Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
How to start to pray. S31e76 Mt6:9
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
How might I start to pray? Fortunately, Jesus Himself gives us a roadmap to follow to the Father. Get ready for the best teaching on prayer in the whole Bible.
The good Lord invites us into communication with Himself. He reminds us who He is. He has both the familiarity of family, and the holiness of heaven.
We come to Him in our prayer closets, but we are not alone there. The whole world is also speaking the same prayers to the same God. Welcome to the Lord's Prayer.
Start like this: Our Father
https://youtu.be/JafA8VGj-TQ
How to start to pray. S31e76 Mt6:9
Get ready for the best teaching on prayer in the Bible. Up to speed:
Don’t pray to be seen by anyone who isn’t God
This is not an exercise in religious showmanship
Don’t look for your reward praying on this planet
Know that you are seen and heard by God
Know that more words does not = more hearing by God
Much speaking in prayer does not necessarily = much prayer
Mindlessness in prayer is not encouraged
Repeatitive roteness is not encouraged
He wants the real you, not heaps of empty phrases
Know that the Father knows what you need BEFORE you ask Him
He sees in secret and hears in secret and knows us
He knows our needs and our needfulness, so cant do wrong
When you pray, Pray then like this
This is a model rather than a mantra
Bears some exploration of why the model is so helpful
Lord’s prayer/ our Father:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Our Father. OUR Father.
We now either leave the prayer closet to join the voices of other believerstogether in collectively saying OUR Father.
We stand alone before God in the sense that He sees me personally and knows me personally, and knows what I need individually. He judges me uniquely and fairly. So
Though we ultimately stand alone before God
We do not do so in isolation. We are not the only ones responding to God in prayer. We come from an earthly family, an earthly tribe and hopefully a community of believers. All of these have needs. All of these need to stand before God.
So then, we singularly invoke the authority and the asks not only for ourselves, but for other humans too: OUR Father, Our daily bread, Our debts, Deliver US from evil
Our Father: warmth intimacy
We are invited here to be close to God and address Him closely
We call to the One who we are like in some ways.
Not heresy to say we are His children.
He’s created us in His image
We bear the marks of His creation and often
We can bear the marks of His character
Ie: we can be creative, we can be faithful, Kind, just
But before we get too chummy in our cozy family relationship
Our Father IN HEAVEN
Reverence, holiness, perfection, authority
He is not like us in many senses. He is holy and just and set apart. The only reason we can approach is that we have an invitation : Pray like this. When you pray
He is SOVEREIGN, supreme, and ascendent
In fact, he is so ascendent that at the moment of our death, we could not even find the address of heaven much less be allowed to enter into the zip code without the saving work of God
He is set apart and holy and is due the highest honor we can give.
Remember this is the worship the Lord is due and the worship that Satan cannot bear to be without.
Conclusions
For us the question is will we adore the Lord in worship as He is due or divert to false gods, or worse, our self worship’
Will we yield first to the concept of prayer…when you pray…
Do you pray?
Do you see the Lord would indeed have you pray. He desires it, do you?
There is something in it for a right relationship with God, for aligning and satisfying His purposes: His name (reputation), His will (purposes) and His kingdom (rule)
Would you be willing to, for starters, seek after His reputation, His purposes and His rule?
If so, then start like this OUR FATHER. Like a child. Like family. With the respect of a Father, but a Father who IS IN HEAVEN.
Here says Jesus, is a great way to start: OUR FATHER.
As we close this video here is your assignment: Go into your room, or the room in your head. Close the door of your room, or the room in your head. Address God as He has taught: OUR FATHER.
This then is a great way to pray. This then is a great way to START to pray.