Greetings!

Greetings! You have been invited to participate in an international fellowship experience for the next generation of Christians! We may differ in age, location, and musical taste, but we all share a common faith; that the Word of God is infallible, and that our sins are paid for and our salvation made possible by the blood of Jesus Christ, the son of God, who died on the cross and rose again. Life is not always easy, and the world is not very Christian-friendly (it never has been!). It is important for us young people, as brothers and sisters in Christ, to share our prayer requests and testimonies of what God is doing in our lives.

Matthew 18:20 – “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."



Our last international youth group trip to Kentucky and North Carolina at the beginning of July was quite an experience. We laughed, we cried, we sweated, we bled, we worked, we played, we sang, we drove, rode, flew and rafted. God worked and spoke to us in ways that some of us had never experienced before. The trip may be over, but that was just the beginning! Every day really is the first day of the rest of our lives, and each and every day has its own challenges to face and decisions to make.

Life by the Spirit

Soon after we commemorate the birth of Jesus, it will be back to school all over again. Those who go to college may also be further away from their families and churches, but students of all grades will very busy. In the hectic, stressful bustle of day-to-day life, with friends and teachers and peers and pressures fighting for our attention, how can we best keep God’s commandments? What does the Bible tell us?

Psalm 119: 9-16 – How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart, do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O Lord, teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and contemplate your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

Galatians 5: 16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.

Proverbs: 23:17 – Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.

The Lighter Side

Q: Who does the bible direct to make coffee – Men or Women?

A: There is a whole book about it: ‘He brews.’

TRIVIA QUESTION #1: Which is the only book of the Bible that does not mention the name of God?

Be the first person to email the answer!

Teach Us To Pray

“Lord, teach us to pray.” This is what one of Jesus’ disciples asked of him after Jesus had just finished praying in Luke 11.1. Learning to pray is as basic as learning how to speak and just as a young child learns the basics early on, the process of learning grows with experience, study and practice. Though we can learn to pray without instruction, as we can learn to speak, it is appropriate to be taught as well, just as John the Baptist and Jesus taught their disciples how to pray.

In a series of articles we will look at what Jesus taught his disciples both by direct teaching and by example and see how we can develop our own prayer life. These are not meant to be exhaustive dissertations on the topic but more devotional and practical in nature, getting to the heart of prayer.

We will begin by looking at the direct teaching that Jesus gave when asked to teach the disciples to pray in Luke 11 and the parallel in Matthew 6.

Here is what Jesus answered:
“When you pray, say:
‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’ ” Luke 11:2b-4 NIV

While this is a good prayer to literally pray word for word, the fact that neither Jesus nor his disciples are ever recorded praying these words in the other prayers recorded in the New Testament combined with the fact that in Matthew 6.9 Jesus uses the words “This, then, is how you should pray:” (NIV - underline mine) as opposed to “what you should pray” it is safe to assume that this is a model prayer meant as a guideline or outline.

When we approach this prayer this way, we see that there are six parts of the prayer (in this first article we will look at the first three):

First off is “Father.” This tells us immediately that we are to primarily be praying to the Father, as opposed to Jesus or the Holy Spirit. It also emphasizes and defines a closeness of relationship. Rather than praying to an exalted, distant and unknown “God”, we are praying to one with whom we have a direct relationship and who loves us and whom we can love. The way that a child talks to a parent is far different from how he or she talks to a boss or teacher. In Romans 8:15, Paul writes that we “did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” (NIV) Abba is an Aramaic term for father which is a very personal form such as “Daddy”. Jesus used that term when he cried out to his Father in the garden asking to have the cup of suffering removed from him in Mark 14:16. Thus we are able to draw near to a personal “Daddy” God in love in a relationship given through Jesus Christ and enabled by the Spirit. Matthew and some manuscripts of Luke have the words “Our Father in heaven”. From here we are reminded that we share this relationship to God with others (“Our” as opposed to “My”) and that part of our relationship with God is not meant to be lived in isolation, but in the company of other children of God. Also, while we can know “Our Father” very close and dearly, he is “in heaven” as opposed to on earth. He is wholly “other” than us and holy, yet He draws near to us. This first section could be titled “Fellowship” or “Communion” with the God who is our Father. As we reflect on even the possibility of this, thanksgiving is also an appropriate response. So in our prayer, it is good to begin by addressing, acknowledging, thanking and drawing close to our loving Heavenly Father who we can know as Abba.

Next comes “hallowed be your name.” While this language is not common to our everyday usage, it could also be stated “may your name be made holy” or “may your name be exalted”. Holiness has two major components: moral purity and separation, especially separation from all that is “common”. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines “Hallowed” as “to make or set apart as holy” or “to respect or honor greatly; revere”. For us then to do that in prayer would be to come to an attitude of heart and mind of reverence and respect for God and for his name, which is the representation of who God is. One way to begin to achieve this is to reflect upon and recite the characteristics of God such as his awesome power in creation, his unfathomable love that is higher, wider and deeper than we will ever fully discover and his undeserved and daily renewed mercy. As we recognize that there is no other like God, that there is no other name that can save, then we move in our hearts toward “hallowing” God’s name in our heart. This then is extended beyond ourselves as we tell and remind others of God’s goodness and thus his name begins to be made holy in all the earth. This section we could title “Adoration.”

Then follows “your kingdom come.” The kingdom of God/heaven was a major topic of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus began his ministry by preaching that the kingdom of God was near. Boiling down a large topic, we come to the following: A kingdom is an area that is controlled by a king. The kingdom of God is anywhere that there are persons who submit to the kingship of Jesus Christ. So the kingdom of God is both near and among us as we submit our selves and our wills to Jesus Christ. Matthew adds the text “may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” which basically restates the previous in clear terms. So as we come to this section of prayer, we are committing ourselves to obey Christ as King and master of our lives and more than that, to give our whole lives to Jesus. This is parallel to the Old Testament burnt offering in which the entire offering was burnt up and given to God. Romans 12:1 says it this way: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” This fits with our recognizing God’s mercy to us as we “hallow his name” and here Paul says in view of this mercy we should offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. That is, we no longer belong to ourselves, but to him. We are slaves to righteousness, living our lives not to gratify our own selfish desires, but to please God. It is a time in prayer for us to reflect on how we have been living in regards to being a “living sacrifice”, and then commit to draw nearer to God and focus our lives to be living for the purpose of God’s kingdom, not our own or the world’s. As our lives then become a reflection of God’s kingdom, we are able to speak and be a testimony to others around us and able to bring his kingdom into their lives and be an agent of change in the world and culture around us.

Notice that we are halfway through the prayer model and we haven’t yet gotten to the part about asking for our needs or “daily bread”. We’ll get to that next time. But for now, I’d encourage you in your prayer to take time to follow this model of prayer. Begin by worshiping and drawing near to God which is in effect what these first three sections describe.

In the next installment, we will look at the next three portions of the “Lords Prayer”.

Brothers and Sisters

Be sure to email personal news that you would like to share as well as testimonials of what God has done for you. Each newsletter we will post these updates and create a list of your prayer requests. One thing that we ask is that you share your prayer requests first with either your parent(s) or your spiritual covering (if you have one).

I hope that this newsletter can be the beginning of something good, an increased fellowship experience across the continents. Ultimately, this newsletter is created for you, and with your input it will succeed.