January 22, 2024
January 22, 2024
Pause. Pray. Read. Be still. Write. Pray.
This week, I would like to focus on friendship. Friendship gives us permission to see our true selves through the eyes of a close companion. Friends are the individuals who have seen us at our best and worst and extend forgiveness for our trespasses, just as we are to forgive. Each week in worship at Prosper UMC we recite the familiar prayer Jesus taught his disciples, the Lord’s Prayer. A prayer that reminds of the need to forgive others, as Jesus, a friend to all, forgives.
Read: Matthew 6: 9 – 13
Pray, then, in this way:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial but rescue us from the evil one. (NRSVUE)
Be still: I realize for some people referring to Jesus as a friend is awkward, primarily because for them, Jesus is Lord and Savior. Yet, when we realize that Jesus is a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, even the stranger amongst us, we can learn to become better people and friends because we understand the value of a Jesus friendship. Jesus knows our struggles and our shadows and remains our companion regardless of our shortcomings. All long-lasting friendships are based on a continual need for forgiveness because we are imperfect beings in need of mercy and grace.
How does reading Matthew 6:9-13 and reciting the Lord’s Prayer during worship impact your awareness of true friendship? Give thanks for the continual friend you have in Jesus and for the ways he remains a constant in your life and for the gift of forgiveness.
Prayer: Gracious God, what a friend we have in Jesus! Help us to remember this gift each day. To let go of all the sins and griefs we bear. To celebrate what a privilege it is to carry, everything to You in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to You in prayer. Amen. (Continue with singing this timeless Hymn by Joseph M. Scriven. UMH 526)
Pastor Kellie