Heavenly Hamburger
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. When one can envision something, he can remember it. So hold on, the title of this devotional is not to elevate this American delicacy to divine status, but rather to create an image of a divine truth so as to easily remember it.
The prayer that Jesus taught His disciples was more of an outline of how to pray, than a prayer to be recited verbatim. It is broken down into subjects and each subject can be personalized and developed by the one praying.
<– Praise
<– Provision
<– Pardon
<– Protection
<– Praise
As a hamburger as two pieces of bread, (on the top and on the bottom), the Lord taught us to begin and end each prayer with praise. We are to address our God as Father and exalt His name. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Our praise continues as we declare His kingdom and His will to be expressed on earth, (in our lives), as it is experienced in heaven. “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The bottom piece of bread closes the prayer acknowledging His greatness and dominion over all, “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever, Amen.” God has revealed Himself in so many ways, using different names and each time expressing another aspect of His character. Our praise can be full of thanksgiving and awe as we give ourselves wholly to His will.
The inner part of this heavenly sandwich is divided into three requests. The first has to do with provision for our daily needs. “Give us this day our daily bread.” As the manna was to be gathered daily, so our dependence on the God is to be daily. Daily, we receive our spiritual food, through meditating on the Word of God, and daily He provides for every other need we may have. The second request is for forgiveness. “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Our sin nature makes it necessary that we receive forgiveness. His blood has made provision for this and because we have been forgiven we can forgive others. Take time to do this each time you pray. The third ingredient is that of protection. We have an enemy who tries to kill, rob and destroy. If it wasn’t for the grace and protection of the Lord, we would easily fall into his snares. Let the Lord lead you away from all temptation. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
This is not “fast food”. Take your time. Chew carefully each subject matter. Make it personal and meaningful as you go to your heavenly Father in prayer.
Scriptures to meditate on:
Matthew 6:9-14; John 10:10; James 4:5-10; I Peter 5:6-9