TODAY IN THE WORD

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hebrews 2:10-3:1
I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. - John 20:17
TODAY IN THE WORD
When the French people overthrew the monarchy in 1789, they abolished all titles of nobility. There were no more dukes and duchesses, barons and baronesses. “Citizen,” as each person was to be called, leveled the playing field. In theory, each person was to be considered equal to his neighbor.

Our key verse announces a new equity in terms of how we relate to God. The resurrected Christ makes an incredible pronouncement. His Father is our Father, His God our God. All the privileges and rights of participation in God's family are made available to us. His words call us to a life of confident prayer.

As explained in the book of Hebrews, this life of intimacy with God is only available because of Jesus Christ. We are not naturally born into God's family as a result of being created by Him. We are adopted into God's family only by our personal faith in God's Son, Jesus Christ (cf. John 1:12).

That Jesus Christ is our brother, that He has made atonement for our sin, and that He is at the right hand of God the Father in heaven means everything for our prayers. It's entirely on the basis of what Jesus has done and who He is that we can come to God confidently in prayer. Upon Jesus' death and resurrection, the door of the throne room was flung open, and now we decide to wait at the threshold or enter in.

Despite this, our experiences as depraved people argue that we're not worthy of such an invitation. Through Christ's death, we've been released from the captivity of fear, but we still struggle with the real record of our human failings and weaknesses.

The tremendous news is that Jesus Christ, the God-Man, has understood our humanity. Our weaknesses and fears should be our very reason for praying! Jesus' humanity guarantees the sympathies of God on our behalf (Heb. 2:18).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
It's in our moment of need that we should pray with the most, rather than the least, confidence. Even when our needs result from mistakes we've made and sins we've committed, that must not prevent us from praying. We have the secure confidence that God understands what it means to be human, and He guarantees the grace and mercy we need. In the words of Psalm 103:14, “He knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Luke 4:14-30
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. - Matthew 4:17
TODAY IN THE WORD
In her book, Getting Involved with God, Ellen Davis recounts the story of a friend diagnosed with a brain tumor. They prayed fervently for her healing—and God answered. Only the healing was not for the brain tumor; her friend died fifteen months after her diagnosis. But she was healed from her crippling anxiety and sadness that had characterized most of her life. Sometimes God's answers appear different from the questions we have asked.

Our reading for today examines what happens when God doesn't seem to live up to the expectations we've set for Him. The Jews of Jesus' day had clearly defined hopes for the Messiah, and so long as Jesus fulfilled these, they embraced Him and His message. As Jesus began to preach and teach and heal all throughout the region of Galilee, their adulation swelled. Their hopes of deliverance and redemption were embodied in this master teacher and miracle worker (v. 15).

Imagine their shock and disdain for His provocative words at the end of today's reading. They had cast the hopes of the Jewish nation on Him, but He seemed to be implying that the Gentiles, not the Jews, would enjoy God's favor. What had been worship turned into murderous rage. The expectations were shattered, and they determined to destroy the man responsible.

We know from other passages of Scripture that Jesus wasn't denying that He had indeed come for the people of Israel (Luke 13:34). But it was also true that the misshapen expectations the Jews held of the Messiah and His kingdom would prevent many of them from embracing them. The Jews wanted a king. They wanted a winning team. They didn't expect a crucified Jewish Messiah and a call to repentance. So, they rejected Jesus.

We can be just as dense when it comes to understanding God's kingdom. We each have our own pet expectations of Christ and what He should do for us. Because the concept of “kingdom” shapes what we pray for and how we expect God to answer, understanding it biblically is fundamental to our prayer lives.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The Lord's Prayer calls us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” That means that our first priority in terms of what we want and seek through prayer is the accomplishment of God's purposes. But do we really understand what God's kingdom would look like? Look back to verses 18 and 19 of today's reading. Write down some specific things, based on these verses, that would be evidence of God's kingdom being present.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 5:1-12
Jesus said, “ My kingdom is not of this world. ” - John 18:36
TODAY IN THE WORD
Bob and Tina Muzikowski founded Chicago Hope Academy in Chicago's Near West Side. For their children, attending the neighborhood high school, where freshmen girls were reportedly raped in the school bathroom as an “orientation,” was not an option. In this environment of violence they decided to start a school with the middle name of Hope.

Hope makes sense when you're hurting. Hope feels best when you're wounded. Hope is born out of suffering. The kingdom of heaven, as we see in the Beatitudes, is all about hope.

God's kingdom appeals most to those hungry for hope. Some interpreters have argued that here Jesus commands all of His followers to become poor, to mourn, and to be persecuted. But Jesus isn't emphasizing that poor people are somehow morally superior. The phrase “poor in spirit” exhorts all of us, whether wealthy or poverty-stricken, to recognize that we cannot find or enter the kingdom of God on our own merits. Apart from God's work and His resources, we are spiritually bankrupt. Those who recognize this, and depend on God, will be in a position to inherit eternal life.

In the kingdom of God, we aren't guaranteed a pain-free life. For all the blessings promised to believers in this passage, many are reserved for the future. Praying “Your kingdom come, your will be done,” means embracing a willingness to accept the “nows” as well as the “not yets” of the Christian life. Now there is much to enjoy of God and His presence in our lives. Now it is possible, through the Spirit of Jesus Christ indwelling His people, to be part of God's work here on earth. God is calling us to seek His justice and righteousness for today.

But not yet will all that is wrong be made right. Not yet can we fully enjoy God and fully enjoy His rule in our lives and in the world. Our prayers work within this tension: we seek all the good that God is willing to bring now, and we keep hope for what is yet to come.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Some have distorted the claims of Jesus Christ, promising that believers will enjoy vast material blessings today as well as spiritual blessings forever. God isn't promising to deliver us from all that is difficult or uncomfortable or confusing about this life. In fact, those disappointments and wounds—those results of living in a fallen world—inspire us to long for the new heavens and earth when God's kingdom will be fully revealed. With the apostle John in the final words of Revelation, we cry out “Come, Lord Jesus.”

[Soldier4Christ]

The Lord's Pattern Prayer
If someone asked you to rate the quality of your prayer life, what would you tell him? Few of us would be lucky enough to score a 7 or an 8 . . . let alone a perfect 10.

Even the disciples, who spent extensive time with Jesus, felt inadequately trained and uncomfortable when it came to prayer. They said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Prayer is not something we're supposed to instinctively know how to do once we become a follower of Jesus Christ. Rather, prayer is a valuable skill learned through biblical instruction and daily exercise.

A child can grasp the concept of prayer, and yet an entire month's study on prayer in Today in the Word only begins to tackle the topic. As we learn about the theology of prayer and the Bible's instructions for praying, remember that this seemingly complex spiritual discipline can always be simplified in one word: communication. Prayer is a conversation with God where you still your mind, quiet your heart, and speak honestly with Him.

May February be a month of practicing constant communication with the Lord. Let's model the disciples, saying each day, “Lord, teach me to pray.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Keeping Faith:

The Theology of Prayer

J. C. Ryle called prayer “the simplest act of religion.” As he observes: “The weakest infant can cry when he is hungry. The poorest beggar can hold out his hand for alms, and does not wait to find words. The most ignorant man will find something to say to God, if he has only a mind.”

The practice of prayer is grounded in two foundational attributes of God. Prayer is rooted in God's omniscience and His omnipotence. Divine omniscience enables us to be confident that God will hear us when we pray. God's attribute of omnipotence assures us that we are not asking in vain. The God who hears us is also able to act on our behalf. “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear” (Isa. 59:1).

These two essential attributes of God's sovereign nature distinguish the Christian theology of prayer from its pagan counterpart. Jesus characterized the pagan approach to prayer as “babbling”: “they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Matt. 6:7). Those who pray like the pagans reduce prayer to an incantation and believe that they can control God with their words. This form of superstition treats the words of a prayer as if they were a magic spell. In contrast, a truly Christian theology of prayer is shaped by the knowledge that God is a personal being. He is not an impersonal “power” that can be manipulated by the hand of those who recite the correct formula.

Some may wonder, if God already knows everything, and if He can do anything, why pray at all? Doesn't prayer turn the believer into a spiritual “middle-man?” The answer is that prayer is a relational practice that hinges on the Fatherhood of God. This is why Jesus' model prayer invites us to address God as “our Father in heaven” (Matt. 6:9). Jesus reminds us that the God who is our Father knows what we need even before we ask (Matt. 6:8 ). The purpose of prayer is not just to get an answer from God but to know Him as our heavenly Father. The pagan approach to prayer talks at God. Christian prayer talks with God. It is a conversation with a God who loves us and cares for us deeply (Matt. 6:25-34).

[Soldier4Christ]

Our Father Who Art in Heaven

As a parent, I sometimes disappoint my children. On more than one occasion, they have asked Cindy and me for something that they have their hearts set on—like having a television in their rooms.

Now I realize that I would be the most popular dad on the planet if I ignored my parental concerns and agreed. I can imagine the scene: “Yes,” I would say, as my children's faces lit up. “You can have a television in your room. Maybe even a plasma screen with satellite access!” Imagine the looks of shock and joy on their faces. But, as you may have guessed, that is not how my story goes. Cindy and I give them an answer that disappoints. Why? We want the best for them.

So it is when we pray to our heavenly Father. We often come to Him with prayers for which we think we already know the perfect answers. Perhaps this human tendency is the reason why Jesus provided us with an example of prayer. The best-known prayer in Christianity is referred to as the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). Actually, it would be better titled, the Disciples' Prayer.

As you study the context of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew, you see that it is placed in the middle of what we often call the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has described the values of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:1-12), and has given practical instructions about the way that His followers should treat friends, family, and enemies (Matt. 5:13-48). Many miss the connection (Matt. 6:1, 33b) to the phrase practicing righteousness. Jesus draws out three examples of this practicing righteousness which include giving, praying, and fasting. In each of these examples, Jesus compares the way they are done and the way we should do them. In regards to praying, Jesus contrasts the meaningless repetition and how they think they will be heard by their many words. Rather, Jesus teaches, Pray, then, in this way.

In Luke, the Lord's Prayer is an answer to the disciples' request (Luke 11:1): Lord, teach us to pray. Fascinatingly, this is the only thing the disciples ever asked Jesus to “teach” them to do. At least it reveals that even the disciples struggled with prayer! In both accounts, our Lord knew that His followers needed to have their views on prayer shaped into a practice that pleased God. What a grace of God that Jesus Himself is teaching us how to pray!

Andrew Murray notes that the Lord's Prayer reverses the order of the way we naturally pray. He writes, “While we ordinarily first bring our own needs to God in prayer, and then think of what belongs to God and His interests, the Master reverses the order. First Thy name, Thy kingdom, Thy will; then, give us, forgive us, lead us, deliver us. The lesson is of more importance than we think. In true worship the Father must be first.”

As we study the Lord's Prayer this month, may it align our hearts according to His righteousness. May we learn the value of God first, then our needs second—always trusting that He knows what is right.

President Moody Bible Institute

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 26:36-46
If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will but as you will. - Matthew 26:39
TODAY IN THE WORD
As we began to see yesterday, how do we pray rightly in a world of both “nows” and “not yets?” What can be our confidence in asking God anything?

Some suggest simplistically a “your will be done” formula. But this isn't the only lesson from Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Our Lord did conclude His prayers with this declaration of submission, but He also offered up His desires to His Father. Too often, we want to avoid the real work of prayer, which requires an examination of our hearts and the Scriptures and leads us to bring our requests to God. We mistake passivity, or even laziness, for submission. Jesus demonstrated an active, pleading interaction with the Father before He prayed, “Your will be done.”

Submitting to God doesn't preclude asking something of God. Jesus asked God to spare Him the cross. But even in asking, He understood the constraints that our prayers face and the reason for which we pray, “Your will be done.”

First, some things are not possible with God. God can do anything because His power is limitless. But He cannot contradict His Word or His character. When Jesus prayed, “If it is possible,” He recognized that God can't say “yes” to all we ask of Him. In so doing, He might be forced to betray Himself. “Your will be done” admits that what we ask is not always possible.

Second, Jesus recognized that what “I will” may not always be aligned with what God wills. The choice is clear. We must give God the green light to do as He pleases. “Your will be done.”

We should not pray these words without the accompanying heart of submission. We can have confidence, based on the example of Jesus, that we can bring the pleadings of our heart into the presence of God, and then trust Him to work His perfect will.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Consider a situation in your life where you have been praying generally, “Your will be done.” Have you substituted this phrase for any real request you might make of God? What is your fear in asking something of God? That it isn't His will? That He will not answer? Continue in your attitude of submission, but—just as Jesus did—articulate what is your heart's desire. Express that desire to God, recognizing that He must stay true to His character and His purposes as He answers.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: James 4:1-10
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. - Colossians 3:3
TODAY IN THE WORD
Every May, the city of Fruita, Colorado, celebrates “Mike the Headless Chicken Day.” They remember Mike the chicken who, back in 1945, survived the chopping block. Mike lived a year and a half after the fateful day when Farmer Lloyd lopped off his head.

Our passage today describes what it means to pray like Mike. We've been freed from the guilt and power of our sin. Through Christ, our sinful nature has been lopped off, but like that stubborn bird, we're still acting like it's intact. And this is devastating for our prayer lives.

James describes this condition in today's reading. As children of God, we have every privilege to go to Him, to believe that He can provide for us, and to ask Him for what we need. But rather than choosing this, we resort to what we did before we knew Christ. We covet what we don't have, hurt anyone who stands in our way of getting it, and fight tooth and nail for what we think we rightfully deserve.

If we actually do remember to pray, God doesn't answer because our prayers aren't an expression of submission to His purposes. In reality, our prayers are not-so-subtle maneuvers to, in the end, get what we want.

Yesterday we saw that we are encouraged to make requests of God. This is an important part of prayer, not just because we want God to work as we ask, but because the very act of asking requires us to examine our hearts and our motives.

If we peel away the layers of our prayer requests, would we find a genuine desire for God to gain glory for Himself and for His fame to spread? Will our requests, if answered, draw ourselves and others into closer fellowship and obedience to the King? Or are we ultimately asking that our lives be made easy and comfortable? When we discover selfishness in our prayers, the cure is humility (v. 10).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
God commands us in this passage to humble ourselves. Humility means recognizing how easily our love and loyalty for God becomes divided. Reflect on (or even sing through) the words of the hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” “Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee: prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 16:13-28
You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. - Matthew 16:23
TODAY IN THE WORD
Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513, a treatise that suggests that political power should be ruthlessly obtained and preserved. To him we attribute the phrase, “The end justifies the means.”

God's kingdom isn't just about the goals that God has set for His world and for His people. He cares also about the means that we use to get His work done. Peter got a first-hand lesson in both the means and ends of the kingdom of God.

Jesus' disciples had a grand vision of their future. They wanted to be part of a conquering force, establishing themselves in positions of authority. Jesus had foretold the defeat of life's greatest enemies, even death and hell. And He promised that they would be part of His grand construction of an unparalleled kingdom (v. 19). Peter, like the other disciples, savored the smell of success.

With this future of grandeur in their minds, Jesus' predictions of His own suffering and death shocked, even repulsed them. Peter determined to correct Jesus. He thought he had every right to do so. Hadn't Jesus just said that he was a key part of all this coming glory?

Sometimes God's ways seem strange. Who would have thought that the plan to save the world would include a carpenter's son crucified on a cross? God's plans defy human pride.Our call to the kingdom is no less than Jesus' call to the cross. Jesus spoke plainly: to live for the kingdom of God is to embrace a life of self-denial. God's kingdom means choosing a path that is a deliberate rejection of the materialistic American dream, which promises we can have it all and gain our soul.

Living for the kingdom of God forces us to choose whether to indulge our wants or to deny ourselves. But we know biblically that for all that we might “lose” in this life, we gain infinitely more in the next. No sacrifice or suffering that is done for Christ is forgotten. God's reward is sure.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Understanding the kingdom of God shapes not only how we pray, but how we live. And how we live shapes how we pray! When we embrace a life of sacrifice, our prayers certainly become less selfish. Whom can you serve sacrificially in the weeks and months ahead? What needy people has God brought to you? Spend some time serving them and praying for them, asking that God will bring you into greater understanding of living and praying for the kingdom.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hebrews 11
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross. - Hebrews 12:2
TODAY IN THE WORD
For the first time since its inception in 1952, the National Prayer Breakfast was chaired in 2006 by a Christian senator and co-chaired by a Jewish senator. Often, invitations to public prayer require generic definitions of faith and God that exclude references to Jesus Christ.

Faith cannot be extracted from the person and saving work of Jesus Christ. Faith, as we see in Hebrews 11, is not a warm fuzzy feeling about God. It is a reasoned response to God's character and His promises, revealed fully in Christ. Faith is more than an effort to make this life redemptive and good. Faith is a vision for a future life in heaven, which makes sense of our suffering and pain today. Faith isn't generic devotion to the one-size-fits-all God of American pluralism. Faith is obedience to the God of the Bible, the same God who intervenes in history to save His people and make Himself known.

Living and praying for God's kingdom to come, God's will to be done, requires faith. Faith enables us to see beyond the palpable realities of our lives today. Faith enabled all the men and women named in Hebrews 11 to hold on to hope for something better in the midst of suffering and persecutions. Their circumstances would not have made sense unless they sustained belief in the God who was ultimately accomplishing eternal purposes.

By faith, we choose what we value most. When God called Abraham and Moses, they believed His promise, and they valued what was promised. It was the firm conviction that faith would lead them to a better place that motivated them to give up what already seemed like the good life.

By faith, we say that the new heavens and earth are better than this earth. By faith, we're looking forward, rather than behind us. By faith, we're fixing our eyes on God rather than on our circumstances. Even when we seem to have cause for only sadness and despair, faith gives joy and hope.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Have you been discouraged by the difficulty of living for God's kingdom? Maybe you've been treated badly by a colleague or neighbor. Maybe you've had to make difficult choices that ended a friendship or cost you a job. The pain is real in these trials, but your faith can be renewed today as you read about others who suffered for Christ. You can look forward to hearing Christ say to you one day, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Ask God to sustain your faith.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 6:7-8, 25-34
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. - Matthew 6:8
TODAY IN THE WORD
A 2004 study of fertility patients revealed some interesting results. When women receiving fertility treatments worried about the outcome, they were less likely to conceive than those who didn't. Long before any scientific studies were undertaken, Jesus taught that worry has no place in the perspective of His followers.

Christians have the antidote for worry. It isn't the power of positive thinking. It isn't a mind-numbing form of meditation. It is the power of personal supplication before the Creator of the universe. Do not worry, Jesus commands us. But this only makes sense in the context of prayer.

It is an affront to God when we worry, because we are essentially claiming that God cannot provide for us. It means that we've lost sight of everything He has already given us. We worry about clothes and food, but we forget about life and the body, both blessings from God. We're not only forgetful of what God has already given us, but also of our value to Him. We mistrust Him and doubt His character, namely that He wants to provide for His children and that He can and will. This was the tragic sin of the Exodus generation of the Israelites (cf. Ps. 78).

God knows what we need, and some would argue that this pulls the rug out from under prayer. Why pray if God already knows what we need? This view assumes that prayer must be about informing God of something He didn't already know; this view clearly misunderstands the nature and character of God. Rather, we must pray because it is the way to actively trust God. Without prayer, we are tempted by sinful self-reliance—believing that anything we need or want we can get for ourselves—or worry, wondering who will get the job done.

We've spent the last several days piecing together a grand picture of God's kingdom purposes. However big God and His plans are, we do not matter less to God. “Give us this day our daily bread” serves to remind us of that.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
God makes His followers an irresistible offer: Take care of my business, and I'll take care of yours (v. 33). It requires obedient faith to use time, money, and energy for God's kingdom when such resources seem scarce and the needs great. But like the widow of Zarephath who fed the prophet of Elijah and saw the provision of God (cf. 1 Kings 17), we, too, can spend ourselves for God and see that He supplies and rewards such generosity (cf. 2 Cor. 9).

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Philippians 4:4-20
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. . . I can do everything through him who gives me strength. - Philippians 4:12a, 13
TODAY IN THE WORD
Maurice Sendak, children's author and illustrator, admits that the Holocaust dealt the death-blow to his Jewish faith. Son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, he couldn't reconcile such atrocities with a loving God. Elie Wiesel, survivor of a concentration camp himself and author of Night, agrees: “Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust.”

Where is God when I hurt? Why doesn't God hear my prayers for rescue? When God seems silent, or our prayers go seemingly nowhere, our faith is often shaken. We learned yesterday that God cares for us and that prayer is our way to depend upon Him. But what happens when God doesn't come through?

Paul's example to us of joy in suffering and contentment in trial illuminates some of the surprising realities in the Christian life. While the Lord's Prayer assures us the privilege of coming to God and asking for our daily bread, it's also true that God doesn't always answer as we'd like. We've asked God to supply our needs, but finances are still tight and the health crisis still looms large. Do we keep praying even when it doesn't seem to be working?

From the outside, some might have wondered why God wasn't taking better care of Paul, considering all the persecution, betrayal, physical deprivations, and attempts on his life he'd suffered (cf. 2 Cor. 11:16-33). He didn't always have a surplus to enjoy from God. Sometimes there was scarcity. But he had contentment and strength from the Lord, enough to endure the challenges of life's curveballs.

This passage today assures us that God is still good, that He is near, and that prayer is a must for the Christian life. For all that Paul lacked, he considered himself amply supplied. Our eye must be on the truth of who God is. Have faith in God's character, no matter what the outcomes are.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
When prayers are unanswered, instead of reexamining God, we ought to reexamine our faith. Is our faith in God, in His goodness and power? Or is our faith in the outcomes we've predetermined? Knowing that God is willing and able to provide doesn't automatically exempt us from suffering, difficulties, and pain—we still live in a world suffering from the consequences of the Fall. Accepting this means rejoicing in what we don't understand, knowing God has a greater purpose.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Psalm 78
For they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance. - Psalm 78:22
TODAY IN THE WORD
How much money, approval, status, success, or power would it take to satisfy us? For most of us, the answer is, “Just a little bit more!” No matter what we're pursuing, we find that we cannot have our appetite sated. Desire becomes craving, and by it we are consumed.

Psalm 78 follows this sad spiritual trajectory. We, like Israel, don't begin with outright rebellion against God. We first succumb to spiritual amnesia. The Israelites had just witnessed miracle after miracle as they fled Egypt: supernatural plagues from which they were spared, the Red Sea parting in front of them, water from a rock, and bread from heaven. God was providing for them and protecting them, and He was promising to lead them to a good place. They certainly had the experiences with which to develop confidence in God, that He was good and that He was powerful. They had every reason He would provide for their needs.

But as we might expect, the definition of “need” became a little cloudy in the wilderness. Sure, we've got manna, but how about some meat? So began a cycle of forgetfulness, doubt, rebellion, and demands.

How can we avoid this cycle? How can we ensure that our prayer requests don't turn into hostile demands of God? Thanksgiving is a necessary prelude to the “give us this day” portion of the Lord's Prayer. The act of giving thanks can sometimes clarify whether our requests are expressions of need or of greedy desires. Additionally, thanksgiving constantly draws us back to the realities of God's faithfulness to us, and this is our anchor when fear and doubt assail us.

Sometimes God relents and gives in to our demands, with tragic results. The Israelites got their meat, but they died at Kibroth Hattaavah, a place known as “graves of craving.” It was their selfishness that buried them.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Examine several of the “unanswered” prayers you've been praying for a number of months or even years. Have you become so consumed by your desire to see these things happen that you've forgotten to acknowledge God's work in your life in other ways? Are you so bound up in the desire to see these prayers answered that you've become almost consumed by them? Pray for discernment to know whether this is time to persist in these requests or to examine your heart and find another way to pray.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. - Psalm 51:1
TODAY IN THE WORD
Meursault, protagonist of Albert Camus's novel, The Stranger, murders another man without premeditation. His crime is not what is most shocking; rather, it's the absence of any show of guilt or remorse. As an existentialist, Camus dismantles notions of human guilt. If there is no god, to whom are we responsible, for what should we feel guilty?

Psalm 51 examines a truer picture of human guilt. The “forgive us,” portion of the Lord's Prayer acknowledges the truth of our human experiences. In our reading today, the psalmist argues that whether or not you admit that God is in the picture, guilt is a universal human emotion (v. 3). Day after day, we're all too familiar with the ways which we've failed ourselves and failed others. To be human means to be imprisoned by our weaknesses. A cursory glance of our secret motives and ambitions condemns us.

We have no excuse and no defense. If we exclude God from reality, we lose the hope of forgiveness. We, like Meursault, must deny the reality of guilt in order to pretend to survive. The psalmist provides consolation for sinners like us. Rather than denying guilt, we're called to admit it and acknowledge the God who forgives. Forgiveness doesn't depend on our efforts to do better or try harder. Instead, we call upon the realities of God's character: His mercy, love, and compassion. Our sin is real, but God not only restrains punishment but also restores us to righteousness.

This is what we've been created for: a right relationship with God, whose presence we can enjoy (v. 11). And forgiveness restores that along with a congruence within our souls, a redemption of our inner man where we can begin to do the good we want to do and avoid the evil we hate.

There's no sense in pretending we haven't wronged God. And there's even less sense in trying to make it up to Him (v. 16). The prayer of forgiveness is a plea for mercy.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Confession is a necessary daily part of our prayer lives. We're asking God to examine not only the wrong that we've done, but we're admitting that there are hidden sins of our heart and mind that no one but Him would ever know. “Forgive us,” is a cry for God to deal definitively with our sin and to restore us to Himself. Without this deliberate act of confession and receiving forgiveness, we forfeit the joy in Christ we could have (v. 12).

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: 1 Corinthians 3:18-4:5
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? - Jeremiah 17:9
TODAY IN THE WORD
“Let your conscience be your guide,” might be tragically bad advice, according to Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Martha Stout. Author of The Sociopath Next Door, Stout argues that 4 percent of the American population suffers from some sort of personality disorder, leaving them essentially “conscience-less.”

But irrespective of what psychiatrists say, God's Word stresses that we cannot fully rely on our conscience alone to point us to moral choices and to remind us when we've done wrong.

In our Scripture reading today, Paul speaks of his responsibilities as Christ's apostle and his accountability to God for this calling. How shall he judge himself? He discounts the opinion of outsiders. He is no more willing to listen to his critics than to his fans. But more surprising is his refusal to let himself be the final arbiter of his own actions. Certainly “he” had the insider's perspective, and his conscience was clear. Why is Paul so adamant against self-acquittal (4:4)? Paul faces squarely what it means to be human and reminds us again why we need confession as a part of our daily prayers.

Being human means having a heart that acts a lot like a broken compass. We're convinced that our heart's reading of guilt and innocence is true north. We let our feelings determine what is right. Our hearts often feel right about very wrong choices: avenging an offense (they deserve it!), harboring bitterness (they never said sorry!), and breaking promises (it doesn't really matter). Sin is always deceptive, leading us to feel good about choices that destroy our fellowship with God and with others. Our conscience is desperately flawed. We can all too easily train it to read in our favor.

“Forgive us” is a hands-up surrender to the game of self-acquittal. We're admitting to God the ways in which we've not only deceived Him and others but also ourselves.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Self-righteousness is one of the most dangerous sins. It grows from the kind of self-deception that our passage today warns against. It destroys our relationships with others because we presume we know more and deserve more. It corrodes our relationship with God by hiding our need for His mercy, love, and forgiveness. Allowing this insidious form of pride to grow is like slamming the brakes on our spiritual growth. We cannot move forward in knowing and pleasing God without humility.