- araratchurch
- Jun 19, 2025
- 2 min read
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV
Most of us have heard the phrase, “borrowing trouble.” Even more than just having heard that phrase, we tend to identify with often living that way.
Yes, the tendency to try to manage all contingencies is ubiquitous. Ironically, when obsessed with operating in this way, we often plan for something that never happens. Yet at the same time, are caught off guard by something we did not see coming.
Jesus, after pointing out how the Lord looks after all creatures and all creation, reminds that if that’s the case for the “lower” part of creation, how much more is it true that God will take care of His children? He sums up His point with this:
““So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers,”but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Matthew 6:31-34 NLT
Notice, Jesus basically says that worry is for unbelievers, not for those who do believe. Believe what? Those who believe that God, as our heavenly Father, knows what we will face, what we will need, and will take care of us.
Now, none of this means that we don’t plan. But it does mean that we shouldn’t borrow trouble and spend our energy worrying about things over which we have no control, or things fear is speaking to us.
Today we consider just two words in the Lord’s prayer: “this day.” The Lord wants us to trust Him for today and for what’s coming ahead. He is not limited by time. He knows the end from the beginning. So, let’s not allow tomorrow’s possible trouble to steal our peace in this day.
Indeed, the Lord knows what’s coming. If we are listening to His Spirit and living for Him, He won’t let us be caught off guard or be unprepared for tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 18, 2025
- 3 min read
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV
As we started out considering the Lord‘s Prayer, we made note of the fact that in the scripture immediately proceeding the Lord‘s Prayer, Jesus, having referenced the repetitive prayers of the heathen, tells His disciples this:
“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
Matthew 6:8 NKJV
Jesus was certainly not saying that we should not ask. Rather, He wants us to know that the Lord hears us. Indeed, He already knew what we needed before we asked. Therefore, we can ask with confidence that He hears and will answer.
Jesus instructed as to what our attitude should be when asking from our Father, as well as what we need to bear in mind when asking of Him.
““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
Matthew 7:7-11 NKJV
Again, we must ask in expectancy and confidence, knowing that we have a good Father Who WANTS to give us GOOD things.
Now, we must also know that the Lord answers according to His will for us.
“You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
James 4:2-3 NKJV
Yes, we must ask to receive. However the Lord is not to be treated as a “pleasure dispenser.” If we are always asking Him for “candy,” we can’t expect that He—as a good Father—will be giving us things He knows will not be for our good.
Given, sometimes we may not know what God‘s will is in a particular situation. We may struggle with what to ask according to His will, or in line with His purposes for us. But thank God—through Jesus Christ—we now have access to His Holy Spirit Who prays within us with words we often may not even understand. Even so, we can be sure that that prayer is in line with God‘s will. And as such, we can expect that the Lord will answer.
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27 NKJV
For today’s examination of the Lord’s Prayer we pause at just those two words: “Give us . . . .”
Child of God, the Lord wants us to ask, and when we learn to ask according to His will and purpose, we can be sure that what we ask, we will receive.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 16, 2025
- 3 min read
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV
King Nebuchadnezzar found out the hard way that although he was a very powerful king, God still rules over all people, even over powerful kings.
“They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”
Daniel 4:25 NKJV
The psalmist declares that God’s rule is above all other rules and rulers.
“The Lord has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.”
Psalms 103:19 NKJV
Jesus told His disciples that all power had been given to Him in heaven and on earth.
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Matthew 28:18 NKJV
Yet, as well, throughout the Bible a future rule of God on earth is foretold.
Isaiah speaks of God’s rule on earth as bringing peace and the end of strife.
““The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.”
Isaiah 11:6-9 NKJV
Paul speaks of the coming end to all other kings and kingdoms,
“Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”
I Corinthians 15:24-26 NKJV
John the Revelator speaks of the coming eternal Kingdom of Christ.
“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Revelation 19:11-16 NKJV
So how is it that God rules over all now, and yet there is a coming Kingdom where, as we are told, all other rulers will be cast down?
Well, in the Kingdom that is coming, the rule of God will be established on earth. It will be a Kingdom where all will be able to see our King and interact with Him in a tangible way.
Indeed, the Lord’s rule will be on earth as it is in heaven. All will be subject to Him. All evil will be cast out. There will be no more wars over who will rule.
In today’s portion of the Lord’s Prayer we see that we are to pray for the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Oh, what a day that will be when our King rules and reigns among us. And child of God, those who are His at His coming will rule and reign with Him! Now that’s something to shout about!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!