Daily Devotional for April 21, 2011

Luke 11:2-4
So he said, "When you pray, say,

Father,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil."

Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.

We are all familiar with “The Lord’s Prayer.” We all learned to recite it at a very early age, and each of us can probably recite a version of it without even thinking. And this is part of the problem. We can recite the words to this prayer, but we give very little thought to what we are saying.

I believe we can read the same passage of scripture many times and take away something completely different in each instance. For me, one verse in particular stood out recently… “Set the world right.” This is the “Thy will be done on earth and in Heaven” verse… but “Set the world right” really rang home with me.

Whatever is happening in your “world” right now, God can set right. Whatever troubles you have… heartaches… challenges… disappointments… frustrations… struggles… sins… He can handle all of them. God will be there to celebrate your highest highs… and to lift you from your lowest lows. And in the process, He will feed your body and your soul, forgive you when you disappoint, and help you overcome the temptations of the devil.

I’ve prayed this prayer several times in recent days. My 46-year-old cousin, Carla Lou, died on Palm Sunday. She suffered a brain aneurysm while attending a college class reunion in Little Rock. This left us shocked and confused… why was someone so young and in seemingly good health taken from us? Why had we not communicated more in recent years after she moved to Ohio? How do we process the fact that in the blink of an eye, she is just gone forever?

Through all of these questions, and more, I’ve heard this phrase repeated over and over, “God will set the world right.” He knows my heartaches… and yours. He knows what I need at this very moment… and He will deliver exactly that… and He stands ready to do the same for you!

“The Lord’s Prayer” is a great model for our everyday prayers. The points covered in these two verses are a great basis for our conversations with God… starting with praise and ending with an acknowledgment that His Kingdom is forever and ever. But let’s remember to stop and truly think about what we are saying when we recite this prayer – or when we pray at any time. Make your words count… speak from the heart, and truly communicate with God. He’s waiting to hear from us… to set our world right… and to meet every one of our needs. “Our Father, who art in heaven… set my world right…and be glorified.”

©2011 Debbie Robus