Page 90 - The Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2009
P. 90

91

                                       HIGHEST TRUTH

                                       LOWEST TRUTH

The Christian who never develops        OONN WWHHAATT        Likewise, the Christian who never
the fruit of self-control will never    LLEEVVEELL DDOO    learns to guard himself from the evil
manifest the ultimate bond of          YYOOUU WWAANNTT
perfection of love in his/her life.      TTOO LLIIVVEE            one will not manifest a life that
The believer who lacks the                                        “hallows” (brings honor to) the
evidence of the fruit of the Spirit         TTHHEE         name of Christ which he/she bears.
of self-control will often look like,  CCHHRRIISSTTIIAANN   The commandment not to take the
act like, and even speak like the                                 name of the Lord in vain is not
unregenerated of the world.                 LLIIFFEE??     dealing with the subject of profanity,
They will profess to like Christ,                             but rather is describing a believer
but do not become Christ-like in                             whose life does not bring honor to
behavior before                                            the name he/she bears; Christian in
unbelievers.
                                                                      name, but not Christ-like in
                                                                                              behavior.

Understanding the stated principles above, let us see if we can shed light on what The Lord’s Prayer is
  all about. Let us begin by simply dividing this prayer in half with four statements on the bottom and

 three on the top. You can see the dramatic difference between the two groups simply by noticing that
the bottom four statements place the emphasis of the prayer expressions upon “us” as believers while

                  the top three place the emphasis upon God with the use of the word “Your.”
We now have prayer on two different levels. One is a lower world-centered expression while the other

                                         is a higher God-centered form of prayer:

   HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME                                   Higher levels of praying:
      YOUR KINGDOM COME                                          Focusing upon

YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH
          AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

   GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD                        Lower levels of praying:
          AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS                              Focusing upon
         AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS

AND DO NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION
     BUT DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL ONE
   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95