Distressed (Psalm 77)

On September 18, 2023August 17, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

I cry aloud to God;
    I cry aloud, and he hears me.
In times of trouble I pray to the Lord;
    all night long I lift my hands in prayer,
    but I cannot find comfort.
When I think of God, I sigh;
    when I meditate, I feel discouraged.

He keeps me awake all night;
    I am so worried that I cannot speak.
I think of days gone by
    and remember years of long ago.
I spend the night in deep thought;
    I meditate, and this is what I ask myself:
“Will the Lord always reject us?
    Will he never again be pleased with us?
Has he stopped loving us?
    Does his promise no longer stand?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
    Has anger taken the place of his compassion?”
Then I said, “What hurts me most is this—
    that God is no longer powerful.”

I will remember your great deeds, Lord;
I will recall the wonders you did in the past.
I will think about all that you have done;
I will meditate on all your mighty acts.

Everything you do, O God, is holy.
    No god is as great as you.
You are the God who works miracles;
    you showed your might among the nations.
By your power you saved your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph.

When the waters saw you, O God, they were afraid,
    and the depths of the sea trembled.
The clouds poured down rain;
    thunder crashed from the sky,
    and lightning flashed in all directions.
The crash of your thunder rolled out,
    and flashes of lightning lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
You walked through the waves;
    you crossed the deep sea,
    but your footprints could not be seen.
You led your people like a shepherd,
    with Moses and Aaron in charge. (Good News Translation)

I Worry

You and I know what it feels like to be in trouble. We understand the sense, at times, of having our prayers bounce off the ceiling, as if our cries are not heard by heaven. Loneliness and discouragement are palpable. Sleep is elusive. Worries and racing thoughts go round and round in our heads, like some sort of demented NASCAR event.

Swirling around us like a black cloud are all the questions asked without any answers:

Has God walked off the job? Is the Lord ever coming back? Is God even there? Did the Lord retire from being God?
Is God angry at me? What have I done to piss him off? Is the Lord fed up with us?
Is the Lord really a God of love? Did grace run out of steam? Does God hate me?

Then, when the questions go unanswered without any replies, we begin to remember the good old days… when God was a mover and shaker in this messed up world… when the Lord delivered the people from Egyptian bondage… when God pulled people out of the worst kind of troubles….

We continue to reminisce, even recalling that the very elements of the earth were moved by the command of an almighty God: setting aside the Red Sea so that the people were delivered from impending doom… congealing the Jordan River so that the people could cross over into the Promised Land… causing clouds to form and belch out buckets of rain to end droughts in the land… and so much more….

Like a concerned and compassionate shepherd, protecting the sheep and caring for them, God had led the people out of slavery and into freedom, speaking to Moses, delivering people, moving mountains…. Yet, here I lay, hearing and experiencing bupkis from God. *Sigh*

So, what’s a spiritually sensitive person to do?

I and Thou

In 1937, the Jewish philosopher, Martin Buber wrote an insightful book entitled “I and Thou.” Buber postulated how people exist in the world and how they actualize that existence. We engage the world through both monologue and dialogue. For Buber, “all real living is meeting.” In other words, to exist, to live, is to encounter another and relate to a “Thou.” We only have meaning in relationships. We only have our being in God.

The psalmist acknowledges there is a “Thou” besides his distressed “I” – that this Thou will hear, make a difference, and open a way of deliverance… even if it might not happen right away. There are four actions the psalmist decides to do in his distress, actions which put him in a vital dialogue with the divine “Thou”… even if it seems like nothing is happening.

I Pray

Prayer, at its heart, is a dialogue with God. From the place of our spiritual poverty and bankruptcy, we beg; and God gives us the kingdom. To be a spiritual beggar, pleading for our needs to be met, knowing we have no way to repay, is a posture which God delights in.

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. (Matthew 5:3, MSG)

I Search

In the I and Thou relationship, the search works both ways.

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways….

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:1-2, 23-24, NIV)

I Remember

The psalmist intentionally sought to recall the mighty works of God, especially in delivering the people from slavery and bringing them to the Promised Land. In our forgetfulness, we get lost in our troubles and our perspective becomes skewed. We cannot see beyond the end of our nose. Remembering, however, grants us a fuller picture of what is happening in light of the past. It brings us out of the lonely “I” and into the relationship of “I and Thou.”

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.

Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Hebrews 10:32-36, NIV)

I Meditate

Pondering and thinking upon God’s deeds enables praise to arise from us. It fosters the I and Thou relationship, bolstering and buoying our faith through life-events which produce our distress.

I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
Because you are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 63:6-7, NLT)

Thou Art Worthy

The psalm ends with no resolution to the personal distress of the psalmist. Whether there is a happy ending, or not, isn’t the point. It’s about the process.

The journey of moving through our troubles causes us to learn as much (or more) from God’s absence than of God’s presence. We learn how to pray, search, remember, and meditate because of and despite our troubles. We learn to relate to God and eventually proclaim that Thou art worthy.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11, KJV)

Amen.

The Model Prayer (Matthew 6:7-15)

On September 16, 2023August 15, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (New King James Version)

God knows what we need before we even ask, which means the Creator of the universe has the divine ear inclined to listen to us. The Lord desires, even longs for us to pray to him.

Since this is God’s daily disposition, Jesus communicated for us a model way of prayer which exemplifies the values of Christ’s Beatitudes and reflects the priorities of God’s kingdom.

The Lord’s Prayer is meant to be prayed often, mindfully, and with flavor.

Jesus gave us six petitions to guide us in our prayers: The first three petitions are priorities of God that set the tone for the next three petitions, which are centered in our problems of living in this fallen world.

Addressing God

Jesus gave us instruction of how to address God: “Our Father in heaven.” All the pronouns in the Lord’s Prayer are plural, not singular. We are to be concerned for both our own individual issues, and for the needs of the community, and of the problems of the world.

“Father” is an endearing and relational word. “In heaven” balances the closeness and nearness of our heavenly Father with his sovereign and transcendent nature. Our God is both near and far – a close friend as well as a holy king. So, we address our prayers with a proper understanding of who God is.

First Petition: “Hallowed be your name.”

“Hallow” comes from the root word for holiness; it is to sanctify and set apart. God is concerned that we know the distinction between the Creator is holy, and so, the creatures are also to be holy.

As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16, NKJV)

Notice the use of the verb: not hallowed “is” your name, but hallowed, or holy “be” your name. Jesus guides us to pray that God’s name would be shown as holy through us by the way we live. The world sees a holy God when God’s people walk in holiness, reflecting the Lord’s benevolent nature.

Second Petition: “Your kingdom come.”

We live in a fallen world that has come under the domain of dark forces. The unfolding drama of Holy Scripture is that God is on a mission to restore creation to a benevolent rule.

Jesus is the King, we are the subjects, and God’s realm exists wherever his subjects go. And where his subjects go, they are to pierce the darkness by embodying the good news that King Jesus has overcome the demonic realm and brought us into God’s kingdom. The prayer and proclamation of this good news is of utmost priority to God.

Third Petition: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

God’s ethical will has been revealed to us by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount; the Beatitudes are the cornerstone of his teaching (Matthew 5-7). God’s will is that Christ’s followers be humble; grieve over sin in the world; act with gentleness instead of prideful condescension; hunger for true righteousness instead of legalistic self-righteousness; show mercy; be pure in heart; pursue peace; and, rejoice when persecuted. All of this results in being salt and light in this dark world. (Matthew 5:3-16)

Jesus spells out God’s will in his sermon. Christ’s followers are to:

reconcile with others instead of hold grudges
deal with lust through accountability instead of making excuses for mental adultery
cherish our spouse instead of taking the easy way out when problems arise in marriage
tell the truth at all times instead of shading it
love, not retaliate when personally hurt or insulted.

If God’s will seems an impossible task, that’s because we need divine resources to live a Christian ethic; we need to pray!

The first three petitions are priorities for God. They are asking the same thing – that the full manifestation of God’s reign on earth be realized.

Therefore, our prayers are not primarily to receive goods and services from God, but for us to render service to God. These prioritized petitions are a desire to see God honored on earth as God is already honored in heaven.

Fourth Petition: “Give us today our daily bread.”

Our bodies enable us to do God’s will, and so we must be concerned for them. Daily, we must have the basic necessities of life to carry out God’s priorities for the church and the world.

In the ancient world, people were paid at the end of each day. Folks also shopped every day at the marketplace for their food because there was no refrigeration. Whenever there was a flood or a drought, it meant much more than high grocery prices; people faced starvation and death.

They needed to trust God for today, and not worry about tomorrow. Even though contemporary people may not always readily perceive their great dependence on God, we still are in divine hands and need faith.

Fifth Petition: “Forgive our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Sin is pictured as a debt. If someone has sinned (trespassed) against us, we must forgive them, thus releasing them from their debt. To forgive does not mean to forget. Rather, we do not hold the debt (the sin) over someone’s head for the rest of their life.

The person who is forgiven by God is a forgiving person. Our own forgiveness implies that we have done the hard work of repentance through identifying our sin and renouncing it. So, if we fail to forgive, it demonstrates a lack of change on our part. We cannot be forgiven if we spurn God’s freely offered grace.

Forgiveness is important to Jesus. Thus, we are to squarely face our bitterness. Simply sweeping our hurt under the rug and not extending forgiveness only gives the darkness a foothold into our lives – which is why we are to pray the final petition:

Sixth Petition: “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

Just as we must trust God for our physical necessities, we also must trust God for our spiritual needs – which hinge on the issue of forgiveness – our forgiveness from God through Christ, and the forgiveness we extend to others who have hurt or offended us.

An unforgiving heart is a major temptation to hate, seek revenge, and retaliate. If we have spent days, weeks, months, years, or even decades harboring an unforgiving spirit through anger, bitterness, and avoidance of facing our past trauma, we have embraced the dark side and need deliverance from evil.

Freedom comes through acknowledging the offense, receiving grace and forgiveness from God, and passing that same forgiveness and grace to those who hurt us. This is not about whether they deserve it or not; it’s a matter of what I need to do.

Conclusion

The truth sets us free; telling our secrets brings freedom. Apart from naming our shame, we will remain bound and in need of liberation. Tell your secrets to God in the prayer closet, and then tell them to a trusted friend(s). We pray, and we act on what God tells us in prayer.

The Lord’s Prayer is a model prayer. That means we use the six petitions of Jesus to frame our prayers in our own words, as well as say the words in our favorite translation of the Bible.

Praying this prayer daily shapes our everyday lives, serves as a guide for how to live, and provides discernment in making life’s many decisions. So, let us daily and in every way make use of our Lord’s Prayer.

Our Father in heaven, the One who is both near and far,

May your Name be shown as holy through us, your people.

May others submit to your lordship and become holy, too.

Help us to know your will and to do it.

We need you God, so provide our necessities for today.

Forgive us of our great and many sins, just as we forgive those who have sinned egregiously against us.

Lead us in paths of righteousness, which shoo the devil away.

For you are the Ruler, the Mighty One, forever full of glory and grace. Amen!

Naming and Forsaking Evil (Psalm 83:1-4, 13-18)

On September 4, 2023August 3, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

*Deliver Us From Evil, by John Flaxman (1755-1826)*

God, don’t shut me out;
    don’t give me the silent treatment, O God.
Your enemies are out there whooping it up,
    the God-haters are living it up;
They’re plotting to do your people in,
    conspiring to rob you of your precious ones.
“Let’s wipe this nation from the face of the earth,”
    they say; “scratch Israel’s name off the books.”
And now they’re putting their heads together,
    making plans to get rid of you….

My God! I’ve had it with them!
    Blow them away!
Tumbleweeds in the desert waste,
    charred sticks in the burned-over ground.
Knock the breath right out of them, so they’re gasping
    for breath, gasping, “God.”
Bring them to the end of their rope,
    and leave them there dangling, helpless.
Then they’ll learn your name: “God,”
    the one and only High God on earth. (The Message)

The psalms are the church’s prayer book. Many of the psalms are laments; and many of them are worshipful songs of praise. And there are also the “imprecatory” (pronounced im-PRECK-a-tory) psalms. To “imprecate” means to invoke evil upon someone; it is to pronounce a curse.

The reason for the imprecatory psalm is that it is not any person’s place to engage in revenge or retaliation. Instead, for people who are genuinely caught in the crosshairs of evil and have sinful persons dogging them, prayer is their most effective recourse; an appeal to God is their best chance at survival and hope.

Sometimes you have to tell it like it is. There’s a time to do your best in putting up a good face and dealing with people who never stop gossiping, slandering, and trying to get their way. But there is also a time to call such behavior “evil” and cry out to God for help.

There are a lot of folks who consider imprecatory psalms a problem because of their detailed expressions of imprecation, of cursing. Yet, such psalms refuse to put a positive spin on malevolent motives, wicked words, and destructive actions.

Desperate people utter desperate prayers. Their unflinching sense of injustice will not allow them to sugarcoat the villainous plans of corrupt people.

Evil is never toppled with tepid prayers from wimpy worshipers. Rather, nefarious agendas are thwarted in the teeth of specific, focused, and intense prayers directed with spiritual precision and passion to the very core of diabolical forces.

We need not be shy about being real with God, even with praying imprecatory prayers. There really are people in this world, maybe even in your own life, that have malicious intent against you or others. Our job is not personal revenge, but to entrust ourselves to the God who fights for the poor, the oppressed, and the needy against the arrogant and the powerful. Let your prayers, then, reflect your life.

Along with psalms of praise lifted during times of celebration, so imprecatory psalms are not to be ignored but need to be uttered equally loud as prayers to almighty God in seasons of desperate evil.

If you have a gut feeling deep down that wicked people are running amok, then use this psalm as a prayer against the darkness which seeks to envelop the earth.

Jesus Christ will build his church and the gates of hell shall not overcome it (Matthew 16:18). The picture Jesus portrayed is one of faithful believers equipped with righteousness and justice storming the gates of hell, not shying away from it. Baked within the Lord’s words were the promise that evil atrocities will not have the day – that God’s people will not be destroyed or overwhelmed because of demonic and satanic power.

There is a time to flee and then there is a time to engage. I am suggesting that the chief way of mitigating evil is to punch it in the mouth with imprecatory psalms prayed with righteous flavor and focused directly against the powers of this present darkness. Why pray, out of all the things we could do, in order to deal with the evil of this world?…

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12, NKJV)

Spiritual problems require spiritual implements to solve. And the tool of imprecatory psalms is a major way of pushing back the dark forces of this world, as well as the means of spiritual assertiveness against all forms of heinous acts and acerbic words from depraved people and evil systems.

God’s wrath is an expression of God’s love – because God is not okay with evil taking root in the lives and institutions of humanity. Prayer is our privilege of coming to the God who upholds justice and righteousness. For if God is for us, who can be against us?

Almighty God, hear me in the day of my trouble and send help from your holy sanctuary and strengthen my faith. Do not let me amble down the path of temptation, but deliver me from the evil one.

Holy Spirit, breathe your enablement into me and inspire me with a passion for goodness, truth, justice, and righteousness.

Lord Jesus be present with me in your risen power and protect me from harm and from everything that hinders your healing presence in this world. You overcame the forces of Satan, redeemed the world, then ascended to the Father.

Blessed Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Sprit – the God whom I serve: May you be with me and within me; before me and behind me; on my right and on my left; above me and beneath me; and around me always, for the sake of your glory. Amen.

Healing the Outsiders (Matthew 8:1-13)

On August 23, 2023July 23, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. (New International Version)

On a few occasions, my computer picked up a nasty virus that hijacked every file and function I have. The most frustrating thing about those events is that there was nothing I could do by myself to fix it or make it better.

I had to humble myself and ask a computer geek to get into my system and take care of the problem. It’s a weird feeling to look at my screen and have a stranger work inside my personal computer. But if I failed to get help, my computer was worthless – unless I let someone with authority fix the blasted thing.

Kingdom Values

Jesus is Lord of all. Since Christ has authority over everything, we are to live our lives in submission to his will and way. Only through humble resignation to Christ can we experience the healing and deliverance we seek.

Jesus preached his famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and taught the people as one who had authority. In that Sermon, Jesus laid out the values of God’s kingdom: humility, sorrow over sin, meekness, purity, mercy, and peacemaking. In today’s Gospel lesson, we see the power of those values evidenced and expressed in two stories of healing and deliverance.

The world needs saving, and that’s exactly what Jesus is up to. Christ’s authority is total – coming from his moral authority – as the very embodiment of the Beatitudes he taught. Grace always has the last word, as Jesus healed showing neither favoritism nor discrimination.

Healing a Leper

In the first story, Jesus used his authority to heal and transform a leper. Leprosy was a feared disease in the ancient world. There was no known cure, and lepers were forced to live apart from everyone else. The Old Testament book of Leviticus says that a leper must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out “unclean! unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45-46). Lepers were the ultimate outsiders.

A leper came to Jesus with a humble profession of faith: “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.” It was a clear case of genuine need, and poverty of spirit. Jesus responded by doing the unthinkable: He touched him. In a great and wonderful reversal, Jesus did not become unclean by touching the leper; but instead, the leper was made clean.

Still today, the world needs to be touched. It’s an important way of following Jesus and changing the world. This requires us, God’s people, to get up-close and personal with outsiders and marginalized persons and groups. Christian service requires Christian touch.

Authentic Christian ministry communicates love through contact and identification with others. A thousand years after Christ’s earthly ministry, St. Francis of Assisi met a leper on the road:

“Though the leper caused him no small disgust and horror, he nonetheless, got off the horse and prepared to kiss the leper. But when the leper put out his hand as though to receive something, he received money along with a kiss”
Life of St. Francis, by Thomas of Celano

Francis did what seemed humanly impossible because he was filled with the love and compassion of Christ. The love of Jesus allows us to touch others with compassionate care, especially to those who have been rejected and mistreated.

Healing a Roman Officer’s Servant

*Fresco of* *Jesus healing the Centurion’s servant, Dionysiou Monastery,* *Mount Athos, Greece*

The second story was equally eye-popping and unbelievable to the people in Christ’s day. Jesus used his authority to heal and transform a Gentile – and what’s more – a hated Roman army officer.

We see the values of the Beatitudes expressed in a Roman Centurion who felt unworthy to even have the Lord Jesus come into his house. The Centurion’s profession of faith amazed even Jesus: “Just say the word,” he said in recognition of Christ’s authority, which is big enough to heal without even being present.

Although Centurions were the backbone of the Roman military machine and hated by the Jews, yet Jesus responded to the Centurion’s request, and he also affirmed his faith as greater than any Jew.

Grace answers to need, and not to smug self-confidence.

The Roman Centurion requested healing. Jesus listened and answered. The Centurion did not use his position to order Jesus or demand healing; he came in a spirit of humility and asked with confidence that Jesus could heal his servant if he wanted to. The Centurion threw himself on God’s mercy. So, Jesus upheld the Centurion as a model of faith for us all.

Healing Doesn’t Happen with the Independent

In affirming the Roman officer’s faith, Jesus also gave a solemn warning to the self-righteous: Their lack of humility and genuine faith would land them outside the kingdom. In another great reversal, the insiders will become the outsiders, and the outsiders become the insiders.

Independently proud folk do not experience healing and transformation because they don’t even know they are sin sick. They see no need for an intervention by Jesus because they already have their righteous deeds to boast about. Such persons are more concerned about looking good and saving face, than perceiving their own unworthiness.

The self-righteous and self-sufficient approach to handling problems and difficult situations is to come up with good ideas and clever strategies, relying on sheer personal effort and willpower. Prayer may or may not happen; there is no honest beseeching of God.

Delusional thoughts of personal autonomy only separate us from the grace of God that we so desperately need.

There is a spiritual dimension to every situation and trouble we face – including sickness. If we only examine the medical and biological end of physical problems, we may be dealing with symptoms instead of the root issue that plagues us.

Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you have sinned, you will be forgiven—healed inside and out. Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. (James 5:13-16, MSG)

Conclusion

Jesus healed and transformed outsiders. Followers of Christ, dependent upon God, ask themselves:

Who are the outsiders among us?
Where are the strangers?
How can we get close enough to touch aliens and immigrants?
Will you help us intercede in prayer for foreigners?
When can we search for and pursue those on the periphery of society?

Believe that the risen and ascended Jesus can and will heal, deliver, and transform people of all kinds.

Jesus cannot be domesticated into some figurehead that suits our desires and conforms to our ideas about how things ought to be. Jesus is portrayed in these stories as eager to heal, wanting to show grace to the least and the lowly among society.

So, let us participate in the world’s healing, beginning with the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,
    may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
    as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
    as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
    but rescue us from the evil one. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, NLT)

Rev. Tim Ehrhardt

Tag: prayer