Tag: prayer

Almighty Father

“Almighty Father, Son and Holy Ghost, eternal and ever blessed gracious God; to me the least of saints, to me allow that I should keep a door in paradise.   That I may keep the smallest door, the furthermost, the darkest, coldest door, the door which is the least used, the stiffest door.  If it so be but in thine house, O God, if so be that I can see thy glory even afar, and hear thy voice, O God, and know that I am with thee, thee O God.”

A Prayer of St. Columba, 521-597 AD

 

Bryan’s Note

We must travel some distance, before something like this will cling to our hearts.  Columba’s journey to the presence of Jesus most certainly gave him a perspective that enabled him to pray with this intensity and this humility.  We cannot dissuade ourselves of his effort and his overwhelming desire to be near Him.  We can only watch, and mark the zeal which took his heart and soul into the burning presence of His presence.  Columba becomes a guide of what is possible and what is to be sought.  We must become (if we are in pursuit) a people radically changed by the reality of His presence.

 

 

The Varieties of Life: A Prayer for Direction

The Varieties of Life

 

“Guide me, O Lord, in all the changes and varieties of the world, that in all things that shall happen, I may have an evenness and tranquility of spirit, that my soul may be wholly resigned to your divine will and pleasure, never murmuring at your gentle chastisements and fatherly correction.  Amen.”  —

Jeremy Taylor

“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
the God of Israel is our fortress.”
Interlude

Psalm 46:10-11

Thy Kingdom Come

“Come and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven.” Matthew 6:10, CEV

 

The Lord’s Prayer is like a skyscraper that has an inner skeleton of steel, very solid and very strong.  Jesus wants to teach His disciples to pray–to pray intelligently.  He is eager for them to learn what He knows.  This prayer cuts through the grime of religious gobble-de-gook, and is intended to make disciples out of believers with its assertions of what is real.

There is a need for people to pray–really pray.  Jesus shares what is of ultimate importance; the need of people to bring down heaven to earth.  Heaven on earth!  Think of it.  The spiritual climate of heaven, brought to earth for men to enjoy.  It’s like when it’s 100 F. and you come into an air-conditioned building.  What a relief! This phrase of the Lord’s Prayer indicates our license to pray for outrageous things to happen in the culture we are steeped in.

So far, we have seen little that would lead us to believe that praying like this would affect our world.  But that would diminish and even trivialize Jesus and His teaching.  The problem must lie with us then, and we are the reason that it hasn’t happened.

Praying for obedience, praying for the will of God to come and take over.  Our Churches are not merely a spot for A.A. to have their meetings, or the Food Pantry on Mondays, or a Men’s Breakfast on Saturdays.  We are the place of God’s presence, the territory and throne of the omniscient and omnipotent One. 

So let us pray this prayer.  Let us invite heaven to earth.  Let us look for the obedience that is being perfectly done in heaven, to come to this planet as well.  It says in Isaiah– “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.”  Its an astonishing concept of an ever-expanding kingdom, always pushing its boundaries, never defeated.  Can we keep up?