The Lord's Prayer is loaded with spiritual truths that we nonchalantly pray and do not realize the depth or the importance of Jesus' teaching His disciples to pray in Luke 11: 2-4
11 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
The two things God focused on Sunday was bread, not only for us to eat but to serve to others a hot and fresh now word from heaven. With you and I serving this fresh daily bread, others would have a divine encounter through us with the Father. The only way we will be able to do that is to be delivered from evil. This evil is our selfish nature which God elaborated on through the message in 1 Peter 2:11-12, Romans 7:14-25, and James 1:2-17.
Why do we have to be obedient unto death??? Well, Jesus was our example. In Philippians
2:8, Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. One of the meanings of death in this verse means: the misery of the soul arising from sin.
If we do not become obedient unto our "death" and carry our cross daily, we cannot be his disciple, Luke 14:27. Powerful verse, we have to overcome our selfish desire and carry our cross daily or we cannot be HIS DISCIPLE. Not only do we have to carry our cross and overcome our self, but God asked a powerful question at the end, will you be a Simon, according to Mark 15:21-22, and carry someone's else cross to their "death" so they can overcome themselves, bury their old sinful nature, and be resurrected a new creature in Christ.
Questions to answer for this week's discussion:
1) What must you do DAILY to be delivered from evil? Who really do we need to delivered from?
2) Do you recognize the two wars going on this year? If so, what are they?
3) What does "O wretched man that I am" mean to you now that you heard it in this context on Sunday? Read Romans 7:14-25 for a refresher.
4) What must you do in order for you to become His disciple? What steps have you taken this week to show God you carried your cross from Sunday?
5) What does become a Simon mean to you?
6) Did you put your old self in the coffin and push it down the river at the altar?
7) What was your AHA moment from this message.
Being Obedient Unto Death with you,
Rev. Ryan Welker
