Prayer and God with Us

This week it was a bit wet.

The youth jumped into 3 groups.

In teams, they memorised the Lord's Prayer and made up their own actions for each line.

It was great to see each team at least give it a go. I wonder how adults will go with the same activity.

In smaller groups, we went through a few questions. 

In our group, we stayed in Matthew 6.

1. Why did Jesus teach them the Lord's Prayer?
2. (Who is them, anyway?) 
3. Where and how do we pray? And why is it harder to pray out loud?
4. How did he guide us on how NOT to pray?
5. Why is praying every day like changing your underwear or eating food?

I told them about Brother Lawrence, the monk who invited God to wash dishes with him.

Parents and friends, we can pray this for them:

1. They grow fond of the person they are praying to
2. They remember to pray when they eat (or change their undies - at least daily)
3. The youth remember to carry the Bible with them to church on Sundays

I believe these three little practices go a long way.

Why? One of the names of Jesus is Immanuel, which means God with us. 

Imagine having the King of the Universe with you, every moment of every day!

Matthew 6:

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babblinglike pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This, then, is how you should 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 today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’

That's Gold!

Mimi went hunting for gold today.

It was a long walk through the paddock, around the cowpats and to the place where you get your hands dirty.

Dig and pan for gold. 

It sounds like they had a great time at the Gold Rush school excursion.

----

I dropped by at youth group and a young man was excited to see me.

Darren was keen to share about Ephesians 6.

Even though he missed the context and the conversation from Youth Group the previous week, he was genuinely encouraged to learn about what God has to say about family relationships.

How do children obey their parents?

Sometimes it can be so hard to obey when the parents get it wrong.

Darren talked about his ego and how it gets in the way.

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother'—which is the first commandment with a promise— 'so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.' 

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." — Ephesians 6:1-4

I took a metaphorical step back and savoured the precious line of inquiry is, coming from the next generation.

I decided to ask him if he ever noticed how women came before men in Ephesians 5. 

And also why children came before fathers. 

Then we went digging. 

Darren was so curious. "So why did Paul address children first?" 

It is an absolute joy to share some of the tools I picked up over the years.

The Author's purpose tool. The Context tool. The Structure tool. 

These tools I picked up from Dig Deeper.

I couldn't hold back answering for much longer. 

So I shared how Ephesians 6 flows from God's supreme headship and majestic order. Perhaps the certainty of Christ reigning forever and our secure position with Him allows all of us to submit to His rule, in spite of circumstances that are tricky, challenging and make us uncomfortable. What if the thrust of chapter 1 carries through to chapter 6.

There was a golden glow in the young man's eyes.

Darren told me how sometimes he would know there's something to be discovered in the scriptures, and try to understand, but get frustrated that he can't seem to get more.

I got to remind him that trusting that God has something more to share is a great start. And besides picking up new and better tools, there is that promise that if we ever get stuck, we can always ask him. 

I reminded him that it says in Proverbs,

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." — Proverbs 1:7

Darren is growing man. 

So hungry to learn and keen to share.

With that precious view of his position relative to God.

You never know when you come across a nugget in your travels. 

That's gold!