Praying Our Way into the Lord’s Prayer. “Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As He finished, one of His disciples came to Him and said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just like John taught his disciples.’ Jesus said, ‘This is how you should pray. Pray like this:’ ” (Luke 11:1-2). Teach us to …
The Face of God in the Blessing of Aaron. “The LORD Yahweh bless you and keep you; The LORD Yahweh make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The LORD Yahweh lift up His face onto you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26). [Author Note: I imagine that it is acceptable …
The 7 Praises in a Day. Seven (7): The Biblical number that represents perfection, completeness, wholeness, fulfillment, finished. “Seven times each day I stop and shout praises, because of your righteous judgments.” (Ps. 119:164). There may be many different ways to “pray yourself hot” in the course of a day. One prayer system that has stood the …
Hear and Do: The Shema. SHEMA (sh’ma): The first Hebrew word in the essential prayer of the Jews in the Hebrew Bible, found in Deuteronomy 6:4; is usually translated “hear,” but actually means hear and do, listen and obey, hear and respond, listen and take action, take heed; there is a traditional Jewish saying that …
Praying the High Priestly Blessing. “The LORD Yahweh bless you and keep you; The LORD Yahweh make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The LORD Yahweh lift up His face onto you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26). [Author Note: I imagine that it is acceptable to insert “us” in …
Night Prayer. “Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace. Amen.” (concluding prayer of the Compline). “Night Prayer” is another name for the Compline, a service of evening prayers said before going to bed. It was probably first officially formed by …
Godly Talk – The Last Words of Early Church Martyrs. “The glorious company of apostles praise you. The noble fellowship of prophets praise you. The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.” (from the Te Deum, a poem of praise by Nicetus, 414 AD, modern day Serbia). 1st Century St. Stephen in Jerusalem – “Look! I see …
Godly Talk – Words Matter. Thoughts on Taming the Tongue, from James 3:1-12. “If we are able to bridle the words we say, we are powerful enough to control ourselves in every way, and that means our character is mature and fully developed.” (James 3:2, Passion Translation). Small things can wield amazing power. If you want to …
Godly Talk – Seasoned With Salt. “Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6, NRSV). Biblical scholars have differed over how to interpret St. Paul’s suggestion that we season our conversations …
Harmonize with One Another. “Live in harmony with one another.” (Romans 12:16, NIV). Harmony: When separate parts intentionally combine into a beautiful whole; to reconcile apparent differences into a combined unity; to adjust in order to fit together; to be of the same mind; to unite in the same direction in will, affection and conscience; …
Confess to One Another. “Confess your sins to each other.” (James 5:16). Confess: to acknowledge openly; to freely admit to wrongdoing; to announce one’s guilt; to concede one’s shortcomings; to repent of sins; to agree with God that the sin is a sin. a. Mutual Confession. The research of the Orthodox Church states that the …
Exhort One Another. “If your gift is to come alongside others to exhort them, then give yourself to exhortation.” (Romans 12:8). Exhort: to urge to continue in the Faith; to beseech in strong terms; to come alongside to offer encouraging guidance; to inspire courage and hope; to call upon someone to act; to give affirming …