Come to Mind
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2
Insight
When we first started the "Our Father" series, Mike told us that simple prayer serves as the foundation for continual prayer. As I have walked through the exercise of praying the Lord's Prayer daily, something interesting has happened. During conflict or challenging moments, the words have been brought to my mind, serving as a way to reorient my heart back to God. I have by no means been perfect at this, but in my small efforts, God has been abundantly faithful.
A few weeks ago, a work project didn't go as planned, and while I was racing around to figure out all the ways to solve the problem, the words "give us today our daily bread" came to mind. It was an opportunity to stop trying to fix everything myself and open my hands for God to provide exactly what was needed for His will to be done. In all honesty, that meant things didn't work out how I planned, but as I watched His provision unfold, He had an even more beautiful plan than I did.
One night my kids were wound up and all over the place while I was trying to get them into bed, and the words "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" came to mind. And suddenly, seeing all the times I fall short and need God's grace allowed me to refocus and see the joy the kids were experiencing together versus rushing them to bed so that I could get to the next thing I wanted to do.
When my husband and I were frustrated with one another, the words "your kingdom come, your will be done" came to mind. The drive to win the argument and make sure he heard my voice took a back seat to finding unity in what God was directing us towards.
When I feel like I have too much to do or can't handle anything else, the words "Our Father who is in Heaven, holy is your name" have brought me comfort. They have helped to take the focus off me and how I feel and reminded me that I serve a Holy God who is above all and in all. I don't have to know all the answers or accomplish everything; I simply have to keep my eyes on Him.
Again, I haven't been perfect at remembering to recite the prayer every day. Still, as I have leaned into devoting myself to prayer, God has worked in some cool ways that I would not have seen or experienced had I been unwilling to step into the discipline of simple prayer.
Reflection
How have you seen praying the Lord's Prayer affect your everyday life?
If you have not prayed the Lord's Prayer, what has been holding you up?
Prayer
God, thank you for who You are. Thank you for loving me deeply, freely extending grace, and desiring to be in a relationship with me. I pray that I would continue to seek You above the things of this world, and I pray for eyes to see the millions of ways you are working every day. Thank You for being faithful even when I fall short, Lord. Amen.
Katie Robinson, Children's Ministry Home Coordinator, wrote today's devotional.