Episode 502

TODAY’S READING

This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Matthew 6:9

 

I stopped there because obviously, the Lord’s Prayer is something many people know you might know by heart. You might have repeated it over and over and over again. Maybe this is the first time you’re hearing it, but I just wanted to stay in that first line. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. You know, yesterday, as I mentioned, was a rough day. I did not get the outcome that I was hoping for after a series of meetings with a particular organization, and I was rooting for a life-changing opportunity to come my way via my career, and that did not happen, and that’s okay; it happens. But I can’t. I can’t lie and say that it didn’t affect me. 

 

I was really sad for a couple of hours. And I felt like I was stuck in my situation. And it made me reprocess the season that I’m in, and it made me reprocess the place that I’m in currently and where God has me, and it asked me and pushed me to relook at it with a lens of gratitude. Because when things don’t go our way or when things go, really the complete opposite of what we were hoping for or imagining. The first thing that we do is, yes, we experience heartbreak, we get really sad, but sometimes we retreat, and we run away. And yesterday, when that happened, I shared that with Manny. He said, let’s pray, and my first instinct was. No, I don’t want to pray right now. And he said, No, we’re going to pray. And so we did that, and it changed the atmosphere. And so today, let us just remember that when good news knocks on your door or when bad news knocks on your door, we have to sit there, and we have to pray. We have to say thank you, no matter which direction it goes because we know that it’s for our good no matter how we see it at the moment. And so we start with our Father in heaven. 

 

That’s a reminder that he is above. He is in control. He is the Creator of all things. And then I say How will be your name, hallowed be thy name. And so that word the definition is to be made holy. It is to be greatly revered. And so that’s why I labeled today’s Devo greatly revered. Our Father in heaven. He used to be greatly revered; he is holy. He is in control. He is above, not below. He is nothing less than perfection, and he is my strength. He is your strength. He is our provider. He is our guide. And so today and every day, man, we always start our prayers with him at the forefront. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. You are in control. You know what you’re doing? And even when we don’t know, even when we feel heartbroken, even when we can’t see the next season. You have it all written out for us.

 

Prayer

Father God, we thank you for the good times and the bad times. Lord, we thank you for the moments in which we get to celebrate and also the moments in which we are completely confused and heartbroken because, Lord, we know that even if we don’t see it the way we want to see it, we know that it is for our good because you have such great plans in store for us. So we thank you for those plans. We thank you for the blessings that you pour out over us. We thank you for the opportunities and the doors that you open. We thank you for the doors that you close. Even if they are painful in the moment, we know that they’re closed for a reason. And so, Lord, we ask that you continue to bless us today and continue to bless us this week. It is in your son’s holy name that we pray today and every day. Amen.