3 Dec 2013 by Natasha Kim CM-
All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name. (Psalm 66:4)
Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. (Psalm 62:8)
God’s grace is greater than our sin; He loves all! To God, forgiveness is infinite and is bestowed to those who seek and believe it. Global Day of Worship (GDOW) was a day where many different churches around the world came together to praise God for all He has done, for all He will do and of course, for all the sins He has forgiven. The Spirit’s conviction is of Love and Grace! City Harvest Church, Kuala Lumpur (CHCKL) was one of the many churches around Malaysia who took part on this prominent day.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge (Proverbs 14:26)
A crowd assembled in worship. They sang and danced in joy while soaking in His presence. God, how we truly desire Him! At the beginning, they opened up the worship by singing 'The Lord’s Prayer' by CHCKL. They also sang, 'I Surrender', 'Christ is Enough', 'Anchor' and 'Wake' by Hillsong. During the intervals, they shared about the significance of the Lord’s Prayer that has been imparted to us. The prayer itself follows a sequence that teaches each of us about God, prayer, and our need.
This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.(Matthew 6:9-13)
1) Our Father in Heaven – We begin by respectfully acknowledging and recognizing God as the Almighty and also as our Father. This reminds us that He is higher than us but we should also approach Him as our Father that loves us (to be child-like in our approach).
2) Hallowed be your name – 'Hallowed' is defined as 'to make holy.' In this case, we are magnifying God’s name and recognizing His holiness. God is not someone we carelessly address and that is why we need to respect Him. However, He isn’t uncaring or distant from us that we should be afraid.
3) Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven – Here we recognize God as our King of all Kings and that He is in charge of everything from the earth to the heavens. We submit to God’s authority and ask for His desires to be done.
4) Give us today our daily bread – God provides for us and gives us everything that we need though He does not give us everything that we want. Remember that what we need and what we want is different. Here we recognize that God cares for us and will take care of us.
5) Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors – Luke 2:4 states it differently, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” Both of these verses are different yet the same. In this verse, we confess our sins to God and ask for His forgiveness.
6) And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil – Here we repent from our sins for when we do not choose to repent, we are doomed to repeat it. Our strength comes from God! We cannot rely on our own strength to avoid temptation. As Christians, we are dependent on the Holy Spirit to give us the eyes to see temptation and to recognize that we should flee from it.
Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. (Psalm 150)
God, we know that we can trust You because you have our best interest at heart. We also know that You love us with Your entire being that is deemed as pure, tender, and sacrificial love. It's so good to pour out our heart to You for You alone gives us the peace and wisdom to know what to do. Lord, you are our refuge, the place we can hide when the noise of the world gets too much. God, You are our everything! Teach us to worship You.
Note: Pictures courtesy of CHCKL
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