As you might have read elsewhere in the church bulletin, in our worship we are making our way through a newer series of messages. It’s based on the prayer Jesus taught, known as the Lord’s Prayer. We’ve given the series the title: “Upside Down Prayer in a Side-ways World.” This prayer that Jesus taught would have been considered upside down or unconventional in his day and probably still fits that label in our day. As for our world feeling that it’s been standing on its side lately... well, that seems self-explanatory.
A very old summary of Bible teachings known as the Heidelberg Catechism includes a whole segment devoted to teaching the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer. Each “answer” in this segment is actually a prayer (see the example below). A great exercise to go through if you have the time is to isolate each “answer” and read them aloud together consecutively. In doing so you will have created a new complete prayer that parallels the Lord’s prayer. If you’d like to try this exercise go to the this link https://www.crcna.org/sites/default/files/Heidelberg%20Catechism_old.pdfBe sure to scroll almost all the way down to near the end of the link and look for something called “Lord’s Day 45” to begin.
Here’s an illustration of this week’s prayer that parallels the line of the prayer we are studying this week.(It is from LORD'S DAY 47, Question # 122)
"Hallowed be your name" means: Help us to really know you, to bless, worship, and praise you for all your works and for all that shines forth from them: your almighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth.
And it means, Help us to direct all our living - what we think, say, and do - so that your name will never be blasphemed because of us but always honored and praised. -EGN
