“We love because he first loved us. . . . And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”- 1 John 4:19,21
In her Introduction (The Fortress Heart”) to The Wall Around Your Heart, Mary DeMuth sates that there is a pathway through the devastation of painful situations: prayer. Such prayer, she emphasizes is not:
1. passive- a lethargic plea for God’s help
2. wishful thinking- hoping against hope for a different outcome
3. yelling- railing at injustice
The prayer the author believes is our treasure map to freedom, peace, healing, and hope is the Lord’s Prayer- the prayer that Jesus modeled, lived, and breathed:
“Jesus is our example of openhearted living, of exhibiting love that dared to wash the feet of Judas, who betrayed Him, of reinstating Peter, who denied Him thrice. Jesus, in His divine irresistibility, welcomed all, loved all, endured all.”
Mary adds that the framework of her book wraps around the eleven phrases of the Lord’s Prayer as the key to persevering through conflict, releasing control, and properly understanding God. As the author concludes, the greatest challenge is to love as God loved us:
“The greatest challenge . . . is choosing to commune with God with everything I am; learning to receive His wild but abundant love, then flinging it joyfully in people’s direction.”
Today’s question: What parts of the Lord’s Prayer have held special meaning in your life? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “You’ll never walk alone”
Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “God’s Way or the Highway”. The annotation of Not a Fan will appear next Thursday.
