The Christ Quarter

Gratitude and Reflection Through the Power of Prayer

• Kirk Royster • Season 5 • Episode 3

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Have you ever considered the true depth of the Lord's Prayer and what it means to call God our perfect Heavenly Father? This episode takes you on a spiritual exploration of these central Christian tenets, guiding you through an intimate understanding of our role in manifesting God's will on earth, akin to joining the “family business”.

I delve into the layers of “daily bread”, urging you to look beyond mere physical sustenance and embrace the full spectrum of spiritual and practical nourishment essential for a life anchored in the teachings of Christ.

Together, we'll uncover the profound impact of viewing every aspect of our existence, from our careers to our talents, as a testament to God's providence and our duty to mirror His love and grace in the world.

As your guide, I extend a heartfelt invitation to this spiritual podcast experience, where the power of scripture and prayer unite us in our communal journey of faith. This episode is an opportunity for us to strengthen our collective resolve and find solace in our shared devotion. Ending with a recitation of the Lord's Prayer, we seek not just to nurture our individual spirits but to fortify the bonds that hold us together in faith.
Join me for a time of gratitude, reflection, and connection, as we reinforce our beliefs and celebrate the teachings of Christ that guide our shared path.
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Matthew 6:9-14

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
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Exodus 20:7

7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
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Matthew 18:3

3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

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Speaker 1:

Let us pray, lord. Thank you for this day. Thank you for the freedom and the ability to discuss your word and enjoy your presence. Help us to understand your word and your will for our lives more fully. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen.

Speaker 1:

The verses for today are so special. They hit us right where we live. Our Father is alive. Our Father is active in our lives every day and we have here Christ's words and advice on how to experience Him and how to live. Our Father is amazing and our Father is wonderful. Let's go right into it.

Speaker 1:

Matthew, chapter 6, verse 9, reads After this manner therefore, pray ye, our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. I like this verse because it points out that God is our Father. I am blessed to have had a wonderful earthly father, so this rings true with me, but not everyone is so fortunate.

Speaker 1:

For those who have not had a wonderful father, or even a present father, thinking of God as their heavenly father may bring up negative emotions. Try not to allow this to affect you. Even the best of our earthly fathers are human and have failings. Our father in heaven is perfect and is an amazing, wonderful father. He will never leave you. He will never forsake youake you. He loves you. He wants to hear from you and spend time with you. This can be hard for some of us to understand. How can a holy God want to spend time with me in all of my sin? After all, god is perfect and holy. When we say hallowed be thy name, we are acknowledging that God is holy and that we will treat God and his name as holy. We will honor the commandment from Exodus, chapter 20, verse 7, which reads Thou shall not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain. God is holy and God is perfect. Even so, he wants to spend time with us, as a loving father wants to spend time with his children. Jesus told us in Matthew, chapter 18, verse 3, that we have to become as little children to enter into heaven. Little children don't truly know or understand what their parents do to provide for them and take care of them. They simply trust their parents and depend on them. Little children don't care about their parents' position, their parents' power or their parents' lack of power. They crave their parents' attention. They crave their parents' closeness and their parents' love.

Speaker 1:

I sometimes think of prayer as sitting on my Heavenly Father's lap, looking into His loving and accepting eyes or leaning on His chest, sometimes talking and sometimes just feeling His closeness. This is a wonderful feeling. There's an amazing sense of relief, a sense of joy, acceptance, protection and other emotions and feelings acceptance, protection and other emotions and feelings. As our father, god, wants this from us and as his children, we crave it from him.

Speaker 1:

The next part of the prayer, verse 10, says thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. This is asking that god's will be done in earth as it is in heaven. This is asking that God's will be done everywhere. This is acknowledging that, as children, we want to make sure that our father's plans are realized. Not only that, but we want to work to make sure that they are.

Speaker 1:

I think of this as being a part of the family business. The best thing for me, for my family, for my friends and for everyone is that my Father's will be done. Not only am I acknowledging this, but I'm saying that I will do my part and my job in the family business. This also means that we're asking our Father to show us what we need to do to further His will and to show us how to do it will, and to show us how to do it. What is his plan for my life so that I can glorify him through my own individual efforts? The time we spend with him in prayer is wonderful in and of itself, but it should also bear fruit in our daily lives. We talk to God, but we should also listen for his word throughout the day and follow his plan for our lives day to day. You never know when someone needs to hear from one of God's children or see one of God's children. When an opportunity arises and I'm able to encourage someone in Christ or just talk to someone about him, I rejoice in that because I know that soon I'll go to my father in prayer and say look what I did for you today.

Speaker 1:

Verses 11 and 12 work together and I believe they refer back to verse 10. Verses 11 and 12 read Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. In this we are asking our Father to continue to provide our life, our literal life and the things of our life. We are acknowledging our dependence on Him for everything we have and everything that we are. We are alive and we thank him for that, but just being alive is not enough. We are not made to just survive, to just exist, to be happy. We need to be productive To be happy and fulfilled. We need to be productive in what God has planned for us, for our individual lives. When we do this, god will provide our daily bread. Bread does not simply refer to food, but to all the things of life that we need.

Speaker 1:

Pastor Jackson of Mount Zion United Holiness Church of Oxford, north Carolina, often says don't confuse the one who handed it to you with the one who gave it to you. When we work, we thank God for the job that we have and the results of it, but remember that God gave you that job. God provided the talents and abilities that you have. God put you in the right place at the right time, to be hired onto your job or to create your own job. Remember that your duties on the job are not only what the job requires, but also what God requires. Being in the family business is a full-time position.

Speaker 1:

As a child of God, know that people are looking at you and looking at your example. They don't know God, but they know you. They don't see God, but they see you. For good or bad, you are showing them what a Christian is. You are their example of what a Christian is. We never know exactly why God has us somewhere, and when our job is done there and God moves us somewhere else, we may never know what was accomplished what was accomplished, but be secure, happy and peaceful in the knowledge that our Father is working it out for us and to His glory. This is not to say that we need to be perfect we can't but we are to do our best not to sin In this part of the prayer. Debts refer to sin.

Speaker 1:

When someone offends you, wrongs you or otherwise harms you, forgive them as soon as you can. In this way, we are not asking our Father to extend to us what we are unwilling to extend to others. Forgiving others removes the weight of unforgiveness from us and frees our hearts and our minds from that preoccupation, allowing us to better focus on thoughts and meditation. In my case, I had unforgiveness in my heart towards someone who had intentionally wronged me many years prior. I often thought of that pain and embarrassment when I saw that person. It took many years of prayer and effort, but I finally forgave that person. I actually got to the point that when I saw them, the actions they had taken against me did not enter into my thoughts at all. The good part of this is that I believe forgiving this person opened me up to more of God's goodness, that I believe forgiving this person opened me up to more of God's goodness. I say this because at one point I was struggling to understand something I had experienced and had been praying to God for understanding. My answer came in the form of a scripture quoted by the person I had recently forgiven. The person wasn't even speaking to me. I believe that God answered my prayer through that person and I was so blessed by that and still, even now, thinking about it. I'm blessed by it again and I'm reminded of how forgiveness and the release of that weight is so good for us. It opens us up to hear more of what God wants to say to us, what God has for us. The final request here, verse 13, which says and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, acknowledges that we will be tempted.

Speaker 1:

We live in a world full of temptations and opportunities to sin. We all sin. We should try not to, but we do. That's not to say that we have to. Sometimes we see sin coming, but since we like it. We don't avoid it. We all have different sin preferences. Some prefer sins that come through our eyes, some prefer sins that hurt others Gossip, for example and some prefer sins that hurt others gossip, for example and some prefer sins that profit them financially. We don't want to avoid these sins, so they stick to us. We don't want to avoid those sins, even though we know we should, so they become sticky for us. They stick around. These sins rob us of our joy. They rob us of our peace, they make Bible study unfruitful, among many other things. Sin is a cancer in our lives.

Speaker 1:

Knowing that we are going to sin, make an effort to think about how you react to sin. How do you feel about it? When you sin and you reflect on it, do you feel guilty? Do you ask God for forgiveness immediately when you reflect on the sin? Do you feel that, that chastisement from God? If you do, that's great. I mean, if you feel that chastisement, that guiltiness, pray to our Father immediately, ask Him for help.

Speaker 1:

Fathers chastise their children. Fathers care about their children. They chastise their children. They want us to do right. When they see us doing wrong, they say something to us. They chastise us. This is what God does for us see us doing wrong, they say something to us, they chastise us. This is what God does for us. If we continue to sin and not listen to God's voice, over time we stop hearing the voice, we stop feeling guilty and we stop feeling bad and we go further and further into the sin. As soon as you sin, ask for forgiveness, talk to God. If you don't feel guilty, you're too far from home. Talk to God and come back home right away.

Speaker 1:

The final statement here For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. This final statement further emphasizes what Jesus is trying to get across to us. We must forgive. Forgiveness is often hard, but we must seek our father's help in forgiving others. We must especially seek our father's help in forgiving ourselves. Forgiveness is the best option for us because again, it frees our hearts from the weight of unforgiveness, but it is also something that we must do as a part of the family business.

Speaker 1:

An unforgiving Christian is a bad example and will push people away from God. I can't tell you the number of people who have asked me about God, and all of their complaints about God have nothing to do with God, but rather with a church member who had wronged them in the past. So many people with whom I've spoken who are looking for Christ have hesitations regarding Christ because of the actions of a Christian in their life. The person who hurt them or who showed them a bad example may have really been a true Christian. We all fall short and we may hurt or hinder others because of it. Be that good Christian example. Be the light of Christ in your circle. Being a Christian is a wonderful privilege. Let others see that in your life.

Speaker 1:

That concludes our scripture discussion for today. Thank you for spending time with me. Please come back to the Christ Quarter for another 15 minutes of talking about, learning about and enjoying Christ. Let us pray 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 forever. Amen. I'm Kirk Royster. It has been a privilege to talk with you today. I'll see you next time right here on WCBQ 1340 AM radio, weekday mornings at 11 30.