The Lord’s Prayer – and Others :: By Dennis Huebshman

Published on: by RR7 Category:General Articles

There are some significant prayers throughout the Bible, and many are by David and others in the Psalms. There’s also a lot of petitions by the major prophets in their writings. (all emphasis mine)

One of these is Daniel, who had two occasions where he went to the Father for very specific reasons. The first was when Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream and demanded the interpretation be made known to him. The hard part was the dream had to be revealed without him telling anything about it. Needless to say, the so-called wise men of Babylon could not begin to give the king a suitable answer, and because of this, they were threatened with annihilation. This took place in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.

Daniel (Belteshazzar) and his companions, Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meschach) and Azariah (Abednego), were to be among the ones to be killed. However, Daniel asked their keeper to get him an audience with the king so that he could give him the interpretation of his dream. Daniel and his companions, who were possibly in their mid to late teens at the time, sought mercy from the God of Heaven. The “mystery” was revealed to Daniel, and he told the king what the dream was and what the vision represented. Nebuchadnezzar tried to give Daniel full credit and honor, but in Daniel 2:45b, Daniel said, “… A Great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” Daniel received many honors that lasted to the end of his days, but he never failed to worship and give praise and glory to the Heavenly Father, no matter who was on the earthly throne.

Probably the most significant prayer offered by Daniel was near the end of the 70-year captivity, and he made a sincere plea for all the people. Daniel 9 contains this prayer, and it is one of confession of sins and about their having turned away from God. He acknowledged that their transgressions caused their captivity, and he knew that the time of captivity was coming to an end. He asked for forgiveness and mercy on God’s chosen people.

It would do each of us a service to take the time to read Daniel’s prayer in Chapter 9 and bring it into today’s terms to see that we are definitely in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Our Savior gave several prayers, and one has been called “The Lord’s Prayer.” It is repeated in numerous church services and actually should be called “The Apostle’s Prayer.” Jesus was giving them an outline of how to approach the Father without going through all kinds of needless self-serving phrases, which He accused the religious leaders of His day of doing.

First and foremost, we need to show the Father that we acknowledge and accept His power and glory and that He is our only Creator. We accept Him as our Heavenly Father, and His name is “Hallowed,” which means Holy or Consecrated. We are to realize that everything belongs to our God, and His Kingdom is forever.

Next, we ask for our daily needs and also ask forgiveness for our sins. There’s no point in trying to conceal them as our Father knows every thought, word, and deed that we have done. Added to this, we must forgive others for sinning against us, or we will not be forgiven ourselves (Matthew 6:14-15).

Finally, we are to ask to be kept from temptation and be delivered from evil. Once we have the Holy Spirit within us, through prayer and supplication, we will be “convicted in our conscience” any time we do sin. And until we actually depart from this evil world, we will sin (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23). We have the blessing of assured forgiveness for all our sins, as given in 1 John 1:8-10.

Another of Jesus’ prayers was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and it was extremely personal between Him and the Father. He asked for the burden to be removed if the Father was willing, but He in no way refused to fulfill His destiny. The act of torture and murder that He would go through was terrible but was actually a minor part of His reasoning. Jesus knew full well that God cannot tolerate any sin of any kind, and when every sin ever committed and would be committed was to be laid directly on Him, He knew He would be separated for a brief time from the Father for the first time ever. This had never been done before and will never be done again. When the Savior said, “It is finished!” His amazing gift was complete, and He was reunited completely with the Father.

Considering this, is it any wonder that anyone who does not accept Jesus as their Savior will not spend eternity with Him? His gift cannot be bought or earned but is offered to those who will call on Him to be saved (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13).

The prayer in John 17 is the one that could truly be labeled “The Lord’s Prayer.” He knew His time here was about to end, and being God, He knew what the future held for all His true believers – for all of us. AS with the prayer from Daniel 9, this prayer deserves to be studied by all of us.

Jesus gave all praise, glory and blessings to the Father and asked Him to “glorify Your Son, that He may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him” (John 17:1b-2). He thanked the Father for allowing Him, in human form, to accomplish the work He was given. He states in v.5, “And now Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.” We know from scripture that Jesus was always a part of the Godhead (John 1:1-3).

He was praying for His apostles at this time, but we can be assured He was praying for all who would ever become a part of His precious flock right to the very end of the existence of this evil world.

Verse 20-21 specifically says, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.”

This is amplified in Romans 10:9-13 with the steps to Salvation. We must call out to Jesus and admit we are sinners in need of a Savior, believe He died for our sins and was raised by the Father to conquer sin and death for all who will receive and accept Him, and ask Him to be our Savior forever. When we receive and accept the gift given by our Savior, the Holy Spirit will live within us.

As you can see, there’s no monetary cost involved, and our only actions are to receive and accept His gift. Anything else would be an insult to His sacrifice made for us.

To those who accept this world over the Savior, and to those who will follow false prophets inspired by Satan, the outcome is in Revelation 20:11-15. There are no exceptions; no other way.

Today would not be too early to have Jesus come into your life and for Him to prepare a place in Heaven for you (John 14:1-3). There is no better time. Tomorrow could be too late, and you could find yourself in the 7-year tribulation. By the way, at least 2/3 of the world’s population will be killed during that time.

Go to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 to read about the pretribulation Rapture of all true believers. Once you have Jesus, your eternity will be beyond wonderful.

Hope to see you there when He calls!

huebshman46@gmail.com

Ides of March Still Haunts :: By Terry James

Published on: by RR7 Category:General Articles, Terry James

This week—the week of the Ides of March 2021—finds the world’s most powerful government, the most powerful government in all of history, in a state worse than that of ancient Rome under Julius Caesar. The difference in the American Empire and the ancient Roman Empire is that the people in power today are laboring under guilt that the election they won under questionable circumstances might have created a nation half-full of patriots who might come for them.

Plutarch wrote that, despite the warning by a seer named Spurinna predicting that the Ides of March of 44 BC harbored danger of assassination, Julius Caesar apparently gave it little thought. It is recorded that Caesar passed by the soothsayer while he was on the way to the Theater of Pompeii where he would be assassinated and joked, “The Ides of March are come.” implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied, “Aye, Caesar; but not gone.”

The people, after all, had been basically convinced to bestow on the great Caesar the designation dictator perpetuo (“dictator in perpetuity”). This was done through the Roman democracy’s elective process. The dictatorial head of Roman government had no reason to fear the people. Of course, there were sixteen senators, one among them a close friend, who didn’t like the idea of having a dictator for life. The results were, of course, that we now view the 15th of March (the Ides of March) as an especially ominous date–thanks much to the Bard, William Shakespeare, and his play, Julius Caesar. 

Getting back to the American equivalent in government to that ancient Roman Empire, the guilt of which I speak, of course, is obvious. Half of the US voting public—and probably much more than half—voted for the other candidate. There is much anger now smoldering just beneath the surface of societal calm that the election was stolen. It is equally apparent that the guilt festering within the ranks of those who won or stole the election, depending on which you choose to believe, has created an Ides of March-type paranoia.

Those in control have since the January 6 hubbub in Washington, DC, when the Capitol and other government buildings were attacked, reacted and continue to react like they fear an Ides of March–type Roman Senate assault on them at any moment. DC is a locked-down, armed camp, with National Guard forces and hastily constructed barriers of various sorts walling off the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Foreign intruders, mostly illegal, many carrying COVID-19 infections and other diseases, are allowed more and more access into our southern borders. American citizens are locked out, more and more, from interacting with the governmental leaders whose salaries we pay and who supposedly who work for us. The president of the United States is kept from confronting the American people as all other presidents have done. The republic, even more than was the Roman republic all those centuries ago, is in a dire way. This Ides of March indeed looks ominous, going forward.

The following news/opinion editorial illustrates, I think, the guilt-ridden nucleus of leadership.

The Department of Defense on Tuesday agreed to keep thousands of National Guard troops stationed at the U.S. Capitol until late May, extending a posting that began after rioters overwhelmed law enforcement on Capitol Hill two months ago.

The problem for Democrats is when you blatantly flaunt election law and then institute policies that no one wants (e.g. money to Iran, bombing Syria, opening the southern border, putting children in cages, passing a massive spending bill that provides handouts to your friends and pays off your debts, etc), and then install a man as President who doesn’t know where he is and is led around like a geriatric patient, you get scared Americans will see through your corruption.

Democrats complained about a southern border wall but created a wall for themselves.  They demand the military guards it.  But they won’t send the same troops to protect our country’s border! (Joe Hoft, “Military Agrees to Keep Thousands of National Guard Troops at US Capitol for Weeks to Protect Corrupt Democrats Who Are Terrified of the American People,” Gateway Pundit, March 10, 2021)

The reason there is such anxiety among the political entities who have surrounded themselves with protection is a matter of basic character. Americans who consider themselves to have been done wrong in the 2020 elections still believe in the constitutionally mandated way of conducting personal and national life as established by the founding fathers. They wouldn’t perpetrate such violence unless in necessity of defense of life and liberty.

Those who at present hunker fearfully behind the barriers, walls, and weaponry of the National Guard would, themselves, consider assaulting with armed insurrection to get their way. They would utilize the very militant methods of which they falsely accuse the 74 million-plus voters who oppose their proven ideological movement away from traditional American values and traditions. To know this is true, we have only to remember the destructive evil of the anarchists they encouraged and protected while those surrogate forces tore down and burned cities.

There are those who, like Julius Caesars millennia ago, are working toward making themselves dictators perpetuo. But this ambition is not among true patriots who want to retain godly morality and values, and especially constitutional safeguards through law, not lawlessness like that championed by many of those whose political ideology supposedly won the 2020 elections.

The Ides of March this year especially seems to portend growing wickedness for the future. This means, for believers in Jesus Christ, that the blessed hope must be nearing the time of His revealing Himself to an increasingly rebellious world.  

It is good at this troubled time so near the end of the Age of Grace to claim the words of the Psalmist:

O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserved the faithful, and plentifully rewarded the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. (Psalms 31:23–24)