Jesus was talking to his closest disciples when he taught them about prayer in this passage that has come to be called the Sermon on the Mount. He also relates the proper attitude and place for praying. This prayer has come to be known as the Lord’s Prayer, and is considered a perfect prayer because it covers areas that need to be prayed for. Please think of including the Lord’s Prayer in your spiritual practices, and even if you can’t do anything else, use this prayer on a daily basis.
In this verse Jesus wants us to praise God. There are countless books that have been written over the centuries about the need to praise the Lord; the book of Psalms is full of verses doing just that. Praising God doesn’t have to be just for the major things in life, but the small things as well.
My late wife, Judy, had two operations to remove a brain tumor. The first surgery basically went fine, however, after the second she couldn’t walk, talk, or move her right side. It took a long time before she relearned these basic skills. During that time I obtained a new appreciation for how wonderful this human body is that God created and how amazing the human brain is, and how it can function the way it does and cause our body parts to operate as they can, almost without us thinking about it.
I began to give thanks for being able to wake up in the morning and put my feet on the ground and walk. Being able to feed myself, being able to walk up and down the stairs, and to get in and out of a car, etc., were things that I began to praise God for. I have been very fortunate to be as heathy as I am, however, going through the experience with Judy gave me reason to praise the Lord for the large and small gifts of life that come my way on a daily basis.
Today, praise God for some gift of life that comes your way, and this can be done at any time or place, or for any reason! Peace, Vernon T.
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