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UPTHERE?
(Continued f rom page 9)
your feelings and thoughts about
the majesty of God.
Then God' s Kíngdom
After acknowledging God's great–
ness the most important thing to
pray about is his kingdom. Many
mi ll ion t imes the so-called Lord 's
Prayer has been recited with no
understa nding a t all of its meaning!
How many know God's kingdom is
going to be set up on earth? Or
know through whom it will be set
up? Or its purpose?
The message of Jesus C hris t
from the beginning was the govern–
ment of God. Notice it in Mark
1:1 4: "Now after that John was put
in prison, J esus carne into Galilee,
prcaching the
G OSPEL OF THE
K I NGOOM
OF
G o o ." The old
Engl ish word
gospel
means, literal–
ly, "good news."
The message of the Bible is the
good news that Christ is coming to
establis h God 's gove rnme nt o n
earth. To bring the world peace,
happiness and prosperity. To abol –
ish war. lsn' t that something to
pray abou t?
We live in a world of wars and
rumors of war. A world of malnu–
trit ion, hu nger, turmoil. Christ also
said, " Watch therefore, and pray
always that you may be counted
worthy to escape all these things
that wi ll come to pass, and to stand
befare the Son of Man " (Luke
2 1:36, RAV) . A Christian should
be aware of world atfairs- know
what is going on. Know how to
undcrstand world events in the
light of Bible prophecy. T hc
Plaín
Truth
magazine keeps you in–
formed in this impor tant area and
can be used to help you know what
to pray about.
In this regard , one of the very
important prophecies of the Bible
needs to be mentioned- Matthew
24: 14: "And this gospel of t he
kingdom will be preached in all the
world as a witness to all the nat ions,
and th e n t he end will come"
(RAV). The work of God is cer–
tain ly something to pray about
evcry d ay. The apostle Paul , know–
ing how important prayer is, said,
" ... brethren, pray for us, that the
44
word of the Lord may have free
course, and be g lorified, even as it
is with you"
(11
Thess. 3:1).
Can you begin to see how prayer
is not something that will take only
two or three minu t es? After a
while t he problem becomes how to
find time for all you nced to pray
abou
t.
Conti nuing with the o utline,
Christ then said to pray, "Your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven "
(Luke 11: 2, RAV) .
This first requi res a study of
God's written Word to know what
God's will is. The Bible is God
speaking to us. Prayer is when we
speak to God. A helpful hint to
guide you as you learn to pray is to
have the Bible with you. Read a
portian of it , suc h as a psalm or
two, for a few minutes; then pray a
few minutes. You'll be surprised
Prayer... puts you
in contact
with the supreme
Creator
what you will get o ut of this tecb–
nique if you have not tried it.
So you should talk to God about
his will. H is wi ll a bout world
events, and his will about your per–
sonal life.
Your Personal Needs
Now, witb you r mind focused on
God and bis greatness, on the need
for his kingdom to come and on his
will being done, you can, next, talk
with God about your needs, hopes,
desires.
But noticc how C hrist instructs
us to think- "Givc us this day our
dai ly bread" ( Matt. 6:11, RAV) . It
isn' t appropr iate to ask God for
everything at once so you will not
have another worry in the world.
(A lot of people think big money
would solve t hei r problems.)
One of the. most important les–
sons we have lo learn is that of
having failh. Trus ling God is based
on dai ly contact with him. As you
start cach day, ask God to provide
whal is necessary for tbat d ay or for
the coming week. Then you won't
need lo worry that much abou t
next month or next year.
The lmportance
Qf
Forgiveness
Then C hrist said to pray, "Forgive
us our s ins, for we also forg ive
cveryone who is indebted to us"
(Luke 11 :4, RAV). Perhaps the
greatest comfort we have is the
knowledge that God will forgive us
when we repent of s in. But he for–
gives us only as we are wi lling to
forgive ou r fellowman and woman.
Every one of us is wrong sorne of
the time. We slip, stumble and
some times fall. The knowledge that
God is a loving and forgiving God
permits us to get up, dust ourselves
off and continue our lives. So be
will ing to forgive others. And pray
for others who need to know God 's
will , too. Then, as you pray, ask
God for forgiveness for your short–
comings and for guidance to live
his way.
The mod e l prayer continu es,
" Lead us not into temptat ion [or
sore t rial); but deliver us from evi l
[or better trans lated , ' the evil one'–
Satan the devil]" (Luke 11:4).
The knowledge of God's forgive–
ness should lead us to the d esire not
to sin in the fi rst place. By asking
God to help you see where the temp–
tations are and how to avoid them,
you find God will give you special
protection against the wiles and fiery
darts of a very real devil.
You see, prayer is a vital part of
the C hristian life.
lt
puts you in con–
tact with t he supreme C reator of
heaven and earth . On a personal
basis.
Contact with God every day wi ll
provide you wi t h the help and
inspiration you need to make it in a
world turned upsi de down- a
world t ha t doesn't even know God
and his way of life. Prayer will be
your source of strength to meet
your dai ly needs, as well as the big
lrials that may come your way from
time lo t ime. You won't then call
out in desperation, wonderi ng if
God will hear when you cry, "God,
save me!" You wi ll call out to a
God who you know will hear.
Because you ta1k to him every day.
There
is
someone up there. o
The
PLAIN
TRUTH