Seeking the Face of GodUsing the Ancient Prayer

Jesus Gave Us

The Gospel of Matthew 6:9-13

?Does God really care

5 And when you pray, you must not be

Matthew 6:5-13

like the hypocrites. For they love to standand pray in the synagogues and at thestreet corner, that they may be seen byothers. Truly, I tell you, they have receivedtheir reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door

Matthew 6:5-13

“…and pray to your Father who is insecret. And your Father who sees insecret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap upempty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for theirmany words. 8 Do not be like them, for

Matthew 6:5-13

“your Father knows what you need beforeyou ask him. 9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.10 Your kingdom come,your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:5-13

11 “Give us this day our daily bread,12 and forgive us of our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Leader: This is the word of the Lord!People: Thanks be to God!

Seeking the Face of GodUsing the Ancient Prayer

Jesus Gave Us

“Deliver Us From Evil”The Gospel of Matthew 6:5-13

1 Deliver us from real evil.

2 Deliver us from personal evil.

>

Evil is real.#1

God cares.#2

“Man produces evil as a bee

produces honey.”~ William Golding,

Author of Lord of the Flies

1 Deliver us from real evil.

2 Deliver us from personal evil.>

I wanted genocide out of God’s world. And as I continues reading through the Gospels,

I found that did too….

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is

angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is

answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.~ Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospel of Matthew, 5:21-22 (NIV)

I had a problem.

Jesus wants genocide out of God’s world too, only he takes it a lot more seriously than I do.

I want to get rid of genocide. Jesus wants to get rid of rage.

I want to put boundaries on the wicked wildfire; he wants to snuff out the spark.

And that wicked spark is in me.

I may not be a Third World dictator, a genocidal soldier, or an interrogation torturer.

But I have anger, and it’s most often not the righteous kind.

I can be a vindictive beast.

Jesus says if you are nice to folks on the outside but rage against them in your heart, you are

danger of the fire of hell….

As much as I may like to think of myself as part of the exalted solution to the worlds issues,

I'm first and foremost part of the problem.

What do you believe is WRONG with the

WORLD?

GK Chesterton

“I am.”What do you

believe is WRONG with the

WORLD?

The Bible says that Jesus came on a rescue mission for creation. He had to pay for our sins so that someday he can end evil and suffering without ending us. And if this is true, though we still have no answer to the question of why he allows evil to continue, we know he can’t be doing it out of indifference or detachment. God takes our misery and suffering so seriously that he was willing to take it on himself.

~ Tim Keller, The Reason for God

I could never believe in God, if it were not for the

cross. The only God I believe in is the one

Nietzsche ridiculed as ‘God on a cross.’ In a real world of pain, how could one worship a God who

was immune to it?

~ John Stott Anglican Minister

Jesus is the tears of God.

~ Philosopher Peter Kreeft Making Sense out of Suffering

“ ”

When you ask yourself, “Does God really care?”

remember what He was willing to bear.

“…the very worst evil can do is not the last word.”

~ April 3, 2015Good Friday Statement from the Primate of Kenya

“The People of theCrossed Sticks”

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