or infrequent, physical or spiritual — that we have no power to change. At the same time, we are asking God to align our hearts and actions with His work in the world through His reign of grace and glory, character and compassion.

As we pray today, let the act of prayer, the words of this prayer, and the essence of this prayer lead you back to dependence upon the Father and an humble recognition of the areas of your life where only God’s power can move you out of your stuck places and deliver you from your intractable ones.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
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 lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

My Heartlight.org article this week, Ain’t Nothin’ New, deals with these ideas and some spiritual practices that can help us align ourselves with God.

Bottom line: Life comes at us “fast” — yes, I know the adverb should be quickly — and we often feel as if we can’t keep up and yet can’t change the circumstances. For me, this old clip from the I Love Lucy show is a humorous reminder of this reality:

A much heavier but relevant way to emphasize this can be found in the Igniter Media video, This Weight I Carry, which you can preview online. Both remind us of the many overwhelming things in our lives that put us in bondage, stick us in a rut, and leave us powerless without God’s intervention.

As we think about these kinds of things, several thought questions seemed relevant:

What is your favorite “God story” — a story about God being at work in the lives of everyday people in Scripture.

• How did God “showing up” in their life change the situation?
• What is your favorite “God story” in your life?
• How did God “showing up” in your life change you even if the situation didn’t immediately change?

Think through the prayers you’ve prayed recently:

• Were you honest with God about your current situation in life, your struggles, your sins, and your frustration?
• Did you praise God for Who He is and what He has done in the past?
• Did you thank Him for the good things and the blessings in your life?
• Why do you think it is so important to be honest about our emotions in prayer with God?

Why do you think the Bible emphasizes that praise and thanksgiving are so important in prayer?

Who is a friend with whom you could share the deepest struggles of your heart?

• If you don’t have that kind of friend, who would be blessed by having you be this kind of friend to them?

What group would benefit from you being a part of their team — what volunteer group at church, in the community, at the hospital?

As I look at the Lord’s Prayer, I am reminded that not only can I pray for deliverance, but I can also be partnered with God in answering someone else’s prayer for deliverance! In fact, that is part of the call God places on hearts when we pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” I am saying to God, “Use me to do your work in my world!”

Evil does exist. For awhile, modern culture wanted to deny that there was evil or an evil one. But since we’ve learned more about the persecuted church and the high number of martyrs for Jesus in the last few decades and the brutality of genocide and ethnic cleansing, more and folks talk about evil in the world. For followers of Jesus, there has never been any doubt. On the same day, I was pointed to two different online resources that speak to the problem of evil. One deals with the conspiracy to kill Christians in Turkey: Martyrs Killed by Conspiracy. The other is a powerful video resource called Deon, that focuses upon a police officer in the skid row area of Los Angeles, California, who cares for the people he serves regardless of how they feel about him. One deals with the source of evil and it’s impact on the lives of believers: the other is about a believer who overcomes evil with good.

Let’s pray the Lord’s prayer and let’s follow Deion’s example: let’s overcome evil with good!

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
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 lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

I was sitting in the left hand turn lane behind a pickup waiting for a break in traffic so I could turn left. All of a sudden, as the light turned yellow, the pick up hit the gas, spun his tires a bit, yanked over one lane and sped down the street half a block, turned left into a parking lot, cutting off an oncoming car in the process. Guess where he was head? The Center for Conflict resolution.

Imagine that! A person in the course of 10 seconds broke three traffic laws, cut off two people, and slid into the Center for Conflict Resolution. I’m surprised the last guy he cut off didn’t follow him into the parking lot … or into the Center for Conflict Resolution! Yowsers.

I truly did feel sorry for the guy who had to hit his breaks to keep from getting hit head on by an oncoming pick up. I have no idea what he said or who he felt, but I know it would have been hard for me to control my temper — I was pretty scorched just watching all of this from the red light where the pick up truck should have still been located. Temptation comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. One thing I do know, it often seems so tailor made to my weaknesses and vulnerabilities at the worst possible time. So, I’m saying the Lord’s prayer with a focus on temptation tonight … hope you will join me.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
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 lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

This is a strange intersecting point — trying to find my focus each day in the Lord’s Prayer and listening to the old story of David and Goliath, today. But it is an instructive intersection between the most prolific prayer warrior of the Old Testament and the simple prayer instruction of the Son of David, Jesus our Lord. One line especially begs to be prayed today. “Our Father in heaven … lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one”

This prayer of deliverance can be used as an escape from harm’s way — I’m sure I’ve used it for that in the past. But for David, it was an invitation to rely on the power of God to deliver His people from evil by personally facing down “the evil one” face to face.

The young David, hearing the taunts of Goliath, becomes incensed and picks up five smooth stones as he goes off to silence the mocking voice of the giant who struck fear in the heart of Israel’s seasoned soldiers. He calmly asks:

Smooth Stone One:
“What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26)

After being ridiculed by his brother Eliab as just a conceited little shepherd boy, David speaks his mind, reassuring the King that he is willing to step up to moment and fight the giant that none of the King’s warriors would fight:

Smooth Stone Two:
“Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” (1 Samuel 17:32)

Most folks know the rest of the story. David goes off to face the giant warrior of Philistia with his shepherd’s staff and a sling shot. And although the armor of a warrior is uncomfortable and discarded, David goes with something much more important. Faith validated by experience:

Smooth Stone Three:
“The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37)

David goes knowing that the battle is not about the weapons of war, but about the power behind the weapons. As the giant mocks David as a mere boy coming against him with a stick, stones, and string, David replies:

Smooth Stone Four:
““You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45)

As the story ends and David claims his reward, King Saul asks him who he is. David answers with the humble heart of a servant shepherd boy, one who knows the battle he has won should bring glory to father and his God:

Smooth Stone Five:
“I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.” (1 Samuel 17:58)

So today, as I pray this prayer that Jesus asked me to pray, I hear things in a little different way:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
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 lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.”

And Father, give me the courage to face my giants so that your deliverance is possible in my life and in the lives of your people. Amen.

In my Heartlight.org post this week, called Delivered, I reflect on Jesus “dominating the dominion” of darkness and delivering us from the powers that hold us captive. Paul mentions three specific habitations of the dominion afflict us:

1. Rulers and powers, both spiritual and political
2. Consequences of our wrong and rebellious choices
3. Rules, laws, and the whole effort to justify ourselves through religious systems

So will you abandon the addictions that hold you and follow Jesus, relying on His community to help you find new life? (Finding ways to get out of our deception mode and trusting others to help us is crucial, but feels very dangerous to us.)

Will you trust Him to lead you through the consequences of our rebellions to a better place and a fuller life? (After all, it is our own rebellious spirit that got us into most of our troubles to begin with.)

Will you abandon rule-keeping as the basis of your salvation and trust His grace to be your source of goodness? (For those of us who are religious, especially those of us claiming to be followers of Jesus, maybe we need to go back and read the Gospels and assume that Jesus’ comments to the religious leaders of His time are intended to make us think and evaluate ourselves!)

What is holding you back from fully trusting Jesus to help you escape? (Be honest with yourself. What will you not relinquish to the Lordship of Jesus?)

Those are tough questions, but ones I hope you will answer either in the response section below, or share with a couple of other folks seeking to follow Jesus.

Several days ago, I sat with a friend who was sick from a powerful chemo cocktail. This was the second round of this person’s battle with cancer. Though a person of strong faith, that faith was a battle every day because of the the physical illness, weakness, and emotional roller coaster caused by the combo of powerful drugs.

Several days after our visit and frank, but tender conversation, I found the image below. I was drawn to it for many reasons. One reasons was because we battled for years to find images of faith that pictured people of color — I have often used this as an example of “institutional racism” that us white folks often don’t notice. This image, however, is a powerful statement of faith, and it caught my eye immediately. A second reason I love the image, is the lighting — if you have ever been in a battle of life and death and experienced the grace of God’s light invading your darkness, you know what I mean. Finally, my meanderings around in the Psalms led me to this powerful verse (Psalm 49:15), which seemed to articulate for me, the prayer and faith hidden in the image:

But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.

Here is a small version of the image. It doesn’t really do it justice, so I’ve included links to the full sized images that are prepared for Heartlight.org and the free Scripture graphics there.

You can find three versions of this image, Text (pictured above), Title (my personal favorite of the three), and Plain (only the image on a black background, but still very powerful).

You might, at first, think of this as a verse of resignation — giving up and saying, “OK, God, I know I’m going to die, but I trust you will bring me to yourself.” And granted, it can mean this and should offer us comfort. God will not abandon us to the grave. He will bring us to himself. Faith in the face of such things is a powerful and comforting blessing.

But I also think of Hezekiah, who found out he was going to die and then prayed with Isaiah, and God redeemed his life and granted him fifteen more years of life (2 Kings 20:1-6). I am also reminded of my friend, Saundra, whose liver tumors vanished “without explanation” between the time other malignant material was removed from her and her trip to MD Anderson in Houston to one of the few surgeons who could do the surgery she needed at the time. She is still alive today nearly two decades later.

Yes, we are all going to eventually die. But my whole being believes that God does redeem our lives from the power of the grave. He does this sometimes by rescuing us from immediate death and brings us to himself, bringing healing and granting us more years on this earth. He also does this sometimes by rescuing us through death and bringing us to himself to await the glorious day of Jesus’ return. Paul says it well, and I will end today on this note:

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christi and to die is gain (Philippians 1:18b-21 tniv).

Today, we’re also joining Randy Elrod with Watercooler Wednesday — How to Recycle a Church?