Theme for week: Prayer Teaches Us About God
November 9, 2021 Tuesday)
The Model Prayer given to us by Jesus (Matthew 6:8-11 KJV): “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.”
The Model Prayer teaches us lessons about God: We are relatives of God (He is our Father). We are reverent before God (His name is holy). We are relevant to God’s will (Thy will be done). We are recipients of God’s gifts (Give us..bread). We are redeemed by God’s love (Forgive us our debts).
When we pray, we should keep in mind Isaiah’s vision of God in Isaiah 6. The holiness of God was uppermost in Isaiah’s mind as he was moved to think of God’s reaction to King Uzziah’s fatal mistake of putting himself in the place of God. As we learned in yesterday’s blog, God is our Heavenly Father, but He is also Holy and this is something we must always remember as we seek audience with Him in prayer. Perhaps we should relive Isaiah’s experience:
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:1-7 KJV).
Isaiah was in awe of God’s holiness. He had an overwhelming feeling of reverence and admiration, as well as fear, produced by the manifestations of God’s holiness in his vision.
Jesus’ designation of God as “Father” does not negate the holiness of God. Perhaps “fear” is natural when one begins to understand the holiness of God. We should remember that when Moses came down from the mountain after being with God, he had to wear a veil because God’s glory was in his face. God is holy. We dare not take the privilege of prayer for granted. It is only because God is our Heavenly Father that we dare approach him in prayer.
HOLY, HOLY HOLY
Author: Reginald Heber
Tune: NICAEA (Dykes)
1826
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!