Lasting Impressions (Pastor Greg Hudson, 04/26/25)

So one of my earliest memories, and it's one

of those stories where, is it a memory or you've

just heard the story so many times that you think

you remember it because you've heard the story.

But I was probably two or three years old, and

the family was in Indiana. We were visiting my

grandparents on a picnic, and I was fishing.

I remember that. I think I remember the fishing

part. totally remember is that when that bobber

was pulled down under the water, what are you

supposed to do? You're supposed to pull it back

up a little bit, give it a little jerk. Where

in my two - or three -year -old excitement of

seeing that bobber go down under, I pulled it

so hard that they say that little fish, that

little bluegill, was spinning around like a helicopter,

and I was waving that tiny little fish around.

But I was fishing. I was two or three years old.

And you can fast forward a little bit, and I

was probably nine or ten. And I remember another

time when I was with my aunt and uncle, George

and Judy. They were actually married in this

church back in the 70s. And me and my brother

had gone on a trip with them. And I think we

went up to Michigan where some other friends

were. And we were fishing, except we were doing

it a little bit different. This time we were

in a boat, and there were four or five or six

different rods hanging off the side of the boat,

and we were driving real slow. We were trolling

with a different kind of lure this time, not

a worm and a bobber, but with a little silver

shiny spoon that was getting pulled slowly behind

the boat. And when one of those rods would get

bent over, well, you'd stop the boat, and somebody

would have a fish. And I remember reeling in.

a trout or whatever it was out of this particular

lake. And I remember a few years later, just

a few years ago, I should say, I took on another

little challenge and I got something I'd never

had before, a different kind of fishing rod,

a fly rod. And so it uses a different kind of

lure. This time it's really lightweight, maybe

made out of... feathers or string, and instead

of just throwing it out there, you kind of wave

it back and forth and hope it goes in the right

place, and sometimes it would, or sometimes it'd

get in the tree or whatever it was, but I could

catch a little fish that way, and I was fishing.

It was a different way of doing it, but each

time I was fishing. Then I remember several years

ago when my kids were little, I took them And

we went to Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach State Park.

And I remember taking them out on the pier, and

we had a fishing rod or a net that we let down.

And you can almost see my son there. He's got

a little shark, and he was very excited about

catching that little shark. As they were doing

something different, but they were fishing. And

we were able to sit on the pier, and whether

it was eating ice cream or with a string in the

line, we... We were doing something a little

bit different, and yet it was the same. We were

doing the same thing, but at a different level.

But each time, it was fishing that was going

on. And in life, there's many different times

where we are perhaps learning something new,

and we're growing in our skills in a particular

area, but that doesn't mean we're not engaged

in that. activity. Like you see a little child

and they take their first step and we say they

walked today. That's walking, but it's a little

bit different than they're going to do a couple

years later. It's a little bit different than

they're going to do 50 years later, but it's

still walking that's going on. Imagine you had

the opportunity to learn from the best ever,

whether it's learning how to shoot a free throw

from Michael Jordan and watching his technique

and how he holds the ball and how he releases

the ball. Or, learning how to cook from Paula Deen

or something. You would watch how much butter

she puts in there and you would watch the different

spices and how hot she makes everything and you

would take notes and you would want to learn

from the very best. Well, we have the opportunity

to learn from the very best. Now as we look at

our world, as we watch headlines and whatever,

it seems like our world is going crazy. You watch

of wars and rumors of wars and death of religious

leaders and funerals and selections happening,

and it seems as if almost every day you can read

some story and you can say, well, this sure seems

like some Bible prophecy is being fulfilled.

This sure seems like... Things are going rapidly

and things are happening. The stock market goes

up. The stock market goes down. There's earthquakes.

There's all these different things. And one thing

we know for certain is that every day we go on

in life, that we are one day closer to when Jesus

comes again. We don't know exactly when it's

going to be, but we know at each day we are one

day closer. And I want to turn to Luke chapter

Luke 21 · chapter mention

21, because there's about three different places

where Jesus talks about signs of the times and

things that would happen before he comes. And

maybe the one we go to the most often is Matthew

24. But in Luke chapter 21, Jesus is talking

Luke 21 · chapter mention

about all these different things that were going

to happen before he comes. In Luke 21 and verse

28. Notice what it says, Luke chapter 21 and

Luke 21 · chapter mention

verse 28. It says, now when these things begin

to happen, look up and lift up your heads because

your redemption draws near. Each time we go past,

we know that we're one day closer and we can

keep our heads lifted up and recognize that Jesus

is coming soon. So in this same context, of Jesus

talking about this soon return of his kingdom,

notice what it says in verse 36. Jesus says,

Watch therefore and pray always that you may

be counted worthy to escape all these things

that will come to pass and to stand before the

Son of Man. So as we are seeing all of this happen,

as we are approaching the soon return of Jesus,

we are reminded to keep our eyes open, to watch,

and then it says to pray always. Now, what does

that mean? Because we're getting closer each

and every day. What does it mean to pray always?

I think we can be sure that the disciples begun

to understand this. They began to understand

what Jesus meant when he said to pray always.

Because everywhere Jesus went, he went preaching

and teaching and healing. But in order to be

ready for that work of ministry among the people,

Jesus also did something else. He spent time

away from everybody. He spent time by himself.

He spent time in prayer. And as we are talking,

looking ahead to when Jesus comes again, as we

talk about what we can do, have been instructed

to do is to pray and to pray always and to make

it a part of who we are every day. Can we make

prayer something in our life so that it will

be a lasting impression on the people around

us? The disciples knew what Jesus was talking

about because they had observed Jesus in prayer.

In fact, if you stay in Luke and go back to Luke

Luke 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11, we see our scripture reading for

the day. Luke chapter 11, and starting in verse

Luke 11 · chapter mention

1. Luke 11 and verse 1. It says, now it came

to pass as he was praying in a certain place.

The Bible says this often, that Jesus went early

before dawn, that he went to a certain place,

that he went and spent time in prayer. As he

was praying in a certain place, when he ceased,

that one of his disciples said to him, Lord,

teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.

So they saw Jesus in prayer, and apparently it

made such a great impression on them that they

said, I want that. I want to be able to pray

like Jesus. I want something that he has. I want

to learn how to pray like Jesus. And they said,

teach us to pray. Do you think the disciples

had prayed before? I'm pretty certain they probably

had. They'd grown up in the Jewish faith. They'd

probably memorized large portions of Scripture,

and they had prayed. In fact, it says, teach

us to pray just as John had taught his disciples.

And at least some of them had been disciples

of John before they were disciples of Jesus.

But they had this first impression. of the way

Jesus prayed. And if you look at the following

verses, as Jesus is teaching them to pray, he

shares something that we refer to most often

as the Lord's Prayer. That's what Jesus uses

to teach them how to pray. So they had seen that,

but they apparently had also seen what it meant

to pray in a wrong way. And so we're going to

go back to the other place where it talks about

the Lord's Prayer. And that's in Matthew chapter

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

6, which is the Sermon on the Mount. And so Jesus

was teaching this crowd of people, Matthew 5,

6, and 7, it's known as the Sermon on the Mount.

And in the midst of that Sermon on the Mount,

Jesus shares the Lord's Prayer, what we refer

to as the Lord's Prayer. But before he shares

the Lord's Prayer, he tells them some things

not to do in prayer. Apparently, that was something

that was happening in society. That was something

the disciples had seen, maybe that the disciples

had even done. So let's look at Matthew 6 and

verse 5. Notice what it says. Jesus says, when

you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.

So here's what not to do. You're praying, but

here's what not to do. Don't be like the hypocrites.

And that word hypocrites is actually where we

get It's from the Greek word where they talk

about like an actor on a stage, on a play. So

someone who's pretending to be something else.

An actor is taking on a role pretending to be

somebody else. And Jesus is saying, don't be

someone who's pretending to be something else.

Don't be like the hypocrites, for they love to

pray, standing in the synagogues and on the corners

of the streets. They want to pray where everybody

can see them, that they may be seen by men. Jesus

says, assuredly, I say to you, they have their

reward. So they are praying not to have a connection

with God, not to have a connection with the Holy

Creator, but they're having a prayer so that

people will see them, will see how holy and pious

they are, and people can walk by the street corner

and say, wow. Those people are impressive. They're

important. They pray, and everybody can hear

them. The very next verse, which I don't have

on the screen, it says, verse 6, When you pray,

go into your room. And when you have shut the

door, pray to your Father who is in the secret

place, and your Father who sees in secret will

reward you openly. So Jesus doesn't say not to

pray. He says you do need to pray. But when you

pray, don't just do it so people can see you,

but go into your house, not just your house,

but go into your inner room, your closet, and

close the door so that you're there by yourself,

so that you can spend this time in prayer. And

even if you're by yourself, guess what? God can

hear you. God will hear you, and God will answer

that prayer, If nobody knows you're praying,

God knows and God will hear you. Do you have

a place of prayer? Maybe it's not a closet in

your house, but maybe it's a certain chair that

you sit in. And that's your chair that when you

sit there, you know that's a place that you can

pray. You're going to put down your other distractions

and you're going to spend at least a few moments

in prayer. It could be when you're driving your

car to work in the morning. What an awesome opportunity

to pray. Even if you're stuck in traffic, maybe

a greater need of prayer. Even in that place

by yourself. There was a faith -based movie a

couple years ago called War Room. And it was

about a person who was learning the power of

prayer. And this lady was taught by another lady

of the importance of having a place. of prayer,

her war room. And she actually had a closet with

Bible verses on the wall and her Bible in the

corner and a notebook to write down answers and

needs and concerns. Do you have a place where

you can be certain that you are praying to God?

It's not about making a show. It's not about

letting other people know I'm praying, but it's

about spending time with God. And then verse

7, there's another do not do this. Verse 7, and

when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as

the heathen do. Those who aren't followers of

God. These are the heathens. They're not followers

of God. Do not use vain repetitions, for they

think that they will be heard for their many

words. I'm just going to say lots of things.

I'm going to say all that I can. And if I use

enough words, if I use the babbling, if I use

the vain repetition, if I say it over and over,

Jesus says, don't do that. That's not what we're

supposed to do. Verse 8, do not be like them,

for your Father knows the things you have need

of before you even ask Him. God knows. And so

we could say, well, why even pray? Well, because

Jesus invites us to pray. but he says don't do

it for the vain repetition don't do it for that

reason but notice the very next verse still in

in matthew 6 verse 9 jesus says in this manner

Matthew 6:9

therefore pray don't do this don't do this but

in this manner pray and we know the lord's prayer

we've learned it if you've learned any bible

verse you have likely learned the Lord's Prayer.

And maybe we recite it in our families or recite

it in church. And we're going to before we close

today. But it's not just about learning words.

You know, maybe in school at some point you had

to memorize a speech or something. Maybe you

memorized the Gettysburg Address. My wife does a

mean Gettysburg Address. So you can ask her about

that later. She's shaking her head. Don't do

that. But it's not just about reciting something.

just to memorize it. But it's about, those are

powerful words, but could it be even more than

that? Could it be a pattern that we can incorporate

and make this prayer a personal prayer as we

explore the words of Jesus where he says, in

this manner, pray. Could we incorporate that

into our prayer life? And there's several ways

to look at the Lord's Prayer. Several different,

you know, you can outline it in different ways,

but the first couple verses here say, Our Father

in heaven, hallowed holy be your name. Your kingdom

come, your will be done on earth as it is in

heaven. Notice these first couple verses are

all about Jesus. It says you and your. It's all

about who Jesus is, about what Jesus is doing.

And then, There's a change in the focus. The

next couple of verses, starting in verse 11,

give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us

our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not

lead us into temptation, but deliver us from

evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power

and the glory forever. The first verses are three

times looking up, looking to God. And then there's

this change of focus where it's about us. four

times. It's are, three times. But it never ever

uses the words me or my or I. And so there's

something about praying with a group, praying

together. And so we can know this Lord's Prayer.

We have memorized it, but we see there's God

first, and then there's us. Then there's... our

needs. We can recognize that this prayer begins

and ends with praise. The first and the last,

it ends with praise, and those praise elements

bookend five or six, depending on how you want

to count it, five or six different petitions,

five or six different elements which form this

pattern of prayer. And if we know the Lord's

prayer, then guess what? We know that pattern,

and we can personalize it. We can make it our

own. We can incorporate that into our own prayer

life. So we're going to look at this kind of

bit by bit as we go through. So it opens with

praise as it says, Our Father in heaven, hallowed

be your name. Our Father. We can recognize that

God is personal. That God wants to have a relationship

with us, but it says our Father in heaven, so

we can also recognize that God is the creator

of the universe. And if we think about that the

creator of the universe wants to have a personal

relationship with you, then that's incredible.

That's an incredible thought to recognize that

as grand and holy and as incredible as God is,

the creator loves his creation. And we can call

him by that personal name, our father. But we've

got to pause on that just a second because I'm

a father. I have a father. I know lots of fathers.

And I also know that fathers are not perfect.

And mothers are not perfect. And spouses are

not perfect. And children are not perfect. And

siblings are not perfect. And single people are

not perfect. We are an imperfect people. We have

made mistakes. We have fallen short of the glory

of God. And so when we consider God as our Father,

it's something different. Because there's people

in this society that when they think of their

Father, they may have a very, very negative attitude.

And it may make them angry or upset because of

a broken relationship that they have. And so

what this phrase is referring to is not an imperfect

relationship, but a perfect father with a perfect

love, the way that fathers are supposed to be.

And so we see this personal connection with the

incredible creator of the universe. And it begins

with praise. Our Father who art in heaven. hallowed

or holy be your name that's a perfect start to

a prayer to praise god as we begin a prayer to

lift start in praise lift up time in praise but

what about when you're having a bad day sometimes

maybe it's harder to to praise if something's

not going your way it's harder to praise when

you're sick or something happened at work, or

a challenge happened in your family. It's harder

to praise. How can we do that if we're upset

at someone? They once asked George Mueller. He

was a famous pastor from many, many years ago

who's kind of famous for starting orphanages

in Britain for thousands and thousands of children.

And he was known for hours and hours in prayer.

And they asked him, how long? Do you need to

spend praising God in prayer? And this was his

answer. He said, I praise God until my heart

is glad. It may not be glad when I start, but

I'm going to keep praising God as long as I can,

as long as I need to, until my heart is glad.

I think that's a good thing for us. We can say

words of praise, even though maybe we don't feel

them at the moment. But if we're connecting with

God, then... soon those thoughts of dissent will

begin to be thoughts of praise. And then it says,

our Father in heaven, holy or hallowed be your

name. And this is not a request. We're not saying,

please, God, may your name be holy. It's not

a request. That's a statement of fact. Your name,

God, your name is holy. And in the Bible, there

are many, many names of God. What are some names

of God that you can think of? Somebody say one

out to me. Yahweh, Jehovah, El Shaddai, Emmanuel,

Elohim. There's lots and lots of names of God.

At our Wednesday Bible study, I think it was

two weeks ago, we took the time to look at the

alphabet, 26 letters, and we came up with a different

name of God, a different characteristic of God

that we could praise God for, for every single

letter of the alphabet. But we used like excellent

for X, so I'm not sure if that was cheating a

little bit, but every single letter of the alphabet,

there was some name of God. And so if you're

not sure what to praise God for, just think of

some of those names of God. Which is your favorite?

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, the Prince

of Peace. And you can think of some of those

names of God and say, God, thank you for being

a Prince of Peace, for bringing peace to my life.

Thank you for being a Savior, for saving me from

my sins. Thank you for being a King of Glory.

Because you're my ruler and you bring glory into

my life. Thank you for being full of wisdom because

I am not a wise person. And we can praise God

for who he is. We can praise him. Holy is his

name. We're not asking for it. We're stating

the fact that God's name is holy. And then there's

another statement that comes. It says, your kingdom

come. Your kingdom come. And as Seventh-day

Adventists, we long for that day of the second

Advent. And we sing songs about it. You can pull

out the hymnal and you can say, we have this

hope, hope in the coming of the Lord, hope that

burns within my heart. We can sing, lift up the

trumpet and loud let it ring. Jesus is coming

again. We can sing, brother and sister, we are

marching to Zion, heavenly, heavenly Zion, that

beautiful. city of God. And we long for that

day when Jesus's eternal kingdom will come. But

you know what else Jesus said? Your kingdom come.

Jesus over and over said the kingdom of heaven

is at hand. Jesus said the kingdom of God was

there even as Jesus was in their midst. In fact,

if you turn back just one chapter to the beginning

of the Sermon on the Mount, Chapter 5 and verse

3, it says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for

theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom

of heaven is there. The kingdom of heaven is

coming for all eternity, but we can live out

our life in the spirit of the kingdom of heaven

even now. And the Sermon on the Mount is the

best way to do that. Blessed are the poor in

spirit. Verse 13, you are the salt of the earth.

Verse 14, you are the light of the world. Over

and over, it tells us how we can live out our

life for the kingdom. Love your enemies over

and over. We are told that we can begin to live

God's kingdom life right now. Even as we sing,

we're marching to Zion. Even as we sing, lift

up the trumpet and loud let it ring. is coming

again. And so we can pray, your kingdom come.

And we can pray in our prayer life, looking forward

to what's coming, but also pray that we can live

out a kingdom life in our world even now. Your

kingdom come. And then it says, your will be

done on earth as it is in heaven. So this second

petition, this second element is that God's will

will happen. It will be done. And we recognize

that God's will is going to be done in heaven.

That's not a question. It is going to be done

in heaven. And so the prayer is that God's will

will be done on the earth, on earth as it is

in heaven. And we can say, God, I want, I hope

that your will will be done in my life. And believe

it or not, that's the same prayer that Jesus

prayed. In the Garden of Gethsemane. Just hours

before he went to the cross. He was in the garden.

He left his disciples to the side and he went

and prayed by himself as he often did. And he

said, Lord, if it's possible, take this cup away

from me. Take this cup from me. But Lord, not

my will be done, but your will be done. And so

Jesus... surrendered, submitted himself to go

to the cross because of the prophecies of scripture,

because that was the way for salvation to be

poured out, for salvation to be granted. And

so we can ask ourselves, am I praying? Am I allowing

God's will to be done in my life each and every

day? God, may your will be done. And this reminds

us that God cares for us personally. He wants

our life, to reflect his will each and every

day. Your kingdom come, your will be done on

earth as it is in heaven. And then the next element,

the next petition says, give us, give us this

day our daily bread. And so after we have spent

time praising God, after we have spent time surrendering

ourselves to his will, we recognize that we have

needs and challenges in our own life and we can

shift to that time of, personal petition but

as we said earlier it still uses us give us this

day and it's mentioning give us what we what

we need not necessarily what we what we want

it's not about money it's not about fame and

fortune if you follow that type of thing you

may have seen some headlines that The end of

this week, there was an NFL draft going on and

the teams would pick the players that would be

on their teams next year and the better players

get picked sooner. Just like in grade school

when you're getting picked for dodgeball or whatever.

And the ones that got picked sooner, well, guess

what? They're going to make more money. And the

ones that get picked a little lower down, they're

still going to make a lot of money, too much

money, but not as much. But this says, give us

this day not fame, Not fortune, not money, but

give us this day our daily bread. Give us something

simple. Give us something that's going to keep

us alive. Our daily bread. And you can think

to the children of Israel. way back in about

Exodus 16, where they're coming out of Egypt,

where they're making their way to the promised

land. And they say, God, we're hungry. And God

provides them with food, something that would

come out like frost or dew on the ground. What

was that called? Manna. And they would go out

there and they would collect that manna. And

that word really just means, what is it? They

weren't sure what this is, but they could collect

manna enough for that day. And if they got...

Too much. What would happen to it? It would spoil.

It would rot. It would stink. And so they had

to get just enough for that day. And then the

next day they'd go out, except for one day, Friday.

They were told not only could they, but they

better get enough for two days because on that

seventh day on Sabbath, there wasn't any manna

that came out. And so they better get enough.

for two days to remind them that they are dependent

upon God each and every day. And that is the

prayer, give us this day our daily bread. And

we can lift up our petitions and our needs to

God. And over and over in scripture, it tells

us that God will answer those prayers as we lift

them up in Jesus' name. And then verse 12, it

says, forgive us our debts as we forgive our

debtors. So give us our needs, forgive us. our

debts. And of course, the Bible says if we confess

our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive

us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And we're promised this salvation because Jesus

died for our sins. And we remember that. But

sometimes we forget the verse that comes right

after the Lord's Prayer. Oh, we know the Lord's

Prayer. We've got that memorized. But if you

go to verse 14, we sometimes forget what comes

right after that. It says, if you forgive men

their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also

forgive you. Praise the Lord. We're going to

be forgiven. But if you do not forgive men their

trespasses, neither will your Father forgive

your trespasses. We sometimes forget that. That

as we have received grace from God, we're supposed

to extend that to somebody else. God expects

us to share the grace, to share the forgiveness

that we need. And so part of asking for forgiveness

is to say, God, is there somebody else that I

need to forgive? Forgive us our debts as we forgive

our debtors. Forgive us in the same way that

we forgive somebody else. And then a final petition

here. As it goes on, it says, Do not lead us

into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For

yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory.

Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us.

If we are following God, He's not going to lead

us to something that we can't handle. He's not

going to lead us to a place where the temptation

is too great for us to stand for God. We talked

about a sheep and a shepherd during our children's

story. And that reminds us of Psalm 23, that

great psalm of Jesus being the good shepherd

for us. Psalm 23, it says, The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not be in want. I shall not want. He

makes me to lie down in the green pastures. He

leads me beside the still waters. He restores

my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his namesake. If we're following Jesus, he's

going to take us where we want to go, take us

where we need to go. And then in verse four,

it says, yea, though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for

you are with me. We know. that Jesus is going

to lead us to a place of safety, to a place of

protection, even as we are maybe going through

the valley of the shadow of death. Notice Psalm

50 in verse 15. It says, Call upon me in the

day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you

shall glorify me. When we find ourselves somewhere

where it seems too much, where the temptation

seems strong, we can call upon God. And He has

promised to deliver us. He has promised to take

us away from those addictions, from those temptations,

from those things that have brought us down in

the past. He is going to protect us and keep

us safe. And then in Galatians, it talks about

the armor of God. And it says, take up the shield

of faith with which you can extinguish all of

the flaming darts of the evil one. So even as

Satan is attacking us, shooting temptations our

way, shooting evil things at us, that shield

of faith and what Jesus has done and what he

is doing, God has promised to protect us. And

so the power of God forgives our past and gives

us power to live for him each day. Do not lead

us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

And then this great Lord's Prayer ends with praise.

Now we have to talk about this for just a second,

because if you were reading the story in Luke

11, where we started, where the disciples said,

Lord, teach us to pray, the last line is not

there. And just to be clear, some of the manuscripts

of the early manuscripts don't have that line

there. That's why some versions of the Bible...

Leave that out. They're not trying to trick you

or deceive you. It's just the manuscript they're

using to translate. It doesn't have it there.

But this concept of praise is found throughout

Scripture. The Lord's Prayer starts with praise,

and it ends here. For yours is the kingdom and

the power and the glory forever. Amen. And that

sentiment of praise is found throughout the prayers

in the Bible, throughout the book of Psalms,

that 150 prayers gathered together. It reminds

us of God's power. It reminds us of God's personal

care in our lives. And when those disciples saw

Jesus praying, it made a first impression on

them. And they said, Lord, teach us to pray.

And as Jesus taught them to pray, as he gave

them the Lord's Prayer, as he gave them example

of spending hours in prayer, it not only made

a first impression, but it made a lasting impression.

And so when you turn over to Acts chapter 1 and

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 2, you see the disciples, even after

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Jesus has ascended to heaven, you see these disciples,

these apostles, spending time in prayer. And

even after Jesus went into the clouds of glory,

they're spending 10 days in prayer in the upper

room until the Holy Spirit is poured out on the

day of Pentecost. And they begin to preach with

power and 3 ,000 people are baptized. And as

you continue through the book of Acts, even their

opponents, it says they could tell that these

men had been with Jesus. And even their opponents

said these men had turned the world upside down.

Because they're preaching with the power of the

Holy Spirit. And as you read through their writings

of the New Testament, the letters of Paul, the

letters of Peter, over and over you can find

powerful prayers that are written down. And even

if you don't know what to pray that day, you

can find one of those prayers and you can read

it and you can personalize it and you can make

it your own and you can learn. And you can remember

that the God of power cares for you, personally

and we can remember that we have a pattern to

help us pray even when we may find ourselves

in a spiritual drought so here's here's how i

want to end today we've been talking about the

lord's prayer we're going to stand up as a church

family and we are going to recite this lord's

prayer together for our our closing prayer so

i invite you right now if you want to continue

in a prayer life, if you want to begin a prayer

life, if you want to begin with praise and begin

to offer up some petitions, then we are just

going to bow our heads together and pray this

Lord's Prayer together. Let's bow our heads.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy

name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth

as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily

bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive

our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom

and the power and the glory forever. Amen.