P1 – Perspective - “Father, hallowed be your name.”

We pray for ourselves and others that we would “hallow” his name more. We’re really asking for a God-perpective on Him and the character his name(s) represent. It’s not like we’re praying that God would be more holy. He already is holy, set apart, sanctified, all that. God doesn’t change. Hallowed has more to do with our attititude of reverence. We’re asking for him to cause things to happen that bring people to rever his name more. (eg. Act 19:17, Phil 2:9-11)
A great way to do this is to focus on what his name means, on the names God has given himself,  praying that people would allow that to affect their everyday perpective on God, and therefore, on life in general. Names of God & Jesus

P2 – Presence – “Your Kingdom come”

We’re really asking God for the King, because you can’t have a kingdom coming without the King coming. It’s like Moses prayed in Exodus 33:15-16, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
We’re praying that more and more people would submit to the Kingship of Jesus. (FYI – God the Father has given the Kingdom to Jesus – John 18:36, 2 Peter 1:11)

P3 – Pleasure – “Your will be done.”

We’re asking for God to be happy, for things to happen in me and others so that God gets what he wants. The best thing that can happen to and through us is when we bring God pleasure. Moses continues in Exodus 33: 15 “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us.” We ask God to give us and other His ideas to be the people He wants us to be.

P4 – Pleas – “Give us today our daily bread.”

We’re asking God for a major thing that motivates us to pray, which is our NEEDS. Many times, we blindly ignore or conveniently forget what we really need, and don’t bring it up to God. Right after his sample prayer, Jesus told of a man who NEEDED 3 loaves of bread for an out of town guest, even asking for it at the worst possible time. The man’s vision of a pleasant experience with that guest was what drove him to wake up and PLEA from his neighbor. We need to dream, to have a picture in our mind of what we ulimately need, so we can clarify to God, PLEA to God, what we NEED to get that.

P5 – Protection – “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us, and lead us not into temptation”

We’re asking for protection

1. protection for ourselves for our sins (which we get for free in Christ),
2. protection from ourselves latching onto bitterness or unforgiveness of other people’s sins against us (by reminding ourselves that we better forgive or else), and
3. protection against temptation. He especially warns us against 3 monsters that the devil can tease us with(Gen 3:6, Lk 4:3-12, 1 John 2:16). We overcome them through remembering and obeying Scripture, like Jesus did. These 3 tempting monsters are :

• • sinful cravings,
  • lust of the eyes, and
  • boasting of possessions or accomplishments.

This idea is relatively untested, but if you end up using it, can you let me know if its helpful for you? I guess ideally, we can hold up our hand, count 5 fingers, and count off these 5 requests.

What a relief! Not that I need to relax in efforts to care for my marriage.  But even as I look to build my skills in becoming a better husband, I can give my wife a hug and say, “It’s going to be alright.”

• * Kari Jobe
• * Laura Story
• * Vicky Beeching
• * Kathryn Scott
• * Sarah Reeves
• * Christy Nockels
• * Brian Jenn Johnson
• * Darlene Zschech
• * Brooke Fraser
• * Sarah Kelley – song “Take me away”
• * Rita Springer – song “Worth it all”
• * Jennifer Knapp – song “Hold me now” or “Sing Allelulia” (Youtube a cover to find)
• * Jami Smith “Your Love is Deep”
• * Kim Walker-Smith
• * Adie Camp
• * Jesse Goodman
• * Misty Edwards
• * Kristyn Getty
• *Lisa Coles

Who am I missing?

Kidology.org just announced free open source kids curricula, and free pre-K grade 2-5 curricula called God’s Path for members, which is already worth the membership without the curricula. Both curricula look great. I’m excited!

Lifechurch, who also has great free curricula of their own (if I can just figure out how to download and burn such huge video files), provides some great adult Bible reading plans. There’s even one that’s a not just a plan, but a discipleship curricula called One-to-One for helping someone new to Christ.

Meanwhile, I’ve been listening to lots of free worship music online.

Over the years, I’ve met so many people I really enjoyed being friends with, but been so busy with work, etc, to see them. I’m hoping this year, Quinn and I will be able to connect with more friends from years past.