"My words are Spirit and Life, and not to be weighed by the understanding of man. They are not to be drawn forth for vain approbation, but to be heard in silence, and to be received with all humility and great affection."
Thomas à Kempis

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"The Lord gave the word:
great was the company of
those that published it."
Psalm 68:11

MATTHEW 6:9-13

Examin how well you live what you pray as you meditate on the following.

I cannot say OUR if I keep my faith only to myself and never share it with others

I cannot say FATHER if I do not trust in His loving and complete concern for me, forgetting that He always answers prayers how and when He knows is best.

I cannot say WHO ART IN HEAVEN if I am so attached to the ways of this world that I neglect to seek God first in everything.

I cannot say HALLOWED BE THY NAME if I am unwilling to let His holiness penetrate my life and help me grow in holiness.

I cannot say THY KINGDOM COME if I am not using my life to bring His love into the world.

I cannot say THY WILL BE DONE if I live by my own ideas of morality or choose to follow the worlds standards.

I cannot say ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN if I am not devoting my life to serving Him here on earth.

I cannot say GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD if I am not willing to be generous with whatever God gives me.

I cannot say FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES if I don't want to put forth enough effort to change.

I cannot say AS WE FOGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US if I still hold a grudge, if I'm still angry, or I still insist that other people change.

I cannot say LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION if I deliberately or knowingly place myself in a position to be tempted.

I cannot say DELIVER US FROM EVIL if I'm not actively fighting against evil through deeds of love

I cannot say THINE IS THE KINGDOM if I do not accord the King the disciplined obedience of a loyal subject.

I cannot say THINE IS THE POWER if I fear what men may do or what my neighbors may think.

I cannot say THINE IS THE GLORY if I am seeking glory for myself.

I cannot say FOREVER AND EVER if my horizon is bounded by the things of time.

"Praying is not saying words. Words merely form the frame on which the temple of thought is built. The power of the Lord's Prayer is not in the words, but rather in the pattern of thinking in which our minds are formed. When our thoughts begin to flow in the channels of the Lord's Prayer our minds do become new, and we are transformed."
— Charles Allen

To the extent that we think the thoughts of Christ, to that same extent do we have the power of Christ.

The king in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" miserably fails in prayer. In explanation, he says:
"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below,
Words without thoughts never to heaven go."

We, too, fail because our prayers are "words without thoughts."

C. F. Andrews tells this old legend that when Jesus returned to heaven He was asked by an angel:

"What have you left behind to carry out the work?"
Jesus answered: "A little band of men and women who love me."
"But what if they fail when the trial comes? Will all you have done be defeated?"
"Yes," said Jesus, "if they fail, all I have done will be defeated."
"Is there nothing more?"
"No," said Jesus, "there is nothing more."
'What then?"
Jesus quietly replied "They will not fail."

With a confidence like that as we face tomorrow, we can triumphantly declare: "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."