February 2015 – Pastor Anthony’s Letter

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A couple years ago when our older son was about 6 months old, Stephanie and I began saying the Lord’s Prayer as part of his night time ritual. We began doing this because anytime is a good time to pray the Lord’s Prayer, and we also did this in order to begin teaching him how to pray our Lord’s Prayer. Our son is now 2 ½ years old and he is beginning to recognize that when he hears: “Our Father, who art in heaven…” that he is to fold his hands and pray. This makes me so proud as a parent and as a pastor. But a couple of months ago I realized that at my son’s bedtime, I was saying the Lord’s Prayer but I wasn’t praying the Lord’s Prayer. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever simply said the Lord’s Prayer because it is a routine or a habit for you, but you weren’t actually focusing on the words that were coming out of your mouth? I’m going to guess for most of us the answer is yes. When things like the Lord’s Prayer are recited so frequently (every worship service), it gets committed to our memory (which is a good thing), but then we also begin saying the prayer without even thinking about what it is that we are saying.

Beginning in February, we are going to change that. Starting on Ash Wednesday (February 18^th), we are going to begin our focus during Lent on the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer that Jesus taught his disciples is only 70 words long, but most of us are saying the 70 words in the Lord’s Prayer, not praying those 70 words to God. Each week during our Mid-week Lenten Eve worship service (including Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday), we will focus on a small portion of our very well-known Lord’s Prayer. By focusing on a small phrase of the prayer, I hope that this will help all of us (including myself) gain a better understanding of the words that routinely come out of our mouths when we begin saying “Our Father, who art in heaven…

As we begin the 40 days of Lent, may we turn our focus to our own prayer life and how Jesus would like us to pray. During Lent we will not sing or say Alleluia, but rather focus on our sin and how we have fallen short of God’s glory. We have all made mistakes and have turned our focus away from God from time to time (including saying, but not praying the Lord’s Prayer). Let’s come before God this Lent confessing our sins and praying for God’s merciful forgiveness.

In Christ,

Pastor Anthony