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A prayer for the big view
A closer look at the Lord’s Prayer can help us reframe our lives.
Our Father reminds me that I am not praying to my God but ours. He’s the God of the people in my home as well as the God of the person with no home, who sleeps on the streets. The world shares the same God, and his eyes are on us all.
Hallowed be your name acknowledges that there is a power in the universe greater than ourselves. When we acknowledge God as the center, it helps us see our lives as part of a bigger story that will continue after we are gone.
Your kingdom come, your will be done.“Your will be done” means I not only acknowledge there is a bigger story, but I submit myself to be part of it.
Finishing “Your will be done” with on earth as it is in heaven leaves room for God to work in ways we cannot see.
Give us this day our daily bread isn’t a prayer for tomorrow’s bread, or for more bread than we need. It is a prayer for God’s provision in the here and now. What I do with that perspective is directly related to whether or not I believe that tomorrow’s bread for me will be resupplied.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors might be translated, “As we experience your forgiveness, help it to spill over in the way we treat others.” Saying—and living—this line of the prayer could affect more people than we can imagine.
Lead us not into temptation means asking God to help us make good choices with the freedom we have.
Deliver us from evil is the prayer for the courage to see the evil our temptations have brought us. There is a line between temptation and evil, and here’s how you find it: temptation includes your freedom; evil takes it away. Evil needs to be battled by Someone greater than us.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory is a benediction that reaffirms we are here for a greater purpose than just ourselves.
Reciting this prayer gives us the perspective we need each day to see our lives the way they actually are: part of a bigger story.
From When Changing Nothing Changes Everything by Laurie Polich Short.
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About this Plan
We often face circumstances that we cannot change—a job we are forced to keep, a relationship that did not work out, a decision we cannot take back. The stress of life can overwhelm us, and we may not see past the obstacles in our path. In the face of unwanted challenges, we may despair over our lack of control and long for an easier way out. Laurie Short offers a simple but revolutionary idea: change nothing that is around you yet still change everything about your life.
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We would like to thank Laurie Polich Short and Intervarsity Press for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: https://www.ivpress.com/Search?q=When+Changing+Nothing
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